Aurinkoa ja sadetta

I decided to continue writing my blog in Finnish because it is more easier for me and my loved ones :) and I really can not express myself that well in any other language than Finnish. + it is difficult enough to listen and try to speak Russian 24/7 here..

Heissan! Juuri kun valittelin tätä huonoa nettiä niin nyt mun perhe osti paremman. Tuntuu kyllä huojentavalta päästä vapaasti katsomaan netistä mitä haluaa ja olla yhteydessä muihin ihmisiin (sain ainakin kerran skypenkin toimimaan)! Nyt täytyy vaan varoa, ettei vietä liikaa aikaa koneella vaan pitää yrittää etsiä paikallista tekemistä.

Eilen olin kaupungilla kahden mun luokkalaisen kanssa. Käytiin kahdella torilla: toiselta mun kaverit osti jotai koulukirjoja (joo, siellä niitä myytiin koulukirjoja torilla) ja toiselta ostin sitten jotain kosmetiikkatuotteita. Tänään olin myös opiskelemassa venäjää nelosluokan kanssa. Se oli tosi mielenkiintoista ja vaikka sielläkään en ymmärtänyt läheskään kaikkea ymmärsin sentään jotain, mikä on enemmän kuin kymppiluokan tunneilla :D Mun luokka on ilmeisesti joku matemaattisiin aineisiin (täällä algebra ja geometria ovat omat oppiaineensa + nyt on ainakin ollut paljon fysiikkaa) erikoistunut, joten meillä on paljon näitä aineita.. Tämä ei nyt välttämättä ole ihan paras uutinen minulle. Hyvä kun matikkaa edes suomeksi pystyn ymmärtämään, saati sitten venäjäksi! No enpähän minä muillakaan tunneilla mitään ymmärrä (lukuunottamatta englantia)..

Tällä hetkellä koti-ikävä tuntuu vaivaavan valitettavan usein. Arki on alkanut rutinoitua ja usein koulumatkoilla tai muuten kun on aikaa ajatella, niin tuntuu, että saattaa purskahtaa itkuun hetkenä minä hyvänsä. Tunnevaihtelut ovat täällä siis melko suuria, kun taas välillä täällä on todella mukavaa. Nyt yritän vaan kovasti etsikellä itselleni täältä kavereita ja tekemistä kuten harrastuksia, jottei elämä täällä olisi pelkkää koulua ja opiskelua. Muutenkin tykkään aina olla menossa, joten tällainen rauhallinen kotielämä ei oikeen sovi minulle. Lisäksi haluaisin kovin harrastaa jotain urheilua, kun sitä en ole päässyt ollenkaan harrastamaan lähtöni jälkeen! Salibandya täältä tuskin löytyy, siihen malliin mun isäntäperhe ainakin siitä lajista kyseli, mutta jalkapalloa varmaan. Tietysti voisin myös kysellä uskaltaako täällä lähteä iltapäivisin lenkille. Täällä ei kyllä ole juuri ketään näkynyt huvikseen juoksevan, joten en oikein tiedä mitä ajatella. Hyötyliikuntaa täällä kertyy kyllä paljon ja siksi ei varmaan jakseta huvikseen juosta. Kouluun kävelen joka päivä. En tiedä kuinka pitkä matka sinne on, mutta reippaasti kävellen kestää 40-50 minuuttia + lauttamatka eli aikaa kuluu noin tunnin verran yhteen suuntaan.

Venäjällä on lauantaisin koulua. Minunkin pitäisi mennä, mutta minulla on venäjän intensiivikurssi iltapäivällä, niin AFS:n vapaaehtoinen sanoi, että jos olen kovin väsynyt, niin minun ei ole pakko mennä. Ah, saan nukkua siis pitkään huomenna! :)

Täällä on ollut viime päivät sateisia ja paljon kylmempiä kuin aiemmin. Tuntuu melkein kuin olisi Suomessa :p Kyllä se aurinkokin siellä paistaa, joskus sitä ei vain näe, koska edessä on paljon pilviä. Omat ikävän pilveni ovat ajoittaisia ja pääasiassa ilma on aurinkoinen.

