Now it's over. Don't be happy, I'm not talking about my blog . :-DD I mean Homecoming week is over and now it's time to tell you my friends, everything about it. At first many of u people wonder "What is Homecoming?" To be honest I don't know either. But after my mom's story I know! It's when student,s from school who have been there and study in colleges and that kinda places nowadays, come back to visit to our school again. That's how I understood that. May be wrong, maybe not right.
Let's start from Monday. I didn't have any school (:: So let's start from Tuesday instead. We had colorful day. Every senior had to wear pink, freshmen yellow, sophomores violet, juniors blue, Finnish people pink (I'm senior). That was cool 'cause at same time I saw how are seniors, freshmen etc.. SO our school looked like rainbow. ;--D Here's how I looked that day, meaning that picture above. :--) Am I pretty?
Next day after Tuesday is surely Wednesday. All the highschoolers were expected to wear something which starts with letter S. To me it was too easy... I assume u all know what is my name? (--: There were supermen, samurais and sexy and that kinda people then.
Thursday was you had to wear "that-army-clothes-kinda-thing" clothes. I don't like that kinda clothes so I didn't wear at all. DON'T get me wrong! I wasn't naked. :--( Then the evening of Thursday was amazing! ((: Parade. Many cars, marching band and round through the city. Because I was in Homecoming court, what means that I was one of the Homecoming-king candinates, I was riding with car in parade with other candinates, Jacob and Sydney. Look that picture and after that u can say that how handsome we Finnish men are. Or not. Anyways it was unbelievable experience. :-------------)
Friday. Football. Fun. We had our Homecoming football games, JV (younger kids) and Varsity (older men). I'm playing in JV 'cause im too good to Varsity... We lost our both games but just a little difference in score. My highlight was that when I was in kickoff, I tackled one guy with boy in my team and after that they announced his and my name. It was SO great feeling after that. :--)) In Varsity's game's half time was that Homecoming court. So a queen and king were chosen. I wasn't chosen. I think I was too good for that also, so I'm very happy to be honest that I wasn't picked up 'cause crown belongs to somebody whohas been at school 3 years insted of my almost 2 months.
Saturday was yeasterday. Homecoming dance was the last thing in this Homecoming after that I came home. :-D I went to dance with Sydney and here's the picture of us. Don't freak out 'cause of that smile. My mom has taught that to me and I'm getting to get used to it. :)) The dance was like Finnish disco. Some fast dances and then some slow dances which I liked better. But not gonna tell more about those.. ;--)
So that was Homecoming. If somebody asks some day that "What is Homecoming?" Then u can read this blog to her/him. ((:
Right now I'm gonna read rest of the English play about witchcraft. It is as interesting as a blank paper. But when it's blank paper there's no 498579797 weird words that nobody ever use in every-day-life and I have no clue what they mean. :)) Then I will have onkly 3 footballpractices next week. Which is goos 'cause I have more time to spend with my friend. But now I have spent enough time.
'til next time
Sami
ps. After one week it's MINNESOTA and MUSE
Finally! I have some time to write about American people as I promised. Homecoming is almost over.. just tomorrow's dance and then boring school starts with smiles.. :--/ But I will tell about Homecoming after it's finally over. So I can keep u people excited (bored) little more.
Well, I try to tell u everything most funny and interesting things about Americans (impossible).
A huge thing to us as we r Finnish people is how they say "moro", "hei", "morske", "terska" etc. It's really often that one word changes to this: "Hi, how are you?" "Good, how are you?" "I'm good." And u must NEVER answer; "Really bad, my dog died, I broke up with my wife and my car was stolen." 'Cause they don't wanna hear it. It's just "terska". So keep it simple people! And they do that in stores, at school, in streets. It's so funny at start to think that a saleman is interested how r u feeling. But it's just a way to say hello. So when I come back it will be "Terska, miten rullaa?"
Most of the people here r so nice and friendly. Almost everyone at school has said something to me. It helped me to feel that I belong the gang right away. If u r feeling sad here, U MUST hide it. Just smile and everything's gonna be fine. And when u smile, smile that everyone sees ur teeth! My mom has said about this to me. And I try to learn this way, I have to, I want to. :) But I look like moron with teeth and smile.. Maybe it's just my opinion.
American people ARE NOT so fat as u imagine. They can do sports as well and I think here in Iowa it's as much fat people as Finland. (I move here from Finland so now number stays same :DD) And even though they say that girls r not so hot and pretty as in tv shows. But I have to say that u can find them here if u want. So if u are gay, go away, all i have to say. Joke. :--D
Sarcasm. It's the way of humor that if u use that here u r good ! Our family here is so sarcastic. And it's funny. I love them btw.
When I compare people to Finnish people. I have to say that ofc 'cause I'm Finnish I love my country people. But now has happened an unfair.. I love AMERICAN people also and very much ! (((: They show their happiness and are really social human beings. That's it.
