Finally starting school

While all my friends are preparing to move out of home and start the adult life at their various universities, here I am thousands of kilometers away in the warm weather of -5°C making my way to Kannaksen Lukio along with my host father ,Juri, or as we affectionately call him Jurppa( and no that name was not of my choosing I was told of it my first day here). We arrived at school and had a meeting with the principal after choosing my courses that are to start after 2 weeks because of the pending test week. For those that know me know that art isn't my strong point I however chose it as one of my courses. One would think school would be similar it however gave me the biggest culture shock since my arrival. Including the amount of stares received but hardly any greeting, I took the power into my hands to greet people but the number of scared looks I received scared even me. The amount of trust that is between teacher and student is amazing even to an extent of calling the teachers by their first names instead of the formal Mr/Mrs. In a week of school I knew that I'm in for an interesting year with lots of curveballs and learning experiences.

Ensikertaan...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Labour Pains and Giving Birth.

Image
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
Read more

100 Days

Image
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
Read more

Slowly yet rapidly ending...

Image
The time has come. One that is surely scary for me to acknowledge, exciting for some and sad for others. In less than 24 hours I will be boarding a plane journeying back to the Mother Land South Africa. I say again that never in my entire life did I think that I will fall inlove with another country, its culture, its people and its life like the way I love South Africa. But I now feel the same amount of affection and love for Finland. My time spent here has been beyond my imagination and such a blessing. Everyday even in the smallest way was so special and means so much to me. I came here a baby knowing nothing about this place, but now I feel I have gained a vast amount of knowledge, Wisdom and experience. Considering how impulsively I decided to come on exchange it remains one of the best decisions Ive taken. If this year was the best in my life, that is something yet to be debated. •Firstly I would like to thank Rotary for giving me this opportunity. There arent many people who a
Read more