South African Finn

Friday the 25th of November as Rotary Exchange Students we had the privillege of embarking on a trip to Lapland/The Arctic Circle. This by far is the most time pressed yet time extensive trip I've been on. In a 15 hour bus trip(it was more for others) we reached the North magical secluded town of Muonio on Saturday the 26th. With all formalities said and done and settling in our hotel lodge( Harriniva hotels). I set out to do a close to impossible task, getting to meet and know all of the 131 exchange Students that were there(especially the new inbounds that arrived in Autumn). It was a tough challenge as I'd frequently forget thier names or their home country. I dont know if that task was successful or not but it sure was fun. When the night progressed. We went to the outside camp and had our dinner there. A Finnish meal under the stars up North in Lapland couldnt get more Finnish than that, sitting around a fire and enjoying all the simple things. The next morning we prepar...

16 October 2016 Marks 9 Months since being in my wonderful Host country (Finland) that each day I grow to appreciate more and more almost as much as I do my beloved home country South Africa. The number nine in a lot of cultures and Faiths has an important meaning and significance, as it means to be the number of life and breakthrough to a lot of people. So I've reached my ninth month of exchange, what does this mean? Im ready to give Birth!! Unlike many other pregnancies, the conception period and pregnancy took a lot longer than normal approximately over one year. The beginning of my conception period of coming on the exchange began when I had the idea to apply for exchange. Not knowing which country I'd want to go to or what to expect, I started with my application process not expecting anything but willing to see where the wind will take me. My pregnancy officially started a few weeks before I left for Finland as the normal symptoms of pregnancy started such as morning...

So I have reached the halfway mark of my exchange. This for sure has been exciting scary and every other emotion you can think of. But one thing that can sure put a spanner in the works is answering questions about your home country. As with every other foreigner when travelling or living in another country bwe encounter a fair amount of questions that we need to answer. So this Post is mainly for my international friends. Its all the questions, statements and remarks that you have asked or want to ask. • You from South Africa right, so do you know Nelson Mandela. This statement I am sure every South African who's met people while abroad has dealt with it. Yes we know Nelson Mandela he has been quite a big figure in our country as he has been in a lot of country's. That being said to put it bluntly he is quite a big South African export. However please do know that we have plenty more exports we have offered the World; We gave you Charlize Theron who is one of the top Hollyw...

So I think its time I write about the thing that almost everyone enquires about when they find out someone they know is moving abroad. Questions such as "what food do they eat there?" "Do they have a certain type of food?" "Wont you miss our food?" are often asked so I'll try answer what I can now. Lets start with Staples. Coming from South Africa our staple food is "pap" (made from maize meal), the Chinese have rice, Italians have Pasta, and guess what the Finns have... Potatoes. One would think that in a country like Finland with such climate vegetation wouldnt thrive (except for the berries here of course). However even though the weather is icy during winter and wet in the summer food actually does grow here. So me being a potato fanatic seems I landed in the right country. I mean who doesnt like potatoes  like a popular meme says "potatoes are the back bone  of food the real MVP". Well here in Finland potatoes are the backbone...

100 DAYS 24 April 2016 marks me officially being on exchange for 100 day. Without a doubt this has been a very eventful 100 days. So in this post I'll correct a few misconceptions about being here. •No I am not on holiday. If it were a holiday there would be a lot of things I do differently handle differently and hardly care about. I however am here to learn and live. To build a life and for me to grow as a human. •Living in someone's house is not as easy as it sounds. Settling in another country is is a challenge that can cause problems for a lot of people. What puts a spanner in the works is the reality of having to live with a family you hardly know. So far I've only had one host family that I really enjoy being with. That doesn't change the fact I hardly knew them before I moved here, I didn't know what makes them tick or what turns them on. Everything here is basically walking on eggshells. Simply because you know nothing about what to do or what's gon...

I've always had a fascination about the USSR its history and how it is now, more especially I was very fascinated with Russia its history and the present. I recieved a great opportunity to go to St Petersburg Russia( the city that was the Capital of Russia before Moscow) on a Rotary tour. Needless to say St Petersburg has ALWAYS been one of the destinations on my travel list. I had the great privillege of being able to go and experience it for what it has to offer. Two Days before the departure I was facing some health problems with people asking me is it really necessary for me to go in My condition, and honestly I couldnt care how I felt this is Russia after all. 24 March 2016 the big day came bags packed, heart excited feeling a lot healthier and simply impatient to get going I finally left for Russia. It was so great meeting other Exchange Students (my oldies namely) and of course reuniting with my fellow newbies. After countless stops at authority points checking our docume...

For those that know me personally know that I have 2 left feet and a body harder than an iron rod. I however took the bull by the horns and asked to participate in my schools Vanhojen Tannsit(Wanhat Dance in English) which is for the 2nd graders of senior high school as they about to become the school seniors( the 3rd graders are finishing school and writing their matriculation exams). Knowing that this was a risk the headmaster initially objected to me doing the dance because the learners had already been practicing for over a month now. However I still tried, practicing on my own learning all the dance moves. A week before the dance finally getting a dance partner, I got the green light to do the dance. Learning 10 dances like the Waltz and Tango in 3 weeks is not something that can be easily done I however did it and on the 18th of February( which also happened to be my brothers birthday) was the first performance of the dance. With all the ladies in the big beautiful gowns and gent...