I apologise
in advance for this whopper of a post! It’s been a big month and I’m keen to
share it with you all!
...
My Summer kickstarted with Eurotour! A few days before I was
due in Turku (Southern Finland), where we were setting off from, I headed down
south to Vammala where I spent a few days with an exchange student friend and
met up with the Finnish boy that will be on exchange to Gawler (my town in
Australia) and will also be going to my school back home (Xavier students keep
a look out! He starts term 3!) and will stay with my family when I return home next year!
June 1st in Finland was graduation day for all
across the country! I attended the graduation at the Lukio in Vammala. There was a
service were everyone was presented with the traditional Lukio white graduation
cap and a rose in the morning which was then followed with an afternoon full of
small graduation parties at peoples’ homes. An afternoon of coffee, cakes and
nibbles!
That evening I headed off to Turku though where I stayed
overnight with a friend before Eurotour started the following day…
...
EUROTOUR!
Day 1:
Meeting at Turku’s
port with close to 80 other exchange students was an exciting and loud
beginning to what was safe to assume was going to be an even more exciting,
loud and ultimately tiring 2 and a half weeks!
We set off on an overnight ferry to Sweden! Let loose on a ship with a dance floor, amazing deck, duty free
shopping and an awesome buffet… safe to say us exchange students enjoyed the
evening!
Day 2:
Early morning wakeup call as we docked at 6:30am and set off
on our bus at 7am!
We didn’t stay in Sweden very long (as it is a neighbour of
Finland many have the chance to travel during some point in their year with
their families). We stopped at a ruin and then at a lolly factory where we
had the chance to watch lollies be made and also (most important part!) we
could buy some of our favourites!
Then on to Denmark
via another ferry! This one was much shorter though, only a short 15-20 minutes
on deck and then back onto the bus to get off.
We unloaded at our hotel and then were let loose on ‘Tivoli’, an old amusement park, where we
crammed in as many rides as possible in the couple of hours we had there!
Day 3:
The morning started with a guided bus tour of Copenhagen. We had a few stops where we
could get out and look around, take photos, etc. We watched the changing of the
guards in the square with the 4 noblemen’s palaces. Nowadays the Queen lives in
one and in another is Princess Mary and her family. A raised flag on the roof of the homes signal if the family is home or
not. No one was home except Mary and her
family! Us Aussies spent more time waving our flags and hoping for Mary to come
out rather than listening to the guide after she pointed that fact out! We
didn’t expect her to come out but we had a laugh entertaining the thought!
An hour free time in a famous old shopping street in Copenhagen…
A couple of us were together and went somewhere else before the street so when we went to find it we ended up walking what we found
out later was the complete opposite direction! Oops! It was fun none the less
though! We ended up in a toy store which resembled something like Mr Magoriums
Wonder Emporium, talking to a magician, taking photos with Spongebob, going to
Hard Rock Café, chatting to a guy at a bakery who’s brother and sister both
went on exchange through Rotary (one to Australia and one to New Zealand) and
then eventually found the shopping street on our way back to the bus and ran
over and got the best slushies!
Off to Germany!
We just had an overnight stopover in a town in Germany because it was a
long drive! We had free time and went for a walk in the evening and found some
really stunning buildings and a random playground with a push-yourself
merry-go-round which entertained a sizeable group of us to no end! (We may all
be 16-18 years old but we’re all still 5 at heart! ;) )
Day 4:
Crossed the border into The
Netherlands! It was one of my favourites of the tour! It was so so
beautiful! In the morning we visited a cheese and clog factory where we watched
how each were made and had the chance to buy souvenirs.
AMSTERDAM! Need I say any more?! It was fantastic! We
had a guided tour of the city by boat through the canals and then visited the Anne Frank Museum. Her story is amazing
and to be able to actually see the house and the place she hid out in was awe
inspiring! I bought the diary… in Finnish! Now to be able to read it... it’s
something to aim for!
We didn’t stay overnight in Amsterdam itself, nor did we
get free time there (probably a wise call by the coordinators!). We stayed in a
beautiful hotel a bit out of the city. When we got there all of us Aussies
dropped our things and ran! There were
EMUS! We were running and laughing! It was so funny and really random! It
was like a little farm or something with lots of different animals and in one
of the pens they had Emus… Not what we were expecting to see on a tour of
Europe!
Day 5:
Today was a whirlwind! Breakfast in Holland, lunch in Belgium
and dinner in France!
We had a guided walking tour of Brussels in the morning. There was some kind of protest going on and there was a lot of
yelling and we could barely hear the guide! Some of the girls were scared but
it was rather exciting for the most of us! Some went over and scored some tops,
scarves, caps and whistles and other stuff from the protesters! It was
something to do with work and wages we were told; they weren't violent.
After lunch we quickly grabbed waffles (couldn’t leave Belgium without having waffles!!) and then
we started back on our journey. On to FRANCE!
First stop Paris!
 |
Brussels |
Day 6:
A morning bus tour and a visit and tour of the Fontainebleau castle. The tour ended at
the Eiffel Tower and we were left to
have free time until curfew.
