Blog Archives - Vuosi Kanadassa

1.4.20231.4.2023

Joulu ja uusivuosi | Christmas and a new year

Hei taas kerran! Yli puolet mun vaihdosta on ohi 🙁 Oisi aika taas mun kuulumisille ja niitä kyllä riittää. Mulla on ollut kiireistä, josta oon kyllä pitänyt. On jo mennyt pari kuukautta vuotta 2023, joka on vaikea uskoa. Oon tässä ehtinyt matkustaa Kanadan ulkopuolellekin Dominikaaniseen Tasavaltaan niin kuin mun edellisestä postauksesta näkee.

Hi once again! Over half of my exchange is GONE 🙁 And now it’s time again for an update on my life. I have been very busy but I have quiet enjoyed it. It’s hard to believe that a couple months of 2023 have passed by. As you might have seen from my previous post I traveled outside of Canada to the Dominican republic.

Joulua odotellessa | Getting ready for Christmas

Kanadassa joulukuussa on paljon kaikenlaista jouluun liittyvää tekemistä. Monissa taloissa oli hienot jouluvalot ja joululauluja alettiin kuuntelemaan hyvissä ajoin. Mun host-äiti antoi mulle joulukuun alussa adventtikalenterin. Sen lisäksi menin yksi päivä joulukuun alussa Blue Mountainiin, jossa kävin mun kavereiden kanssa maalaamassa saviastioita joululahjoiksi.

There is a lot of Christmas related stuff to do before Christmas in Canada. Many houses had beautiful lights and people started listening to Christmas songs pretty early. My host mom gave me an advent calendar. One day in the start of December I went to Blue Mountain to paint pottery with my friends to give as Christmas presents.

Joulua ennen menin kahteen jouluparaatiin. Toinen oli Collingwoodissa, jota olin vaan katsomassa, ja toinen Wasaga Beachissa, johon mä ja Josefine osallistuttiin mun Rotary klubin kanssa. Niissä paraateissa eri järjestöt ja yritykset oli tehnyt paraatiautoja, jotka oli hienosti koristeltu. Me nähtiin kaksi paraatiautoa oikeilla nuotioilla. Molempien paraatien lopussa valaistettiin joulukuusi.

I went to two Christmas parades. One was in Collingwood and the other in Wasaga Beach. I just watched the one in Collingwood but was a part of the Wasaga one with Josefine and my Rotary club. In the parades companies and organizations have floats that have all kinds of decorations. We saw two with actual fire in them.

Mä osallistuin myös kolmiin pikkujouluihin. Yksi oli mun interact klubin pikkujoulut, jossa syötiin herkkuja ja pelattiin pelejä. Toinen oli mun Rotary klubin pikkujoulut, jotka oli mun ensimmäisen host-äitin luona. En viipynyt siellä kuitenkaan kovin kauaa, koska mulla oli seuraavana päivänä koulua. Kolmas oli Josefinen klubin pikkujoulut Collingwoodissa, johon Josefine toisaalta itse ei voinut tulla, koska hän tuli kipeäksi. Ne pikkujoulut oli keilaushallissa ja pääsin kokemaan, minkälaista keilaaminen on, kun on käytössä vaan viisi keilaa ja pienempi keilapallo. Aluksi olin aika huono, mutta toisella kierroksella parannuin huomattavasti. Mut ja Josefine myös kutsuttiin illalliselle yhden mun klubin rotaryn luokse, jossa meillä oli kisa siitä, kuka koristelee hienoimman piparkakkutalon (mä voitin).

I was invited to three Christmas parties. The first one was with my Interact club where we ate snacks and played games. The second one was with my Rotary club in my first host families home. I couldn’t stay for too long since I had school the next day. The third one was with Josefine’s Rotary club but guess who got sick and couldn’t make it, Josefine. That one was in a bowling alley in Collingwood. I got to try bowling with 5 pins and a smaller bowling ball. First round was pretty rough but the next one went way better. Me and Josefine also went to a Rotarians place for dinner one night and we had a competition on who decorated the best gingerbread house (I won).

Kävin Canada’s Wonderlandissa kaksi kertaa ensiksi mun host-perheen kanssa ja sitten toisen rotary perheen kanssa. Canada’s Wonderland on Kanadan suurin huvipuisto. Talvella siellä on muutama pienempi huvipuistolaite auki ja kaikkialle on laitettu jouluvaloja. Siellä oli tosi jouluinen tunnelma.

I went to Canada’s Wonderland twice. First with my host family and then with a Rotarians family. Canada’s Wonderland is Canada’s biggest amusement park. During winter they have a couple runs open and there is Christmas lights everywhere. It felt so Christmassy there.

Yhtenä perjantaina meidän koulussa oli menossa koripallo turnaus, jota mä ja Josefine jäätiin katsomaan koulun jälkeen, kunnes me lähdettiin yhden mukavan Rotaryn kanssa Midlandiin, jossa oli museo ja rakennuksia, jotka kertoi alkuperäisasukkaiden historiasta.

One Friday we had a basketball tournament in our school. Me and Josefine stayed later to watch it until we went to Midland with a lovely Rotarian to visit a native museum and buildings.

Toronto

21.12 Minä, mun host-äiti, mun espanjalainen ystävä Silvia ja hänen host-äiti sekä Josefine lähdettiin Torontoon 8 aikaan aamulla. Aluksi suunnitelmana oli ajaa Toronton laitamille metropysäkille, josta oltaisi matkustettu Toronton keskustaan. Liikenne aamulla oli kuitenkin niin hyvä, että mun host-äiti päätti ajaa keskustaan asti, josta löydettiin parkkipaikka.

12/21 Me, my host mom, my Spanish friend Silvia and her host mom and Josefine left for Toronto around 8 am. The initial plan was to drive to a subway station in the outskirts of Toronto and take a subway to the downtown. There was almost no traffic in the morning so my host mom decided to drive all the way to the downtown.

Ensimmäiseksi mentiin St. Lawrence kauppatoriin. Sieltä löyty vaikka ja mitä Maple Leaves paidoista wagyu pihveihin. Sieltä käveltiin Gooderham Building:in eteen, josta varmaan kaikki on nähnyt kuvan aikasemmin (ainakin mä olin).

First, we went to St. Lawrence Market. There was all kinds of stuff from Maple Leaves merch to wagyu steak. From there we walked to Gooderham Building. The name might not sound familiar but I would bet that many have seen a picture of it before (at least I had).

Palattiin auton luokse, jotta voitasiin siirtyä seuraavaan määränpäähän Distillery District. Toisin kuin Euroopassa täällä kaupungeissa on aika vaikea liikkua oli se sitten jalan, autolla tai julkisella liikenteellä. Ei löydetty millään parkkipaikkaa mistään, vaikka yritettiin hyvä tovi. Päätettiin luovuttaa ja mennä ydinkeskustaan, jossa on Toronton “time square”. Käytiin katsomassa Toronto kylttiä ja sitten mentiin syömään lounasta. Lounaan jälkeen mentiin Eaton Centre, joka on kauppakeskus.

We went back to the car so we could go to our next destination, the Distillery District. Now the thing is that in North America cities aren’t like the ones in Europe. It is pretty hard to walk, bike, drive, or use the public transportation. We didn’t find a parking spot anywhere and the one underground parking we found was full even though it showed it wasn’t. We decided to give up and go to the “time square” of Toronto. We also went to see the Toronto sign. After all the adventures, we went for lunch. After, we walked to the Eaton Center right next to our lunch spot and shopped for a bit.