I just described people I love now. I also feel like an American 'cause I HAVE STARTED THINKING IN ENGLISH !!! : )))
'til the Homecoming-maraton-novel
Sami
It's true. I will keep u excited and at first tell you about other exciting things. ;--)
Last school week wasn't so special. Now I'm lying 'cause I was chosen as HOMECOMING KING CANDINATE ! :)) That means that I'm one of the 5 boys and one of us (me) gonna be homecoming queen... king sorry. So my victory is (not so) sure. :-) Next Friday u will know how is next king of USA.
Also we I had my first real tests at school. Math and History. Math was pretty easy after I figured out with dictionary what the **** is "math test" in Finnish. After that I was ready to go. History test wasn't as easy as Math one. My dictionary was bad that day and didn't help me to get A+. So it's gonna be Ö- or something. :s But that's okay. I think nobody in Finland can't answer for question "What happened in Kansas, 1945 or something and why?" with watching one movie in whole time before the test. But that was alright. The woman in movie was prety and that's the main thing right?
Talking. Is. Getting. Better. I talk much more nowadays to my friends at school than at start and that's one of the reasons why so many people r nice to me and my friends now. About speaking: today, I called to Kari with Skype and he said that my English sounds a little more American that it was before. And my Finnish speaking is freakin' fast also. I think ladies and centleman: here is next Antero Mertaranta! ;--D At first I spoke with him in Finnish and I was so suprised that it tok a lot of time to explain what I did yeasterday. Finally I explained that in English and I will do it also right now:
At first I went to watch a volleyball tournament of our school's girls'. It was nice and I didn't get the ball to my head. Next I have luch at a restaurant and then have some coffee with my homecoming date, Sydney. We had a really great time and we talked almost everything that American woman anf Finnish man can speak. I really enjoyed that. Then, right after that, I went to dancing party called Nightstorm with few of my friends (6) It was SO great. 600-700 highschoolers and most of them were pretty girls. So it was pretty much guys' paradise and also girls' because I was there. ;-)) The way that people danced was way more different than in a normal disco in Finland. People didn't even ask "Do u wanna dance with me?" They just crab a girl or a boy and start to dance. Little look and if they were pleased who they dance with. Amazing... My score in "girls-who-escaped-after-seeing-me" was zero. And believe or not I danced with girls. :D I think i have been telling too much about disco stuff. I will maybe regret that when I'm old granpa but now it's okay. :--) The last thing was my brother's, Kyle's, bonfire in our place. It was sweet to meet him and several other people. The clock was 03:30 AM when I finally went to sleep, and I fell asleep with a big smile on my face. :-----------))
Next week is HOMECOMING WEEK! (((: We will have homecoming parade on thursday evening and I'm in that parade 'cause I'm one of the candinates as I said. Then on Friday we have Homecoming football game, in a half-time they tell us who is gonna be homecoming queen and who's gonna be Sami. Then the last thing is on Saturday and it's Homecoming DANCE! ;)
I almost forgot to say that: I play first time in my life in a real football game! U don't believe that? :o Here r some proves for that.
In the first picture I am number 18, and in second picture I am the guy on left side.
So I'm gonna write next time after Homecoming week and write about that. NO WAY! Before that I'm gonna write about Americans and tell that some of our stereotypes are WRONG. So in next blog u can enjoy my opinion of Americans and after that is that Homecoming blog. I think a human being cannot tell his/her plans more difficult that I did. :)
'til then MORO
Sami
So, I promised to tell about YFU meeting. I'm sorry that this took so much time. (U got time to breath after my last "novel") I ofc think ur brains, they must be given some rest 'cause u must translate this everything. I will keep this short 'cause SERIOUSLY I don't have time. Everyday is the same: going to school, football, dinner, homeworks (we are given lots of them here! like 25 exercises in Math is USUAL). Then I have only one hour or half an hour to do something and usual it's guitar playing and quick visit on Facebook.
About the YFU meeting. There were about 50 exchange students from all around the world (in fact 80% of us were from Germany). I don't get it... why Germany? There young people can drink when they're 16, so why go to spend tipaton (without alcohol) year in USA? :o They are from Germany, that must be a reason. In the meeting there were some teaching and some of that was unimportant 'cause I have so lovely and the best family as u know well. But it was pretty fun to see how are the others doing. When I compare myself to others I think I'm doing REALLY well. For example I DON'T have a girlfriend in Brazil, I'm not 3 hours per day at computer, my school grades are not D (5 in Finland). It's up to u and ur cleverness is it lower or higher. (; We had lunch there, everyone brought something food from their own country. I brought Karjalan piirakoita and they were the best ! :) As u can guess. One guy told a funny story: "When I was an exchange student many years ago I went to Germany. I couldn't speak a word that language before. The first thing happened to me was that I was outside our house. Then several girls came to our pool and took all their colther off. I got scared and escaped inside." U will be suprised as I tell u that it was he. I got known few students pretty well and I think I will get new Facebook-friends (((:
Next thing I'm gonna do is put some pics. The first one is me throwing basketball. The second one is our kitten. Is it cute? :))
Today was a good day at school. Few guys were asking what means "Fuck off", "Fuck u", "whore", "fuck" and "Shut up" in Finnish. It was funny when they started to shout in our hall way "Painnu vitun", "haista vitu", "huokra", "vitu", "turbha khii". Oh man I laughed :DD
Right now I have to go to get some sleep. I promise I will promise as soon as I have time. Hopefully u will enjoy my blog even though it isn't any more in Finnish. Mut vitu turpha khii. ;DD :DD
'til then
Sami
AWESOME. That's the word to describe my feeling right now. :--)) I'm not sick anymore (just little coughing), I spoke with my best friend and my family in skype few hours this morning and I just came from walking with my mom (it was so cool; stars in the sky, perfect weather...). So these r some reasons for the word "AWESOME". If u check some dictionary there will be that kind of explanation of that word, believe me.