I walked around the city, visited the Arc de Triomphe and played Frisbee in the park! Roamed some of the
shops and then caught the metro back to the hotel!
Day 7:
Completely free day in Paris!
We were all let loose on the city!
We all split off; I spent most of the day with another Aussie
and one Canadian. We caught the metro into the city centre in the morning and queued
up for the Eiffel Tower! The line
was huge but it moved much faster than we had prepared ourselves for! Within
about an hour we were inside and waiting to go up... We went the whole way up! WOW! It was so cool to see Paris from the top!
Off to find us some French treats… Frogs legs and snails! It wasn’t hard to hunt down a place that served them in the centre of Paris! So, finding them was the easy part! Now to actually eat them... For someone who can't eat prawns or crabs because they look too much the
same cooked as alive this was a big challenge! We had the complete experience,
right down to having to grip the snails' shells in those weird tongs and pull
them out with a little fork! It also didn’t make it any easier when the frogs
came out and we some gymnastics with them a bit beforehand! Not a great
idea! We should've listened to our mum's when they told us not to play with our food! ;) We ate them all though! Once we got over how bizarre it was; it was
actually quite nice!
The afternoon was jam packed with things to do! We visited
the lock bridge, went to the Louvre Museum and saw the Mona Lisa amongst other things and imitated
some statues (boy did we receive some funny looks! Some people even began taking
photos of us!). Then we met up with some others and headed off to the Notre Dame and then to the Moulin Rouge! We ate dinner and headed
back an hour or so before curfew via the city underground metro. We were
knackered! Sore feet but a fantastic day!
Day 8:
It was mostly a bus day; nothing too exciting. European
countries are pretty small and close together but it still requires a decent
amount of driving we soon learnt! We moved on to Grenoble (still in France) where we found our hotel, had a bit of a
pool party and dinner and hung out for the evening.
Day 9:
Driving over the Alps we
had multiple stops on our way to Nice. We had some free time and lunch in Sisteron. It was an entertaining toilet
stop! We lined up for the public toilets just as a group of older tourists came
and pushed right in front of everyone and lined themselves up! Most of our group gave up and left but
a few of us stayed. When we finally got to the front of the line one other girl
and I decided it’d be quicker if we just went into the same toilet (they were
like rooms, not little cubicles). We didn’t really comprehend the ‘self-cleaning
after every use’ sign… We caught the door when the lady came out and we both
went straight in and shut it behind us... The door locked itself and everything was peachy…
until the toilet seat randomly lifted itself up and water started spraying from
the back of the toilet to wash it... Ok... We laughed and remembered the sign; we
thought that must’ve been all of it until… all of a sudden water began to spray from
the floor and walls and the lights turned off! We were getting saturated! She jumped onto the toilet and I was left stranded on the floor to cop the full
brunt of the weird smelling cleaning stuff we hoped was mostly water! Between
our screams there was uncontrollable laughter! A few minutes of this and then
finally the door unlocked and the lights switched back on; the toilet was ready
to be used. We shut the door again and finally went to use the toilet only to
discover… there was no toilet paper! Far out! We counted to three, opened the door, and
legged it out of there in fits of laughter! Away from the growing crowd of elderly tourists waiting
outside that were all probably either thoroughly entertained by our misfortune or 'tut tutting' us!
Next, we had a short stop in Castellane
but then moved on to Grasse where
we had a tour of a perfume factory. We were shown where and it was all made and
had the opportunity to sample a few and the chance to buy some if we chose (and
had the money! Phew! Expensive!).
We finally arrived in Nice!
Free time in the evening to see the city and to visit the beach!
Day 10:
Free morning in Nice
and then off we went again! On to Monaco!
We had a guided tour of Monaco
and then some short free time. We soon discovered Monaco was well out of an
exchange student’s budget! A single coke was costing around 5euro! The students
over 18 were able to visit the big casino there and see the inside with the
Rotex and Rotary but us underagers were left just to marvel from the outside… :(
And then we were off again! This time headed to Genoa (ITALY!)
Day 11:
A morning in Verona! Beautiful!
We visited Juliet’s balcony and then had free time in the city!
A couple of us went for lunch and had our first pizza in Italy! Yum yum!
We arrived at Lido di
Jesolo in the evening.
Day 12:
Day trip to VENICE! The
place I had been most excited for! Venice has always been on my bucket list and
I was so excited when it was included in the program!
We got the water bus in the morning and had a guide on board.
First thing to do once we got to Venice was the Gondolas! Everyone had the chance to go and it was fantastic! Right
through the city!
After the Gondolas we had a few hours to do what we liked; souvenir shopping, lunch, etc. We found a nice little restaurant by one of the
canals and ate our Italian pasta as we watched the gondolas glide past and listened
to the accordions and singers that were on some of them! The pasta was followed
up with sorbet and gelato of course! A real Italian experience!
We had a free evening once we got back to the hotel. I went exploring
some of the little shops down our street with a few others and then after
dinner we went to the beach which was right by our hotel!