Lähdettiin kolmen aikoihin, jotta ehdittäisiin hyvissä ajoissa takaisin kotiin. No… aina ei kaikki mee niin kuin pitää. Yritettiin löytää paras reitti käyttäen Google Maps:ia. Kaikki tiet muuttui pikkuhiljaa punasiksi. Mun host-äiti yritti päästä ruuhkaa karkuun menemällä sivuteitä pitkin. Lopputulos oli se, että meidän kahden tunnin kotimatka muuttui neljäksi tunniksi ja yhdessä kohtaa oltiin samassa paikassa jumissa noin puolituntia. Ainoa hyvä puoli tässä oli, että nähtiin kauniita naapurustoja, jotka oli suoraan kuin jostain elokuvasta.

We left around three hoping to get back in time. Well… not everything can go like planned. When we were trying to find the best route from Google Maps all the roads started to turn red meaning there was traffic jams. My host mom tried her best and took as along the side roads. All of this resulted in two hour drive turning into a four hour drive. The only good thing in all of this was that we got to see all the beautiful neighborhoods that looked straight out of a movie.

Joulu | Christmas

Täällä Joulua vietetään joulupäivänä. Jouluaattona kuitenkin menin mun hostperheen kanssa mun host isän vahnempien luokse. Syötiin siellä kalkkunaa, joka yleinen jouluruoka täällä. Illallinen oli todella rento ja ei kovinkaan juhlava, mutta ruoka maistui todella hyvältä. Koko päivä ja ilta oli lumista. Kaikki alueen koulut oli suljettu edellisenä päivänä. Ontarioon oli luvattu iso lumimyrsky ja jotkut alueet saikin paljon lunta, mutta mun pettymykseksi mun asuinalueella ei satanut kuin vähän lunta.

Joulupäivänä heräsin aikasin aamulla, koska mun host-sisarukset (tai no mun host-veli) ei jaksanut oottaa lahjojen avaamista. Mun host-äiti oli ostanut koko perheelle samanlaiset pyjamat, joten laitoin ne päälle. Yläkerrassa joulukuusen alla oli iso pino lahjoja ja lisäsin sinne mun lahjat mun host-perheelle. Piirsin mun host-veljelle tyrannosaurus rexin, sillä se oli sen lempi dinosaurus.

Kanadassa on lahjojen lisäksi myös joulusukka, johon laitetaan pieniä lahjoja. Pääsin heti aamusta avaamaan sekä mun joulusukan lahjat että muut lahjat. Sain enemmän lahjoja kuin olisin osannut odottaa. Yksi mun lemppareista on karvatohvelit, jotka on mulla tälläkin hetkellä jalassa 😉

Lähdettiin lahjojen avaamisen jälkeen taas mun host-isän vanhempien luokse, jossa syötiin brunssi/lounaus. Koko sen ajan mulla oli päällä ne mun pyjamat ja upeat joulupukki sukat. Palattiin sieltä takasin mun host-perheen luokse, sillä illemmalla sinne tuli sukulaisia. Meillä ei ollut virallista illallista, vaan oli erilaisia pieniä purtavia. Mä myös leivoin joulutorttuja, josta kaikki piti. Kaiken kaikkiaan joulu meni mukavasti ja mulla oli hauskaa.

Joulun ja uudenvuoden välissä mä vietin aikaa mun host-perheen kanssa, kävin katsomassa jouluvaloja, kävin ostoskeskuksessa mun kaverin kanssa ja pääsin ensimmäistä kertaa laskettelamaan täällä Blue Mountainissa. Uutena vuotena menin mun host-perheen ja Josefinen kanssa mun host-äidin ystävän luokse, joka on myös mun ystävän Silvian host-äiti. Täällä ei hirveemmin ollut ilotulitteita ainakaan mun asuinalueella.

Here Christmas is celebrated on Christmas day instead of Christmas Eve. I went to my host dad’s parents’ place on Christmas Eve. We ate a turkey dinner which is a very traditional Christmas food in here (in Finland it’s ham). The dinner was very relaxed and not formal. The food was really tasty. The whole day and night was snowing. All the schools had been cancelled the previous day because there was a big snowstorm. Some areas didn’t get much snow (like my area) and some got a lot.

On Christmas day I woke up early since my host siblings were very excited to open presents (who isn’t). Well, it was mostly my host brother since my host sister is so young. My host mom had bought everyone matching pajamas so I hoped into those and got upstairs. There under the Christmas tree was a pile of presents (I had secretly added mine in there the previous night). One of them was a drawing of t-rex for my host brother whose favorite dinosaur it was.

In addition to presents Canadians also have Christmas stockings that are filled with little presents. I opened it and my presents while also watching my host brother be very excited about his presents. I got more presents that I imagined. One of my favorite gifts were fluffy slippers that I am currently wearing while writing this.

After opening the presents we headed out to eat brunch at my host dad’s parents’ place. The whole time I was wearing my pajamas and amazing Santa Claus socks. We came back to my host parents’ house and got ready to welcome guests. We didn’t have an official Christmas dinner. We had little snacks and I baked a Finnish Christmas pastry called “joulutähti” which means Christmas star. Everyone liked it. Overall Christmas was really nice and I had a good time.

Between Christmas and New Year I spend time with my host family, went to see Christmas lights, went to the mall with my friend and got to go skiing for the first time in Canada at Blue Mountain. On New Years Eve I went to my host mom’s friends place who is also the host mom of my friend Silvia. We went together with my host family and Josefine. I was surprised that there wasn’t really any fireworks at least where I lived.

Collingwood

Muutin tammikuun alussa Collingwoodiin mun kolmannen host-perheen luokse. Asun vanhemman pariskunnan luona. Mun host-perheellä on “double doodle” koira nimeltä Daisy. Vietin mun vikat joululoma päivät lukien Harry Potteria mun uudessa host-perheessä.

Ensimmäisenä kouluviikkona loman jälkeen menin katsomaan NBL peliä Torontoon mun ensimmäisen host-äidin kanssa. Ensimmäisellä viikolla oli myös snowday, jolloin kaikki koulubussit on peruttu sään takia. Niitä on tässä talven aikana kerääntynyt.

Heti ensimmäisen viikon jälkeen menin Dominikaaniseen Tasavaltaan, joka oli uskomaton kokemus. Mun ensimmäistä jaksoa oli jäljellä enään viikko, kun tulin takaisin sieltä. Siihen viikkoon sisälty kuntotestausta, kokkausta, eri kulttuurien ruokien maistelua, laskettelua ja snowday.

At the start of January I moved again to my third host family who lives in Collingwood. They are an older couple. They have a cute double-doodle dog called Daisy. I spent the last days of my break reading Harry Potter in my new host family.

The first week back to school I went to see a NBL game to Toronto with my first host mom. I also had a snow day which is a day when all school buses are cancelled because of the weather. We have had a fair share of those during this winter.

Right after the first week I went to the Dominican Republic which was an unforgettable experience. After I came back we only had one week left of our semester. That week was filled with fitness testing, cooking, tasting food from different cultures, skiing and a snowday.

Lasketteluviikonloppu | Ski weekend

Mut ja Josefine kutsuttiin laskettelemaan meidän naapuri Rotary piirin kanssa Blue Mountainille. Tavattiin sunnuntaina sen piirin vaihto-oppilaiden kanssa Thornburyssa, josta mentiin illallisen jälkeen meidän “host-perheisiin”, jotka oli rotareita Thornburyn rotary klubista. Minä ja Josefine yövyttiin suomalaisen vaihtarin Katariinan host-perheen luona. Maanantaina me mentiin aamusta Blue Mountainille, jossa mä ja Josefine odotettiin, kun muille vuokrattiin laskettelukamppeet.

