Tallinn - Pictures

Tallinn

This weekend I went on an amazing trip to Tallinn with other exchange students and volunteers. On Sunday, we took the bus in Tampere to Helsinki, and then we went on a ship to Tallinn. We actually arrived in Tallinn around dinner time, which was around 9 o’clock, but we didn’t get off the ship until the following morning. We slept in tiny cabins with four “beds”.

The next day, we visited the city. We walked to the top of a hill where we saw a beautiful panorama. The city was very charming and pretty. Plus the weather was very nice, the sun was shining and there was snow on the ground…

In short, it was great to discover a new city and to spend time with friends!!!

Pictures are coming soon, I promess!

 

Italian - Belgian country evening

Last night, it was the Italian – Belgian country evening. I made a powerpoint presentation about my home country: Belgium. I talked about the Belgian political system (just the basics), and famous Belgians. I also showed some pictures of Brussels, Ghent and Liege. The Italian exchange students also made a presentation about Italy, and its culture, architecture, artists and food. After the presentations, we ate traditional food. The Italian exchange students made pizza, cookies, and Tiramisu. I made a chocolate moelleux, an appel cake, a marbled cake, and wafels.

Russian and Austrian Country Evening

Yesterday evening was the second country evening of the year organized by AFS. Russia was presented by Stepan and Clemens talked about Austria. The other exchange students and I got to hear the Russian national anthem, see some wonderfull pictures, and learn about perchten. Perchten are austrian events, which take place a couple of times a year. During the event, people wear scary masks, these masks are supposed to scare away the demons during the winter.
After the presentations, there was traditional delicious russian and austrian food.

Russian Flag 

Austrian Flag 

Perchten mask 

Tonight I watched a part of an Ice Hockey match with Milla (my youngest hostsister) and Simo (my hostfather).  Finland won against the Czech Republic. I'm not exactly a sportfan, so the only things I could really comment on were the audience, the music and the cuteness of the players... But it was an interesting experience. Tomorrow there's a Sweden - Finland match, and this time I'll probably watch the whole match.  

Week of light in Tampere

Yesterday evening, I met with a friend in the centre of Tampere for the week of light which celebrates light. There was a great atmosphere in Tampere. We watched people dancing with fire and the fireworks, it was very impressive !

Syys lomma – Autumn holiday

Last week it was syys lomma, which means autumn holiday. I took this time to have fun with my hostfamily and rest.
I went with my hostfamily to see a play about James Dean in Valkeakoski, a small town near Tampere, on saturday. The play was in Finnish so I didn’t understand much, but the facial expressions did help though. I did enjoy a lot the songs, some of them were even in English and I could sing along in my head!
On sunday, I met with my friend Alessandra. We did some shopping and walking around in Tampere. It was fun to see how toys have evolved since my childhood. In my time, the Lego boxes were much smaller.

On Tuesday, I spent the whole day with my hostsisters. I made dangerously good Belgian waffels with bananas, whipped cream and melted chocolate for breakfast. Afterwards, Emilia, Milla and I went to Tampere. Emilia and I bought our dress for prom, which is in February. The dresses are fabulous and we look absolutely beautiful! I can’t give more details because I don’t want to ruin the surprise… To end this great day, we went to see the movie “We’re the Millers”. It was absolutely hilarious!!! I recommend everybody to see it!

On Wednesday the girls and I went to visit Mamma, their grandmother, for a long weekend. Mamma lives on the countryside. It was a beautiful area! There weren’t a lot of houses, it was mostly fields and trees. The view was even more beautiful when it started snowing (oh yes!). For me, it was very interesting to see the Finnish countryside. We spend most of the time reading, and just hanging out. We went completely crazy in the supermarket - trust me you don’t want to know why – and also horseback riding, which was amazing. The horse was very sweet and patient, it felt so good! Emilia and I went to a bar with one of her cousins on Friday night. Eventhough the drinks were expensive and the music wasn’t that good, I still had fun! It was so nice to distress. On Sunday, my hostsisters, my hostparents, who had arrived Saturday, and I went to visit Pappa, my hostfather’s father. Pappa also lives on the countryside near a beautifull little lake, which was partly frozen. It was so nice and quiet!
In short, I had a fun, lovely and interesting week!

School – second semester has begun

The second semester began last week. This semester, I have English, history, philosophy and music.

In philosophy and history, we are talking about Ancient Greece, which means these courses are easy for me since I already studied it in the past years in Belgium as a Latin-Greek student. The teachers know it so once in a while they ask me a question in English, and I always know the answer which makes me feel proud…

In music class, we are rehearsing to perform in various, such as a church at Christmas time… It is so much fun! The teacher even suggested I sing something in Dutch… Any suggestions? I can’t seem to be able to pick a song…

In English class, we mainly practice speaking. Yesterday, we did that by saying tongue twisters faster and faster. Try saying “Wether the weather is cold, wether the weather is hot, we'll weather the weather whatever the weather wether we like it or not” as fast as you can. This is also a good one: “How many cookies could a good cook cook if a good cook could cook cookies?” It’s more fun when you see other people trying...

Bye bye!