arrival orientation

the orange has started to come to Finland. the trees have already started to look as they do around the beginning of October at home.

these were taken through the car window as we droveon the drive to Mikkeli (whence I took a train to Kuopio, whither came a bus to take us to the orientation site in Maaninka, about 40 minutes away).

this is what Finland looks like, folks. around here, anyway. rolling hills and forests and farms and lakes.

 

when I got to the Kuopio train station, I was a bit lost (we were supposed to meet the AFS volunteers at the Kuopio bus station), and I saw another girl about my age who also looked a bit lost, so I figured she was probably an exchange student as well. I followed her for a little while before realizing that she was more than a bit lost, and thus realizing that she was definitely an exhange student. she turned out to be one very lovely Marie from Belgium, who is living in Mikkeli. we found the bus station together and from there began to meet the other exchange students and the AFS volunteers.

 

there turned out to be 17 exchange students in all (some of whom I met on the bus, some of whom had already arrived at the orientation site). from Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, USA, Japan, Thailand, Turkey, on the bus, talking to a girl from Alaska, a Finnish girl who went to Arkansas on exchange last year, a boy from the Netherlands, and a boy from Germany.

 

the actual exercises and organized by AFS were entertaining, but the most magical part of the camp was the feeling of having an instant connection with people from all over the world--something I got to appreciate muchly over the course of the orientation. we mostly just chatted about Finland and our home countries and languages, sauna'ed (girls got to go in second, and we were probably in there for about two hours), and talked more about Finland and our host countries and languages. and ate. there was much salmiakki and chocolate and salmiakki chocolate and chocolate salmiakki.

 

the front yard of the orientation site.

 

the backyard and trellace of the orientation site. since everyone thought it was a bit far to the lake (I wanted to swim, but not even the Finns were up for it) we went there in the chilly, rainy night between getting out of the sauna and getting back into the suana. it was beautiful.

the dining room, where we ate, ate, ate, ate, talked till 3 am, ate, ate, and ate again.

and the lovely kantale. c:

these were taken around 7 am on sunday morning. I was the first to rise, and took a few pictures before Kübüşrara from Turkey woke up and taught me some Turkish words until we went to breakfast).

after breakfast, lunch, and coffee (the pulla was not nearly as good as äiti's pulla), I got back on the bus and back on the train and back in the car and back to the house. saying goodbye to the people you just met and heading back home to a house you have been living in for three weeks... it is such a surreal and complete and wonderful exhaustion. and coming back to my host family's house and being licktackled by the puppy really did feel like coming home.