Me lasketeltiin maanantai ja tiistai. Maanantai iltana me osallistuttiin Thornburyn rotary klubin kokoukseen, jossa meillä oli talent show. Mä laitoin kaikki tanssimaan letkajenkkaa.

Me and Josefine were invited to ski with the exchange students from our neighboring district at Blue Mountain. We met on a Sunday in Thornbury where we ate dinner together and after we went to our “host families” that were different Rotarians from the Thornbury club. Me and Josefine stayed with Katriina’s (another Finnish exchange student) host families’ house. On Monday we got up early to go skiing at Blue. Me and Josefine had to wait for everyone to get their rental equipment.

We skid both Monday and Tuesday. On Monday night the Thornbury club had a Rotary meeting and we were all invited. We had a talent show and I forced everyone to dance a Finnish dance called letkajenkka.

Peterborough & Polar Plunge

Seuraava kouluviikko oli vapaata koulusta, sillä jakson lopussa oli “catch up” päiviä, jolloin ne keillä oli koulutehtäviä kesken pystyi tulemaan kouluun tekemään niitä.

Perjantaina minä ja Josefine lähdettiin Josefinen ensimmäisen host-isän matkassa kohti Peterboroughta. En oo ikinä nähnyt niin huonoa ajokeliä. Täällä missä mä asun on tosi tasasta ja paljon peltoja. Monilla teillä ei oo minkäänlaista suojaa puilta, joten kun ajettiin kohti Peterboroughta, tuuli pöllytti lunta tielle ja ainoa, mitä pysty näkemään oli valkoista. Selvittiin kuitenkin teille, jossa oli suojaa ja sieltä keli alkoi paranemaan.

The next week was off from school since there was catch up days for those who had missing work.

On Friday me, Josefine and Josefine’s first host dad started our journey towards Peterborough. I have never seen such bad weather for driving. It is really flat around Collingwood and Wasaga Beach. Many roads don’t have any trees on the sides. They call it whiteout in here. Basically the wind picks up the snow and blows it in the air and all you can see is white. Gladly we survived into roads that had coverage and the weather started getting better.

Peterboroughssa tavattiin muiden meidän piirin ja 7070 piirin vaihtareiden kanssa. Pelattiin ensimmäisenä iltana pelejä, syötiin spaghettia ja katottiin kauhuleffoja. Me myös käytiin paljussa ja mä sain kaikki kierimään lumessa. Se oli kylmin päivä, mitä täällä on ollut tänä talvena. Yöllä oli -30 astetta celsiusta.

We met with the other exchange students in Peterborough. The first night we played games, ate spaghetti and watched horror movies. We also went to the hot tub and I made everyone roll around in the snow. It was the coldest day I experienced in Canada. In the night it was -30 degrees celcius.

Lauantaina mentiin aamupalan jälkeen Armor hill nimiseen pulkkamäkeen, jossa meidän district chair Wayne laski alas puolikkaassa kanootissa. Ja tietenkin kaikki me vaihtarit seurattiin perässä. Me käytiin butter tart myymälässä, josta me osettiin vaikka ja mitä. Me myös käytiin syömässä lounasta kreikkalaisessa ravintolassa. Illalla me syötiin hampurilaisia ja katsottiin taas kauhuleffoja, jotka ei mua vakuuttanut.

On Saturday we ate breakfast and headed to Armor hill which is a toboggan hill. There our district chair Wayne got into half a canoe and went down the hill. We all followed in his footsteps. After, we went to a butter tart shop which we didn’t leave empty handed. We also went to eat lunch in a Greek restaurant. In the evening we ate hamburgers and watched horror movies that still didn’t really amuse me.

Sunnuntaina pakattiin meidän kamppeet ja lähettiin järvelle, jossa osallistuttiin polar plungeen eli avantouintiin. Kaikki muut oli kauhuissaan, mutta suomalaisena mä en ollut. Me laitettiin meidän asut päälle. Mulla oli päällä paita, jossa lukee “Finnish fish”, yöpuvun housut ja peruukki päässä. Se Polar Plunge oli iso hyväntekeväisyystapahtuma ja siellä oli satoja ihmisiä katsomassa, kun kaikki vapaaehtoset kävi avannossa. Me vaihtarit oltiin ensimmäinen ryhmä, jotka hyppäs avantoon. Siellä avannossa oli palomiehiä auttamassa meidät ylös sieltä. Avantouinnin jälkeen lähdettiin kohti meidän koteja.

On Sunday we packed our stuff and went to a lake where we took part in a charity polar plunge. Everyone else was nervous but as a Finn I wasn’t. We put on our amazing costumes. I had a shirt that said “Finnish fish”, pajama pants and a wig. There was hundreds of people gathered around to see everyone do the polar plunge. We were the first group to go. They had firefighters in the hole in the ice to help everyone get back up. After we did a succesful polar plunge we headed home.

Uusi jakso | New Semester

Jakson vaihtuessa oli aika taas tottua uusiin kursseihin. Mun vikassa jaksossa mulla on aineina physical and fitness activities (kuntosali painotteista liikuntaa), writer’s craft (luovaa kirjottamista), personal life managment (käydään läpi kaikkia tärkeitä taitoja, mitä elämässä tarvitsee aikuisena) ja hairstyling and aesthetics (hiusten leikkaamista, manikyyrejä jne.).

Toinen jakso on lähtenyt hyvin käyntiin ja oon uusien kurssien myötä saanut uusia ystäviä. Onnistuin myös vaihtamaan mun kolmannen tunnin kurssin kolme kertaa. Pidän kaikista mun uusista kursseista ja kouluun meneminen on kivaa. Mun koulussa oli myös semi formal, joka on koulutanssi. Se oli kyllä aikamoinen floppi, mutta mulla oli hauskaa mun kavereiden kanssa.

Uuden jakson ja Collingwoodiin muuttamisen jälkeen oon tehnyt paljon kaikkea. Oon käynyt monta kertaa laskettelemassa, Collingwood Blues jääkiekkopeleissä, kahviloissa ja oon muuten vaan viettänyt aikaa mun kavereiden kanssa. Meillä oli myös mun Interact klubin kanssa projekti, jossa ilmottauduttiin vapaaehtoistyöntekijöiksi hyväntekeväisyyskävelyyn.

Our semester changed and I had to get used to a new routine. In my last semester I have physical and fitness activities, writer’s craft (creative writing), personal life management (we learn about important skills to have as an adult) and hairstyling and aesthetics (haircutting, manicures and so on).

My second semester has started out well and I have gotten new friends. I also successfully changed my third period class three times. I like all of my courses and going to school is nice. I had a semi formal at my school which turned out to be a flop but at least me and my friends got a couple good laughs out of it.

After moving to Collingwood and starting a new semester I have been doing a lot. I have gone skiing multiple times, I have gone to a couple Collingwood Blues hockey games, gone to cafes and just hanged out with my friends. We also volunteered at a charity walk with the Interact club.

Mattawa

Lähdettiin maaliskuun kolmas päivä aamulla kohti Mattawaa, jossa meillä oli vaihtariviikonloppu. Sinne tuli myös täältä Kanadasta tänä kesänä lähtevät vaihtarit. Me nukuttiin kaksi yötä mökeissä, käytiin lumikenkäilemässä, pelattiin pelejä ja mentiin yhtenä iltana kuuntelemaan susien ulvontaa (ja kuulin kyllä jotain pientä ääntä). Näin myös monta bald eagle (Pohjois-Amerikkalaisia kotkia). Vikana aamuna kaikki tulevat vaihtarit sai tietää niiden maat ja yksi on lähdössä Suomeen!

