On Saturday my dad came to visit me since he was working near Amsterdam the week prior. It was the perfect trip to split up 6 months of being away from home. Fortunately, the program was set up to accommodate guests. While I was in class, he did his own thing- walking around the city, going on a lake cruise, etc- and in the evenings he joined us to learn about Finnish culture alongside me. What a great opportunity!

  • Walked up the Harju steps.
  • Luckily my subleased apartment had an extra mattress!

This week we learned a lot more in class: a part of grammar called partitive, physical feelings (hot, cold, hungry, etc), word endings for in/from/to (because Finnish doesn’t have prepositions like in English), and more. Throughout the week I even received a few compliments from my peers on how much I’ve been speaking! This is notable because it shows how far I’ve come since Spain, when people would notice my lack of speaking.

  • Photo credit: Lars Rodriguez
  • “At this time I go here via this mode of transportation.”
  • Photo credit: Lars Rodriguez
  • Repetition and moving around really speeds up learning!
    Photo credit: Mayumi Fukuda

Sunday: In the morning we met a small group in the city center to explore some outdoor and indoor flea markets. Buying secondhand is huge in Finland, which is great for me since it’s cheap and environmentally friendly (plus I’ll have to get rid of most things after two years). Then in the afternoon we went to a Finnish baseball game. Though it’s a similar concept, Finnish baseball is definitely a different game!

Monday: Hiked about 5 km in a nature-sports complex called Laajavuori. This week the high temperatures were between 19 and 23°C. It felt so nice compared to last week, when it was more commonly 14°C.

  • Most Finnish trees are tall and skinny.

Tuesday: Folks met at the school to play golf and then moved to the city center for a conversation / game night, where I met them. I arrived during a game of Trivial Pursuit…in Finnish. From experience I can hardly play the game in English, so I wasn’t surprised that it was a bit overwhelming in Finnish. Despite one of the coordinators partially translating, the night was my least favorite event of the program. But it still had value. I was able to learn a few snippets of Finnish culture, but more importantly I began a slow transition out of the honeymoon phase. Though I’ve learned a ton of Finnish these past few weeks, I’m still, of course, a beginner. This night with all advanced speakers, outside the bubble of my group one classroom, I experienced more realistic Finnish. While scary, that motivates me to continue studying and practicing once the program ends. Self-guided study hasn’t always been the easiest for me, but I will certainly make an effort using the resources and connections I’ve gained these past few weeks.

Wednesday: Tonight we had another cooking event. This time the theme was Finnish superfoods- foods that are both healthy and tasty.

  • Photo credit: Mayumi Fukuda
  • I tried out a Finnish sewing handcraft.
  • Some ladies talked to us about using foods from the forest (berries, herbs, etc).

Thursday: As our last free time activity, we had a farewell midsummer party. This included performances by each group, Finnish foods, and socializing. It was a nice way to end the program.

Here you can see the lighthearted and fun environment inspired by our teacher! Though silly, a kid song is a good way to learn different words. In fact, this is how I came to remember the days of the week.

Friday: After class we received course certificates and took a bunch of photos with each other. It’s amazing how connected you can get to people in only three weeks! Later in the evening I had dinner with some friends in the city center. Thanks to everyone who made this experience so incredible!

  • Our amazing teacher, Anni!
    Photo credit: Mayumi Fukuda
  • Photo credit: Liina Jasmin
  • Photo credit: Ville Hirvikoski
  • What a great group of people!
    Photo credit: Mayumi Fukuda

Next stop: Lappeenranta!

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  3. Nice way to cap off your first month in Finland Jordan (1 week of orienting on your own; 3 weeks of organized programming). Maybe you can teach Jarret the significance that the Hokey-Pokey plays in experiential learning! 🙂 Dad

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  4. Pingback: Graduation and Beyond – Fulbright Adventures in Finland

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