There's not much to tell about this week. I went school every day except on Thursday, and skipped all football practices 'cause I was sick. But on Friday there was a thing in last period called "pep rally". All the students and teachers came to our jim and there was such things as "throwing one teacher with pie", a running competition, cheerleaders' dance and good music. It was fun I think. We don't have in Finland this kind of thing, do we? I mean, yeah, u can throw ur teacher with pie but usually there's not so much people watching u than we had. :--((
Another "thing" which is coming closer is HOMECOMING. It means that there is a parade in one day, then there's a football game (with the best badass player of USA: Sami) And the last thing in Homecoming: Homecoming dance. And guess who have a partner already? ;) And I can tell it's a girl. :--) Sydney. We had become really good friends. ::)) So let's wait for homecoming !
During this week I have seen like 6 American movies (the ones we rented) and they all have been great ! : ) Btw when u people there in Finland complain about raining and that kind of stuff, I can tell here is about 30 celsius and sun is shining :) !
Today I spoke with my family and best friend Kari in Skype as I told. It was great to see their faces and hear their voices. We talked about pretty much everything. It was so nice! No words, but it didn't affect any homesickness. ((: I'm gonna talk with my parents once a month during this year. Somebody could think that's too much or not enough. But for me it's perfect, and that's the main thing. With friends the speaking in Skype is not so planned. When I have boring time I just called to my friends like 4am Finnish time and they love it! :)) Maybe it isn't so good idea if I want to keep my both eyes without black color... :--/ But I will made up something. (: Like get a helmet before coming back or something..
I have eaten KARJAN PIIRAKOITA few days now! My mom here made them. They r delicious and taste as same as in Finland. (better than in there) I have YFU-meeting in Iowa city tomorrow and I will see 50 other exchange students! :--) That's gonna be great. But waking up early tomorrow isn't a great thing. So I'm gonna sleep now. I will write about tomorrow as soon as I can! :)
Sami
Game over, or it's better to say... FEVER is over! I had fever like 4 days... But now everything is so okay! I woke up this morning feeling okay and there's was no fever. Also I ate my mom's made Karjalan Piirakoita! ((: (traditional Finnish food, like bread and pie together).
But I think u want to know what I have been doing this whole time between my lastest blog and this. From Monday to Thursday it was pretty much just hanging out in periods at school with sore throat. Then practices after that although I couldn't practise whole time 'cause I was too weak (I don't mean my muscles, just my throat) ;) When I came home I pretty much just did my homework and took it easy.
Thursday also known as the HELL DAY. Everything was fine. After our practice we had a team meal. It's a tradition which we have every Thursday. Our parents made food. We have had like hamburgers, spaghetti and tacos before this day. After that meal I felt like... really sick. When we got home we checked my fever, it was 39 celsius/102.7 Fahrenheit. After that I was given several pills and then I felt little better. But it was awful time anyway.
I didn't have energy or time to hang out with my friends. Only one Subway-eating with Nathaniel. Then on Saturday morning I had to wake up 0545 AM, so that was kinda sweet... NOT. But I survived. The reason why I had to wake up that early was a football game of Iowa Hawkeyes. Amd as u know football here means AMERICAN football. :--) I was working with my mom there. Mom talked with customers and I filled drinks that people wanted. And I can tell there are 4 kind of people depending which drink they choose.
Group 1: people who r fat and take normal Coke, so they don't care how they look like.
Group 2: people who r fat and take Diet Coke and think they will be skinny by drinking that, at home waits the steak...
Group 3: people who r skinny and take normal Coke and do some sports maybe to keep in good shape.
Group 4: people who take Diet Coke and that's maybe the reason why they keep in good shape.
So here's some photos of the game and me, the best Finnish salesman there and the only one. ((::
Now when the times has run and it's almost a month here, I have started to think home. Like when I yeasterday read my parents' e-mails and talked with my friends on Facebook. Those e-mails nearly (remember: NEARLY) made me cry.. You can realize how much u love ur family and friends when u r far away and it has been long time since u have seen them. It's weird. But I like that. That might mean that I'm weird. Weird... Anyways this year is gonna change my relationships with those people, I think only make them stronger like my hand muscles.
At the end I would like to say: FUCK! My fever is back < 3 < 3 :)=)))(((: ::: ! Let's just hope it's over in some day. Lucky we rented yesterday 5 movies. So I have something to do! Good by my life ! :--D And also I had to learn some difficult words in English, test tomorrow.. They are that hard that even my American classmates don't know them. All I need is luck. Keep your thumbs up mates ! :)
(try to)
write soon !
'til then, moikkelis !
Sami