On March 3rd we went to Mattawa where we had a weekend with the exchange students. There was also outbound students who are going on an exchange this summer. We slept in cabins for two nights, went snow shoeing, played games and went to listen to wolves one night (and I am pretty sure I heard something). I also saw a few bald eagles. On the last morning all the outbound students got to know which countries they are going into. One person is going to Finland!

March break & Ottawa

Mulla oli maaliskuussa viikon loma. Lähdin heti loman kunniaksi perjantai aamuna kohti Ottawaa Josefinen ja hänen host-äidin mukana. Sinne kesti ajaa täältä kuusi tuntia. Ottawaan päästyä tavattiin Josefinen host-äidin tyttären kanssa, joka näytti meille University of Ottawan kampusta, jossa hän opiskelee. Tavattiin kahvilassa hänen ystäviensä kanssa ja syötiin illallista kaikki yhdessä (söin erittäin herkullisen poutinen).

I had a week off from school in March. The Friday before the break I went to Ottawa with Josefine and her host mom. The drive took 6 hours. When we got to Ottawa we met up with Josefine’s host sister. She showed us around the University of Ottawa where she studies. After, we went out for dinner with two of her friends (and I ate a very delicious poutine).

Seuraavana päivänä me mentiin aamupalalle yhdessä ja sieltä käveltiin National Gallery of Canada:n. En löytänyt sieltä mitään suomalaista, mutta sielä oli paljon alkuperäisasukkaiden taidetta sekä sen lisäksi myös eurooppalaista taidetta. Käytiin pikaisella kahvitauolla ja sitten mentiin katsomaan parlamentti rakennuksia. Pidettiin tauko meidän hotellissa, josta me mentiin vielä tutkimaan Ottawaa ja syömään illallista. Palattiin takaisin hotelliin pelaamaan korttipeliä. Vikana aamuna syötiin iso aamupala Zak’s dineryssa ja lähdettiin kotimatkalle.

The next day we went to breakfast together and walked to the National Gallery of Canada. i didn’t find any Finnish art but there was a lot of native art and also European art. We took a little coffee break and went to see the parliament buildings. After we rested our legs in our hotel room. We walked around Ottawa and went for dinner. After we returned to our hotel room to play a card game. The last morning we ate breakfast at Zak’s dinery and then headed home.

Loppu lomalla kävin laskettelemassa, hengasin Josefinen kanssa, luin Lord of the Ringsiä ja kävin salilla.

The rest of the break went by fast. I hangout with Josefine, read Lord of the Rings (not the whole thing) and went to the gym.

27.1.202327.1.2023

HHART – Dominican Republic

What is HHART?

I went to the Dominican republic with Rotary to do a HHART mission. HHART is short for Hispaniola Humanitarian Assistance and Relief Team. The purpose of HHART missions is to help people (primarily Haitian heritage) in poverty and poor living conditions living near Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. The HHART team consist of doctors, dentists, other medical staff, Rotarians, translators and other people who want to help.

Most of the Haitian people in the Dominican Republic are undocumented which makes them vulnerable to deportation. Many of the Haitian people don’t go to work or school in fear of getting deported. I heard stories about the situation from the members in our team and it was heartbreaking.

On my way!

I left Collingwood on Saturday January 14 to head to Toronto with Richard, the district governor of my Rotary district, and his wife Elizabeth. We stayed in a hotel for a night since we had to get up at 3 am to go to the airport the next day. We arrived in the Dominican Republic at noon. The first day was just getting to know our hotel in Sosua and get prepared for the mission to start on the next day.

First HHART day: Pancho Mateo and Cangrejo

On Monday at 10 am we headed to Pancho Mateo where there is a community center built by the non-profit organization Amigitos with the help of BuildAid Norway. The building has a kitchen, medical and dental offices, restroom facilities and a big open area with dining tables and a place for kids to play. We got a tour of the place and then we started by making the dental office ready for operation. I got to sterilize surfaces. After, we walked around the village.

We loaded our truck with all the equipment we needed for field work and headed to a village called Cangrejo. There we set up a medical clinic. My official title with another girl called Aja was youth ambassador. We were mostly part of fun team which means that we were entertaining the local children with coloring books, crayons, paints and other activities while their parents were receiving medical care. We got to use the women’s center in Cangrejo for it. All of the kids were super excited. It was an organized chaos. The kids wanted to take all of the stuff and we had a hard time communicating with them since we didn’t share a common language. At the end all of the kids wanted hugs and they were all so happy. We had so much fun together. It made my day!

Believe me there was a lot more children and chaos

I got to do fluoride treatments on all the children 8 years old or older after the fun team. We spread fluoride all over their teeth. With the help of translation the children got educated on how to brush teeth properly. We gave them toothbrushes and toothpaste when they were done. We returned to Amigitos to store our stuff for the night.

Jenga and blinky

We got back to the resort for sunset. Everyday I was so dusty, after full day off work in the villages and being in the back of the truck that, I ran to the shower. After that, I was starving for dinner. We always had dinner together with the HHART team minus the local members who weren’t staying at the resort. It was great time bonding with the crew. Every night someone pulled out Jenga and I personally would call myself a pro but some might disagree.

We had a meeting about the next day and we elected the next person to get Blinky which is a stuffed elephant who has been on the HHART missions since the first trips. Together we nominate three candidates and vote on who should get it next. Me and Aja won it the first night. The purpose is to take photos with Blinky during the next day.

Second HHART day: Los Ciruelos

On Tuesday we left at 9.45 am and headed to Amigitos (with Blinky) to pick up all of our field stuff since we stored them there overnight. Tuesday’s drive was longer since we went past Puerto Plata to Los Ciruelos. The village was in a beautiful spot next to a mountain. There were many goats roaming on the field. We set up a medical clinic in a church. We ate lunch before starting to take patients. We always made sure to eat discreetly since often the people in the villages only get one meal a day to eat.

I got to do opto which meant fitting reading glasses to people. Many of the people wanted glasses just for the looks so we gave them the lowest strength glasses. We also handed out some sunglasses before we ran out of them. My favorite moment was when this little boy got sunglasses and he had the biggest smile wearing them.

Fun Team!

After getting everyone sorted out with glasses me, Aja and one of our translators Wilson, who also helped with the opto, moved on to do the fun team. We went to the back of the church where there was an open space and in the middle of it there was a shelter with tables and chairs made from concrete. We didn’t need to go gather up the children for painting since they all seemed to appear from thin air once we got the stuff out.

The children were a lot more calm and their moms also came to see what was going on. The adults were almost more interested in the paints than the kids. We had a couple skipping ropes and a volleyball. The children liked playing soccer which was nice since it got us more involved. Eventually the children started to get enough and they started leaving. We went back to the church.

Me and Aja stayed at the front of the church since there wasn’t much to help with. Suddenly a lot of kids came back. We had a lot of fun playing clapping games and handball with a balloon. Of course they all wanted rides on our backs and we delivered. The older children liked drawing with crayons. The children were all so cute and lovely.

At the end of the day we walked around the village. Me and Aja both holding hands with a bunch adorable kids. We met a 107 year old guy originally from Haiti who told us about his life. After a long day we set off to go back to Sosua. We stopped at a grocery store in Puerto Plata. We didn’t make it back to the resort before sunset.

After the sunset our lovely translators sadly weren’t cosplaying as ghosts. They were actually freezing.

