1998 School Magazine

Girls 6ranimar ^iconol agrisbane 1998

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parents came to picl< IlIe Lip froilT KarkkLi I was so nervotis. I knew that I was goino S ,Qin, to live in the northei'n half of Finland I>ut Ididn'I realise ITow differentlife would he My first host family lives in a tiny village of aboLit 1500 people. I lived on a farnT and the town that I went to school in was 20 kms away. My present host family and my next host family 1,011} live in the little town of Nivala. This is The town where I go school. 11 11as a population of 11 000 people. Before arriving in Finland I had never seenortouchedrealsnow. That allchanoed very quickly. For the first three and a half months of my yearlsaw nothing but snow and ice. I spent many hours enjoying the beauty of the snow-covered countryside

about before. The thing that became most evident to me was the effect that the winter has on people. When I first came As the year went on I discovered a few things that I had never really thought My Easter didn't really feel like Easter this year but I had a wonderful weekend nonetheless. My host family took me ice- hole fishing on a lake about 100 kms south from where we lived. To get to the cabin where we were meeting everyone else we had to drive across the lake. I felt so strange driving over the lake. I was also a little worried but I later found out that I had nothing to worry about. WITen I had to drill a hole through the ice to fish, I found that it was at least a metre thick

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to this town I noticed how quiet the I also discovered just how intich fun snow can be. My first host streets were and the fact that there reall weren't ve nTan family taught me to ski, botlT down hill and cross-country. Cross- people around. As soon as school finished eve ,one went country skiing is very popular in this part of Finland because straight home and stayed inside, but as the da s o01 10n er and there are no hills to ski down. Along with skiing several times warmer I noticed how peo re came 'alive'. Not onI were Ih a week I also played many games and built a few snowmen will} streets a little busier each afternoon but eo re themselves my ten year old it OSt sister. Not only did I have To get used to became more talkative and happier. I never thou ht that the the freezing temperatures, but I also ITad to adjust to the lack of weather could affect people so much. light. When I first arrived the sun rose at about 8: 30 am and it Although this summer on the whole has been quite cold, was dark again by 5 pm with a daily average of about 16 degrees, and wet, I have had it took me a little while to settle in and get used to the idea a wonderful time. I especiall love the in htless da s of 11 that I was to be away from home for a whole year, but with the northern part of Finland. help of my host family and new school friends everyday life Like Luisa I too have had a truly wonderful lime over the past started to become I}ormal. Although things settled down a little, six months and I'm sure the next six will be just as rewarding life as an eXchange student never gets boring. There are always as the last. I have also toured Central Europe, and visited Russia, new things to see and experience. A whole book would be Sweden and Estonia. I have also \, ISIted many wonderful places needed to explain e\, erything that I have done and experienced within Finland but some of Iny favourite memories so far are visiting the Kerni Trips: Snow Castle, seeing the Northern Lights and spending Easter Both of us ITave been Iucl

was a snow chapel and even the tables in the restaurant were huge slabs of ice cut from a nearby lake Seeing the Northern Lights in late Marcll was the most thrillino experience of my life. I was at a friend's house one night and we went Quito the cow ITouse to put the cows to 'bed'. Just as we were going inside I noticed a green flickering on the horizon. We must ha\, e been out- side in the freezing nioht air for about forty-five minutes. We were totally spell- bound by tile sight of the greeiT lights dancing over us. Voids really don't ex- press the sight veiy well but it was ITLily anlazing

, opportunity to go to Sweden. it was a very short but most enjoyable trip. in May we were able to visit SI Petersburg in Russia. This four day tour was a wonder- ful experience. Visiting this place really allowed us to appreciate what we ITave in comparison with others around the world Our Euro-Tour was an eighteen-day trip through nine central European counti'ies This was a truly amazing Trip and we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves Being an eXchange student allows you to discover things about yourself and the world tllat you o1hei\\, ise inioht not disco\rer

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CHLOE HALL-BROWN LUISA RYAN

Cb/Oe 1'71 VCni'ce

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