Day 13:
Free day! There was
the opportunity to go kayaking, to a water park, bungee jumping, the
beach, shopping, and more! It was a really nice day and fabulous beach weather!
Everyone was out swimming and tanning! Soaking up the sun before our return to
Finland in a few days!
In the evening, after dinner, there was a little surprise!
Our good behaviour was being rewarded by an outing! The Rotex was taking us out
dancing! All who wanted to go got dressed up (or down! Two Aussie boys were in Koala and Kangaroo onesies) and we walked to a little club
which wasn’t open yet and had it to ourselves for a couple hours to dance!
Day 14:
We drove to the Alps
(Dolomites). Stopping for lunch in a restaurant in the mountains which had
a huge dog just like Beethoven! (You know that movie series?!).
We arrived in Bellamonte
in the afternoon and after finding our rooms we headed off for a hike in the Alps! It was gorgeous! There was a water fountain of fresh water at the little place we
stopped at and it was the best water ever! Straight from the Alps! Yum!
Day 15:
On our way to Germany we stopped
for 2 hours in Innsbruck, Austria
and had the chance to go down and see the Old
Town and shop and have lunch. This was not my favourite stop by far; in
fact it was my least favourite by leaps and bounds! This was where my purse was
stolen! I went
into a few souvenir shops, went to lunch and then when I went to pay for my
food it was nowhere to be found! A friend paid for me as another and I went to
retrace my steps and ask everywhere but we had to give up and head for the police
station. It wasn’t a fun day for me :(
From Innsbruck we went on to Garmisch-Partenkirchen where we had dinner and enjoyed a Bavarian night with music and dance!
We then continued our drive on to Nurnberg.
Day 16:
We visited the Nurnberg
War Museum in the morning which was incredible! It was really interesting
to be there. The atmosphere was quite sombre.
We drove on to Dessau
where we had lunch and then continued on to the final destination of our tour… Berlin!
Our final night’s program was a farewell party. We had the exchanging of Oldie to Newbie gifts, performances
by some of the exchange students and food but most of all a lot of tears and hugging!
This was not just the final night of our tour but also the beginning of the end
of the exchange for many who would all begin heading back to their home
countries within a matter of days or weeks tops.
Day 17:
Our last day! We had a bus tour of Berlin where we also had the chance to get out and see the Berlin Wall!
Free time wandering the city after lunch where a few of us
stumbled across a Lego store where we could make and keep our own little
superman... why not?! :D
Then off to the airport. Sad times! The trip went so quickly!
When we landed down in Helsinki and were collecting our bags the waterworks started
up again! It was horrible! It was so sad to leave each other when we'd all become so close! Not knowing when we
will be able to see each other again was the worst feeling of all!
Rotary organised for some of us that lived further up north to stay the night in a hotel
in Helsinki because it was too late to be getting trains then.
It was a fantastic tour with some really awesome exchange students!
We couldn’t have asked for better
weather either! Between 20-30 degrees every day I think! Summer dresses, shorts and
t-shirts every day just about! (That’s really quite warm weather for all of us,
having been in Finland for so long!)
...
Summer in Oulainen begins!
I had packed up all of my things before I left on the tour and whilst I was away they
were moved to my second family’s house. On arriving back in Oulainen I was
picked up at the train station by my new host dad (also my Rotary YEO here). I
am now in my second family and the day I moved was the day that marked exactly
5 months in Finland! Some big milestones! It’s amazing how
time flies!
The weekend of me coming back was Juhannus which is
Midsummer! Celebrating… well midsummer, obviously! There is now no darkness in
Finland! Many people go away to their summer cottages for the weekend and
celebrate. My family and I went to their summer cottage in Kalajoki which is by
the sea! We spent the Friday afternoon and evening there with their family which was nice and relaxing.
...
This past week I spent a day at the hospital... Don’t worry! I
didn’t break anything again! This time I was there to spend the day with who
will be my next host parents. They are both doctors and work at the local
hospital. I hung out in the operation rooms with my host dad, who is an anesthesiologist, most of the day. It was really cool! So fascinating! I think I want to get into
some kind of medicine as my career!
That day was a real show of how temperamental Finnish weather can be! The morning was sunny and quite warm; all day everyone had been complaining about the heat and then by mid-afternoon, BAM! Thunder and lightning and heavy rain! Uh oh... I’d biked there! No problem, my host dad and I went out to dinner and then he drove me and my bike home home afterwards. Saved me being absolutely soaked and, knowing my luck, probably saved me from slipping and putting myself back in a cast!
That day was a real show of how temperamental Finnish weather can be! The morning was sunny and quite warm; all day everyone had been complaining about the heat and then by mid-afternoon, BAM! Thunder and lightning and heavy rain! Uh oh... I’d biked there! No problem, my host dad and I went out to dinner and then he drove me and my bike home home afterwards. Saved me being absolutely soaked and, knowing my luck, probably saved me from slipping and putting myself back in a cast!
...
So far the summer has been full of exciting adventures! I
have more plans for the rest of the summer but I won’t bore you with them until
I’ve done them! I’ve babbled on long enough for now!
So long guys! I’ll keep you posted! :D