Third HHART day: Amigitos

On Wednesday we left the resort at 10.30 am to go to Amigitos. This day was more relaxed. I started with fluoride treatment that we did together with my HHART team members Grace and Homa. I handed out toothbrushes to the children and they all wanted one. I had a hard time stopping them taking all of the toothbrushes.

The kids went back to school so I went to a little courtyard inside Amigitos to keep company to Cayra and Dr. Bay from my HHART crew who were sorting out medical items. We also got a new addition to our HHART dental team in the middle of the day when three new members arrived.

When the kids came back I got to once again have fun. They got to paint on paper plates. It went very smoothly with the help of Grace and Homa. The children at Amigitos were calmer and more organized. After all the work we got back to our resort well before sunset and had a great dinner together with the HHART crew.

Fourth HHART day: Resort day

I wasn’t feeling 100 % on Thursday so I decided to stay at the resort for the day. Sadly it was Aja’s last day and I couldn’t go to the field with her. I spent the day enjoying the sun, swimming and reading Harry Potter. It was a nice change to all the work we had done the last couple days and left me feeling relaxed and ready for the next day.

Fifth HHART day: Men’s shelter and a new village

Christo transfroma

We left the hotel at 11 am. First, we headed to the airport to drop of Aja and say good bye to her. Then we headed to Amigitos to pick up all the necessary stuff we would need for the day. Then we headed through Puerto Plata to Christo transforma which is a men’s shelter for men suffering from addictions. They lock themselves up in the shelter so they can’t escape and start using again.

We got greeted with singing that was led by their pastor. We set up a medical clinic with two doctors, a triage nurse and translators to help communicate. I set up an opto station with Kathleen who is a Rotarian from my Wasaga Beach club. While fitting glasses to the men in the shelter we got to hear some of their stories. One man had teenage children in the United States but he couldn’t go back because he had a criminal record there.

I have never seen a place like that in person. I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel uneasy there. I was the only younger girl there. Some of the men there called me pretty which made me feel uncomfortable. I also got given a painting buy one of the guys. It was hard to put up a good front there and I found myself more in a corner keeping to myself. What made me feel better, was these little cute puppies that were at the men’s shelter.

We headed out of Christo transforma to go find a place to eat lunch. We drove to Puerto Plata and found a beautiful place by the beach. There was a little kiosk where me, Cayra and Bay bought some fries. We reflected about the men’s shelter together which made me feel noticed.

Los Aguillo

After eating we headed to a new village called Los Aguillo where there haven’t been any HHART missions. We wanted to see if they would have need for humanitarian assistance. The village was along a river. When we got off the bus and started walking Wilson scared me to death by making a noise of an angry cat behind me and grabbing my ankle. Once my heart rate returned to somewhat normal and I stopped laughing, we got a brief history about the village from Wilson and Elson. Finally, we headed back through Amigitos where we picked up our dental team and headed back to Sosua.

Dinner

It was Grace’s last day so we wanted to celebrate by going to a restaurant close to our hotel. Me and Cayra shared a pizza and an appetizer. We had such a great time with the group even though a fly flew into my coca cola bottle. Blinky was of course with us.

Sixth day: Back to Cangrejo

Saturday was sadly my last full day in the Dominican Republic. We headed out at the usual time from the resort once again towards Amigitos to drop off our dental team. We grabbed a couple bags to go and got on our way to Cangrejo.

Saturday was a busier day and we had a big medical clinic in the local church. We also had two fun teams. I got to work with a 12 year old local girl. We didn’t share a language but we could still communicate. We took one of the suitcases full of fun stuff to other side of the village where there was an open space. She had everything under control since she already was used to organizing activities for the kids to do. When we had painted and drawn with crayons long enough in the first location a little boy took a trash bag and showed me all the trash on the ground and I helped him clean up.

Face painting

We walked a bit to another open space in Cangrejo. There we took out the paints and the kids wanted to do face painting. It was so much fun and I let them paint hearts on my face and arms. Then we returned to the front of the church. One of the kids wanted to see a doctor so I figured it out with the other HHART members who weren’t busy at the time.

We closed the clinic at the church for half an hour so we could eat lunch before continuing. Right after finishing the meal, the medical team got busy since an older man had a seizure on the street. I quickly gathered the children again and took them away from the situation to an open area close to the church. There, we took the paints out and we found a ball from another bag, that was in the women’s shelter, so the kids could play with it. I started painting the children’s arms. They all pointed their arms at me wanting more and more hearts on them. I also face painted hearts for two of our translators Elson and Wilson. Well, it was more me forcing them to get face paints than them volunteering for it.

To end my last work day me and Steve, who is also a Rotarian from my club and the chief of the HHART mission, took the kids to a near by beach. They were all so excited and they were shouting and singing on the truck on the way there. When we unloaded the truck they all ran to the beach. I had a great time watching them be happy and enjoy life. On the way back to the village they shouted my name and Steve’s name. It was a great note to end my trip on. At the village I said goodbye to our translators and we headed back to Sosua briefly stopping at Amigitos on the way.

My last day: Snorkeling and flying home

I woke up at 7.30 am because the previous evening we had managed to organize a snorkeling trip at 8 am so I would have time to do it before flying back to Canada. Me, Cayra, Bay, Richard, Steve and my amazing host dad Kevin got picked up from the beach next to our resort with a little boat. Then we sailed to another beach to get snorkeling equipment. We sailed a bit further away from it to go snorkeling. The water was turquoise and clear so we could see all the fish. There also was a coral reef but it was sadly all grey. We had a local guy with us who showed us all the best spots underwater.

We took the boat to another spot other way from our resort. It was further away from the coast. There was a lot more fish and some of them were pretty big. We had bread with us that we fed to the fish so they all would gather up around us. I’m glad I could do a cool activity like this before leaving to go back home.

I packed all of my stuff, checked out of the hotel and was on my way around 11 am. I hugged good bye to our team. We had a bit of trouble at the airport because I didn’t get an email or any other electronic copy containing my eTA which is a document that allows me to go back to Canada. Thankfully I was with Kevin and Steve and we got it all figured out and I got through security and everything. I bought some souvenirs before boarding my flight.

Thoughts about the HHART mission

Leaving the Dominican Republic was very hard for me. On the plain back to Canada I cried my eyes out. I have never felt so sad to leave a place not even when I left for my exchange year. I very rarely cry but I was so touched by this trip. This has been the best experience of my life. I feel like I made a connection to the Dominican Republic and our HHART team. I loved meeting the local people and seeing how beautiful the island is.

I feel like a changed person after just one week. The other HHART members made me feel more confident about myself and I feel like I got to be fully myself. I faced a lot of new situations. This trip made me learn how fragile life is and how privileged I am. I saw awful things like a mother striking her child, I heard about another child’s mother being abusive and I learned that often many people in the villages have to cook with coal inside their houses because they have no other options. Also, seeing the children have teeth in poor condition touched my heart. All of which I haven’t had to suffer from.

What was surprising is that even though a lot of the people we encountered had next to nothing they still often had the biggest smile and the smallest things made them happy. I will never forget all the kids I got to have fun with. My favorite thing was to make them feel loved and seen. It also saddened me to think that many of them don’t receive enough love at home but at least for that little moment I could make them feel better.

I feel sad because I don’t know if I ever have a chance to do another HHART mission. This trip made me realize why the work of Rotarians is so important and why Rotary International is an amazing organization. I couldn’t be more thankful to have experienced this week and I will never forget about it. It has inspired me to do more humanitarian work in the future. I also highly encourage people to google more on what is going on the Dominican Republic. Even a little help goes a long way!

More information

HARTT – https://www.hhart.org/
Amigitos – https://amigitos.org/en/about-us/
Rotary International – https://www.rotary.org/en
Rotary Club of Wasaga Beach – https://www.wasagabeachrotary.com

19.12.202219.12.2022

Paljon uutta | A lot of new things

Hei kaikki! Hi everyone!

Blue Jays

30-31.9 – Mun yksi lempiviikonlopuista täällä tähän asti on ollut, kun mentiin katsomaan Blue Jays (baseball tiimi) peliä mun host-vanhempien ja Josefinen kanssa. Sitä edellisenä iltana Josefine tuli mun luokse kylään ja me käytiin poreammeessa, SAUNASSA ja katottiin elokuvaa. Se onkin jäänyt ainoaksi kerraksi, kun oon käynyt täällä saunassa, mutta oli sen arvoista.

Seuraavana päivänä lähdettiin kohti Torontoa. Saavuttiin metrolla ihan Rogers Centren (stadionin) viereen. Rogers Centreen mahtuu 53 506 katsojaa, joten se on reilusti isompi kuin yksikään stadion Suomessa. Meidän paikat oli alimmalla tasolla muutaman rivin päästä kentästä. Rogers Centren sisällä oli taso täynnä fani kamaa, jota pystyi ostamaan, ruokakojuja ja baareja.

Se peli, jota käytiin katsomassa oli loppuunmyyty. Siellä oli ihan omanlainen tunnelma, joka sai mut ymmärtämään, miksi ihmiset käy katsomassa urheilua. En aikaisemmin tiennyt amerikkalaisen pesäpallon sääntöjä, mutta huomasin, että ne on aika samanlaiset kuin pesäpallon. Kierrettiin Josefinen kanssa sitä stadionia ja oltiin hetki seisomayleisössä. Onnistuttiin myös missaamaan molemmat homerunit, mutta nyt on ainakin syy palata 🙂 Meidän ilta loppu siihen, että Toronto Blue Jays voitti Boston Red Sox 10-0.

30th-31st of September is so far one of the best weekends here. We went to watch a Blue Jays (baseball team) game with my host parents and Josefine. The night before Josefine came to my place and we went to the hot tub and I got to go to SAUNA. That has been the only time I have gone to sauna here but it was totally worth it even though we struggled a bit to get it warm.

Next day we left for Toronto. We got off on a subway station right next to Rogers Centre (a stadium). Rogers Centre fits 53 506 people. It is way bigger than any stadium in Finland. Our seats were a couple rows away from the baseball field. Rogers Centre has a floor full of merch stores, food stalls and bars.

The game we went to see was sold out. The stadium had a unique atmosphere which made me realize why people go see sports events. I wasn’t familiar with baseball rules prior to the game but I found that they were really similar to pesäpallo (Finnish baseball). Me and Josefine explored the stadium and found a standing section where we stayed for a bit. We somehow were able to miss both of the homeruns that happened but now we have a good reason to return 🙂 Toronto Blue Jays won the game against Boston Red Sox 10-0. You could call that night a success.

The Day I Almost Died

3.10 Ennen kuin kukaan huolestuu niin otsikko on hieman liioiteltu. Maanantaina mulla oli ihan normaali päivä. Olin juuri päässyt mun liikuntatunnilta, kun vedin henkeä ja yhtäkkiä mun kurkkua alkoi kutittamaan. Joka kerta, kun vedin henkeä sisään se kutina paheni ja se tuntu vihlovalta. Sitten en enää meinannut saada happea ja käskin Josefinen ettimään jonkun opettajan paikalle samalla, kun haukoin happea. Siinä odotellessa aloin jo miettimään selviänkö 18 vuotiaaksi.

Opettaja tuli paikalle ja ohjasi mut kansliaan. Siellä mut laitettiin istumaan penkille ja ne alkoi soittelemaan mun host-perheille, jos joku voisi viedä mut sairaalaan. Mietin kyllä hetken, että eikö ois parempi idea soittaa ambulanssi tai saada jonkun aikuisen koulusta ajamaan sinne (joka on lähellä koulua), jos joku oppilas sanoo, ettei se saa happea. Varsinkin, kun mun host-äiti asuu 30 minuutin päästä koulusta. Noh lopulta kuitenkin mun kolmast host-isä tuli hakemaan mut ja Josefinen ja mentiin yhdessä sairaalaan. Samalla mä yritin vaan pysyä elossa.

Sairaalassa mentiin istumaan päivystykseen ja sain jo paremmin happea, mutta jatkoin yskimistä. Mulla oli vielä mun liikkavaatteet päällä ja mun paita oli niin pitkä, että se näytti siltä, että mulla ei ollut housuja jalassa. Sairaalareissu ei ollut mikään luxus kokemus, vaan jouduin oottamaan noin 5 tuntia, että pääsin sieltä vihdoin pois. Mua tuli yksi lääkäri katsomaan, joka vaikutti hyvin kiireiseltä. Se ei osannut sanoa, mitä mulle tapahtu, mutta se anto mulle antihistamiineja.

10/3 Before anyone gets super worried I exaggerated the title a bit. I had a normal day on Monday until I got off from my gym class. Suddenly I breathed in air and my throat started to itch. With every breath it got worse. It was a mixture of itching and a slight stabbing pain every time I breathed in. Then I realized I couldn’t really breath anymore and I made Josefine go get a teacher while I gasped for air. As I waited I started wondering if I will make it to 18 since I was so close.

The teacher came and directed me to the main office. There they made me sit and wait while they called my host parents asking if anyone of them can take me to the hospital. I did wonder wouldn’t it be a better idea to call an ambulance or make some adult from the school drive to the hospital (which is pretty close to the school might I add) if a student says they can’t breathe. Especially when my host mom lives 30 minutes away from the school. Well, eventually they got reach of my third host dad who came to pick me and Josefine from the school and together we drove to the hospital.

We went to the emergency room and sat there waiting. I was still wearing my gym clothes and my shirt was so long it looked like I didn’t have pants on. I was able to breath but I kept coughing. In total we were at the hospital for about 5 hours. A doctor came to look at me but he seemed rushed. He couldn’t tell what happened to me but he gave me some antihistamines.

Uusi host-perhe | New host family

Päivä ennen mun synttäreitä muutin uuteen host-perheeseen. Mun host-perheeseen kuuluu host-äiti ja -isä, 3 vuotias host-veli, 1 vuotias host-sisko sekä kissa. En oo ennen ollut kauheemmin tekemisissä pikkulasten kanssa. On hauska seurailla mun host-sisarusten tekemisiä. Oon huomannut, että mulla on aika paljon kärsivällisyyttä pienten lasten kanssa, mutta toisaalta mun ei tarvitse siivota niiden sotkuja.

Mun huone on kellarissa. Siellä kellarissa on myös iso oleskeluhuone, jossa on biljardipöytä. Kun saavuin mun uuteen host-perheeseen, mun huoneessa kaapin päällä oli kasa kanadalaisia herkkuja.

A day before my birthday I moved into my new host family. My host family consist of my host mom, host dad, a 3 years old host brother and a 1 year old host sister. I haven’t had much contact with little children before. It’s fun to see what my host siblings are up to. I have noticed that I have a lot of patience for kids. Well… I don’t have to clean their mess.

My room is in the basement. The basement also has a big living room with a pool table. When I arrived to my new host family they have put loads of Canadian candy on top of my drawer.

Täytin 18 | I turned 18

Oon nyt aikuinen. Ainakin lain mukaan. En ikinä ois ajatellut, että viettäisin mun 18-vuotissynttärit Kanadassa. Ei musta oikeestaan ees tuntunut, että oli mun synttärit. Mun virallisena syntymäpäivänä en tehnyt mitään kovin kummallista. Katsottiin amerikkalaista jalkapalloa koulussa, mutta meidän koulun tiimi hävisi. Sen jälkeen käveltiin Josefinen kanssa Interactiin. Interactin jälkeen Josefine tuli mun luokse illalliselle ja syötiin intialaista.

Viikko kiitospäivän jälkeen (joka täällä ei ollut mitenkään kovin suuri juhla ja jota vietetään aikasemmin kuin Yhdysvalloissa. Syötiin kiitospäivä ateriaa pahvilautasilta ja olin pukeutunut college vaatteisiin) kutsuin mun kavereita kylään viettämään mun synttäreitä. Pelattiin yhdessä biljardia, kokattiin oikeeta pizzaa (Pohjois-Amerikkalainen pizza ei vedä vertoja sille, mitä Euroopasta saa), mä leivoin mokkapaloja kaikille testattavaksi, syötiin mun host-äidin tekemää kakkua, me laulettiin karaoketa ja tanssittiin tansseja meidän kotimaista (Suomesta, Tanskasta, Espanjasta ja Meksikosta). Josefine jäi vielä yöksi ja me katottiin elokuvaa.

I’m now legally an adult. I would never in a million years have thought I would have spent my 18th birthday in Canada. In fact it didn’t really even feel like I had my birthday. On my actual birthday I didn’t really do anything super special. Our school had a football match which our team lost. After that me and Josefine walked to Interact and from there Josefine came have dinner with us which was Indian food.

A week after thanksgiving (which isn’t really a big deal here and is also celebrated earlier than in US. We ate food from cardboard plates and I was wearing sweats) I invited my friends over to celebrate my Birthday. We played pool, made real pizza (North American pizza is nothing compared to what you can get from Europe), I baked mokkapala (Finnish dessert) for people to try, we ate cake that my host mom baked, we sang karaoke and danced dances from our home countries (Finland, Denmark, Spain and Mexico). Josefine stayed over and we watched a movie.

Niagara Falls

21.10 perjantaina me lähdettiin Niagra Fallsin mun host-perheen ja Josefinen kanssa. Sinne kesti ajaa noin 3 tuntia. Saavuttiin paikalle illalla. Kun saatiin meidän kamat hotelliin, käveltiin Niagaran putouksille. Oli tosi outoa nähdä niin kuuluisa paikka omin silmin. Mitä lähemmäs niitä käveli, koko muu maailma hiljeni Niagaran putouksien kuohunnan alle.

October 21 we headed towards Niagara Falls with my host family and Josefine. It took 3 hours to drive there. We arrived there in the evening. After we checked in to the hotel we walked to the falls. It was weird seeing such a famous place with my own eyes. The closer we got the more silent the surroundings got.

Kun me oltiin syöty, mä ja Josefine käveltiin Clifton Hillissä ja käytiin kaiken maailman turistikaupoissa. Clifton Hill on täynnä turistikauppoja, kummitustaloja, pelihalleja, ravintoloita, kahviloita ja kaikenlaista hauskaa tekemist. Kun tuli pimeä, niin me käveltiin takaisin putouksille, koska ne valaistaan öisin.

When we had eaten me and Josefine explored Clifton hill and went to all kinds of tourist shops. Clifton Hill is full of tourist shops, haunted houses, arcades, restaurants coffee shops and all kinds of fun activities. When it was dark me and Josefine walked to the falls because they are light during night times.

Seuraavana päivänä huonosti nukuttujen yöunien jälkeen (kiitos mun host-sisarusten) me käveltiin taas putouksille. Me nimittäin mentiin Maid of the Mist kyytiin, joka on se vene, joka kulkee lähelle putouksia. Oon nähnyt lukuisia videoita muista, jotka on ollut niiden veneiden kyydissä, joten oli ihan uskomatonta ite päästä kokemaan se. Mun lempi American Office kohtaus on kuvattu siellä. Me saatiin päälle pinkit ponchot ja onneksi otin mun aurinkolasit mukaan, sillä kun päästiin lähelle putouksia en oisi voinut muuten katsoa niitä niin läheltä. Niagaran putouksien voiman tunsi niitä lähestyessä.

After sleeping poorly (thanks to my host siblings hahah) we walked to the falls. We took an elevator down because we were going to take a tour with Maid of the Mist. Yes, that is the boat that goes near the falls. I have seen countless videos of others doing it so it was so cool and exciting to experience it myself. My favorite scene from the American Office was filmed there. We got pink ponchos to put on and thankfully I had brought my sunglasses because there was no way I could have looked at the falls from as close as we got to them. You could feel the power of the falls when getting near them.

Kun Niagaran putoukset oli kastellut meidät, mentiin ajamaan törmäilyautoilla (joilla ei saanut törmäillä). Onnistuin pysäyttämään kaikki autot, koska ajoin liian innokkaasti ja käännyin ympäri. Hups. Olisin kyllä muuten voittanut. Noh, ainakin pääsin vesipuistoon sen jälkeen.

Illalla minä ja Josefine kierreltiin ympäri Clifton Hilliä. Käytiin taas katsomassa putouksia ja käveltiin ihan Kanadan putouksen viereen (parempi niistä putouksista haha). Palattiin takaisin Clifton hillille ja mentiin toiselle kadulle, jossa ei oltu vielä käyty. Siellä oli paljon turistikauppoja, jossa oli kamaa joka lähtöön. Meillä meni pari tuntia käydä jokainen läpi ja pari juttua tarttui mukaan. Palattiin hotelliin vasta puolilta öin.

After we got soaked from the falls we went go-karting. I somehow was able to stop all the go-karts because I accidentally flipped mine the other way around because I was speeding so much. Ops. I would have totally won otherwise. Well, at least I got to go to a water park after.

In the evening me and Josefine walker around Clifton Hill once again. We also went to the falls again but this time we walked all the way next to the Canadian falls (which obviously is the better one). We got back to Clifton hill where we explored another street we didn’t go on the previous day. It was filled with tourist shop that kept me and Jose busy for couple hours. After we finally got back with less money and more to carry it was already midnight.

Mä sain loistavan idean, että meidän pitäis mennä katsomaan auringonnousua aamulla Josefinen kanssa. Olin taas herännyt monta kertaa yöllä lasten itkemiseen ja huutamiseen. Meidän oli tarkoitus herätä 7, mutta mä olin jo hereillä 6 (ja yöunen määrä oli varmaan luokkaa 4-5 tuntia). Jotenkin kummasti Josefine oli nukkunut koko yön eikä herännyt kertaakaan, vaikka mun host-sisarukset oli hyvin äänekkäitä. Mä herätin sen 7 ja pakotin sen mun mukaan putouksille. Kaiken kukkuraksi se oli varmaan surullisin auringonnousu ikinä. Ihme kumma Josefine on vielä mun ystävä kaiken tän jälkeen. Ainakin meillä on kaoottinen tarina kertoa 😀

Lähdettiin aika aikasin hotellista, sillä mä halusin mennä katsomaan perhosia. Lähellä Niagaran putouksia on perhospuutarha, jos sitä sellaiseksi voi kutsua. Se on siis huone lasikatolla, joka on täynnä kasveja ja perhosia. Pysähdyttiin kanssa Niagara Whirlpoolin kohdalla, mutta se oli valitettavasti kiinni.

I got a great idea (if you ask Josefine she will disagree) to go see the sunrise over Niagara falls. The plan was to wake up at 7 but I woke up already at 6. (and probably slept close to 4-5 hours) Once again I had woken up multiple times during the night to my host siblings crying and screaming. Well anyways, I woke up Josefine at 7 who somehow had slept through all of that. I forced her to come with me because I didn’t wanna go alone. Now the best part of this story is that it was one of the saddest looking sunrises ever. I don’t know how me and Josefine are still friends after this hahaha. At least we have a chaotic story to tell.

We checked out of our hotel pretty early because I wanted to go see butterflies. Near Niagara Falls there is a butterfly conservatory filled with plants and butterflies. We also stopped at Niagara Whirlpool but sadly it was closed off.

This is Josefine thinking about her life choices

Halloween

Niagara falls reissun jälkeen olin viikon kipeenä, mutta parannuin just sopivasti halloweenia varten. Lauantaina ennen halloweenia menin mun host perheen kanssa läheisen kirkon parkkipaikalle, jossa oli järjestetty trunk or treating eli ihmiset oli koristellu niiden autojen takapaksit ja sitten pienten lasten oli helppo kierellä parkkipaikalla ja saada karkkia kaikista eri autojen takapakseista. Jokaisella perheellä oli joku teema ja mun perhe pukeutu Ryhmä Hau:n jäseniksi (joka on täällä pienten lasten lempishow). Mun lähellä asuvat espanjalaiset vaihtarit tuli sinne kanssa niiden host-perheiden kanssa ja me yhdessä kolmestaan kierrettiin kaikki autot ja saatiin pussilliset täyteen karkkia.

Sunnuntaina kävin mun host-perheen kanssa lähellä olevalla farmilla, jossa oli kurpitsapeltoja ja kaiken laista tekemistä muun muassa maissin ampumista ja labyrintteja. Valittiin lopuksi jokaiselle oma kurpitsa.

Maanantaina virallisena halloweenina mun kaveri kutsui mut trick or treating sen perheen kanssa, joten menin koulun jälkeen sen luokse. Me tehtiin halloween teemaset meikit mulle ja sen toiselle pikkuveljelle. Vihdoin, kun tuli pimeä, me lähettiin kiertelemään mun kaverin naapurustoa. Saatiin pussilliset täyteen karkkia ja kipeät jalat. Mentiin vielä käymään kummitustalossa toisessa naapurustossa.

After the trip to Niagara falls I was sick for a week. Thankfully I got better for Halloween. On Saturday before Halloween I went to a church’s parking lot that had organized trunk or treating. Basically families decorate their car’s trunk and then it is easier for little kids to trick or treat since they don’t have to walk from house to house. Every family has a theme and my family dressed as paw patrol characters (it’s the biggest kids’ show here). There is two Spanish exchange students living near me who are also my friends. They also came there with their host families and together the three of us went around every trunk and got bags full of candy.

On Sunday I went to a farm near me with my host family. The farm has a pumpkin patch and bunch of activities like shooting corn and all kinds of mazes. We spent some time there and also picked a pumpkin for each of us.

On Monday which was actual Halloween my friend asked me to go trick or treating with her and her family. So, after school I went with her to her house where we did Halloween makeup to me and one of her little brothers. When it got dark we went trick or treating to her neighborhood. We got bags full of candy and our legs were dying. After that, we also went to a haunted house in a different neighborhood.

Kaikkea muuta, mitä oon tehnyt | Everything else I have been up to

Olin auttamassa koristelemassa mun rotary klubin Pints & Plaid tapahtumaa varten. Mun rotary klubi myös arpoo Corveten joka vuosi, joka oli näytillä siellä.

I was helping to decorate for my Rotary club’s Pints & Plaids event. My rotary club also has a Corvette lottery every year where they raffle a Corvette and it was showcased there.

Osallistuin Rotaryn End Polio kävelyyn Collingwoodissa.

I took part in Rotary’s End Polio Walk in Collingwood.

Olin Josefinen rotary klubin kanssa keräämässä roskia tien varrelta.

I was picking up trash from the side of the road with Josefine’s rotary club.

Olin Rotary-gaalassa toisen suomalaisen rotaryvaihtarin Katriinan kanssa. Ensimmäistä kertaa Kanadassa pääsin oikeasti puhumaan suomea. Me oltiin vastuussa narikasta ja ensimmäistä kertaa elämässäni sain tippejä. Rotary-gaalassa oli tosi hyvää ruokaa. Siellä oli paljon erilaisia vaihtoehtoja ja päädyin syömään pastaa, jonka ne kokit kokkas vieraiden edessä. Söin myös intialaista sekä paahtopaistia ja tottakai paljon jälkiruokaa. Gaalan jälkeen menin Katriinan nuorisovaihtovastaavan luokse yöksi. Seuraavana aamuna sato ensi lumi.

I was at a Rotary Gala with another Finnish rotary exchange student Katriina. I spoke Finnish in person for the first time in Canada. We were in charge of handling coats and for the first time in my life I got tips. The gala had amazing food. There was so many options. I ended up eating pasta that the cooks cooked in front of me. I also ate Indian food, roast beef and of course dessert. After the gala I slept the night at Katriina’s youth exchange officer’s home. The next morning it snowed for the first time.

Pidettiin mun Interact-klubin kanssa Not A Car Wash, jossa autojen ulkopuolien sijasta siivottiin autojen sisäpuolet. Vietettiin kokonainen sunnuntai putsaamassa autoja. Lahjotettiin kaikki tuotot hyväntekeväisyyteen.

We held a Not a Car Wash with my Interact club. Instead of washing the car from the outside we washed the inside of cars. We spent a whole Sunday cleaning people’s cars. We donated all the profits to charity.

Leivoin korvapuusteja Josefinen kanssa ja autoin Josefinea kokkaamaan tanskalaisia lihapullia. Meillä oli meidän World Culture tunnilla nyyttikestit, jossa jokainen valitsi kulttuurin ja kokkasi/leipoi jotain, joka kuului siihen kulttuuriin.

I baked Finnish cinnamon rolls with Josefine and helped her cook Danish meatballs. We had a potluck in our World Culture class where everyone had to pick a culture and cook a dish from that culture.

Kävin katsomassa Mean Girls musikaalin mun ensimmäisen host-äidin kanssa Torontossa.

I went to see Mean Girl musical in Toronto with my first host mom.

Vietin mun host-perheen kanssa Suomen itsenäisyyspäivää. Me leivottiin Brita-kakku ja tehtiin Hasselbackan perunoita. Mun host-äiti yllätti mut Suomi-teemasilla koristeluilla.

I celebrated Finland’s independence day with my host family. We baked Brita-kakku and cooked Hasselback potatoes. My host mom surprised me with Finland decorations.

Oon ollut kohta täällä jo 4 kuukautta, joka tuntuu ihan hullulta. Samalla oon saanut paljon unohtumattomia muistoja, mutta samalla tajuan, kuinka nopeasti aika menee ja etten tule olemaan täällä ikuisuutta. Tähän asti mulla on ollut tosi paljon hauskaa, vaikka on ollut vaikeitakin päiviä. Oon tehnyt niin paljon asioita, etten voi kaikkea kirjoittaa ylös.

I have been here for almost 4 months. It feels absolutely crazy. At the same time I have gotten so many unforgettable memories but also I’m realizing how fast time goes by and how I won’t be here for eternity. So far I have had a lot of fun. Of course I have had hard days too. I have done so much that I simply can not write everything down.