Rakkaudella
Nella

Life and school

Internet here is very bad.. It doesn’t always work and when it does work it is very very slow! That’s why I can not contact you or really do anything online. So I’m sorry that I don’t always answer: I really try and want to but this just refuses to send my messages sometimes. It is very frustrating! Well I am not going to spend too much time online, that’s for sure :p

Today was officially the first day at school and I was at my new Russian school number 48. It doesn't take so long to get there because it’s much closer than school number 23 (were my intensive Russian language course was). I say officially because the first day was a big celebration day and students have prepared it earlier (which sounds quite funny to me that students go to school before it has officially started) but anyway the celebration was just wonderful. The school, teachers and other students seemed really nice even thought it is quite difficult to survive there. That’s because my Russian is still very bad and generally speaking people here don’t speak English that well so I really don't understand anything at school :D And even thought some people know some English they are reluctant to speak it. That makes me think that maybe they think that it isn't important to know English. They really don’t need it for anything. The good side is that I will certainly learn Russian here because I really can not communicate with any other language.

My school is some really fancy school. I’m in the 10^th grade so my classmates are a bit younger than I am but that’s okay. AFS doesn’t usually place students to the 11^th grade because they are busy to prepare in their final exams. In Russia usually at schools you have to have white top and black trousers or a skirt but because I’m at some very good school we have a certain kind of uniform. All good school has their own uniforms. It isn’t really the most modern outfit I’ve seen and first I was a bit horrified honestly. On my way to school I noticed that people seemed to know that it is a sign from a good school and at school when everyone else had it too I noticed that the uniform ain’t that horrible after all. Actually it is quite fun to have a uniform for one year because we don’t have those in Finland. Even thought at first I thought I would really prefer ‘normal’ school clothes (white+black).

I’ve been here over a week now . I’ve started to know how things work here I know the place I’m living in. It is really nice and I feel more confident. Even thought my family seems really worried about me all the time.. Of course it is really good that they take a good care of me in the beginning when I don’t know the language and the habits but it makes me feel like I was much younger again :p Not have to take responsibility of myself (well at first and still now I still quite can not do that because I don’t understand what I have to do). I can say simple sentences and usually say what I want or need and I’ve started to understand very well when people speak me slowly and simply (even thought my Russian vocabulary is quite small). But still when people speak quickly and about more complicated things, I have no idea what they’re saying.  


So all in all my life in Russia is starting really well. Now I'd just like to find friends and maybe some hobbies. I would love to do some sports because I really haven't done anything since I left Finland. And It's more difficult here to make friends when you don't have a common language but I know I'm a very social person and I will make friends here :)

Love
Nella

P.s I was trying to add photos here but I couldn't and I'm just happy if I get this text published (some of the text might I written might be gone but still..)

Russia is not a cold country

A lot has happened during these last days. Yes, I'm in Russia now! From Friday to Monday we had an orientation camp near Moscow. I flew to Moscow together with Tiina, another Finnish girl who also came to Finland for a year. I understood we were the first ones to arrive. We arrived to Moscow airport mid day. There were volunteers who were waiting for us. After that we waited couple hours in the airport for another girl and then drove to our camping site. It was Friday afternoon and the traffic was horrible. The journey took really long. I have to say that traffic, especially in Moscow, is really crazy.
  Saturday and Sunday we had a lot of activities. There were lots of other exchange students from all over the world and Russian volunteers. Everybody was really really nice and we had an awesome time there. Especially all the volunteers are great and very caring. On Monday I flew to Krasnodar. We were lucky because we had a flight - many students travelled by train to their host cities and it can take really long. My host mom and dad picked me up from the airport. The whole family is very nice. I could not have wished for a better family! My mom speaks little Finnish and my dad little English. I would say it's just perfect for me: We speak in Russian but if I don't understand they help me with Finnish or English. They are really patient and supportive when it comes to my Russian.
  Today I was at one school (with will not be my school)  to study Russian. There were the students who are staying in Krasnodar and one AFS volunteer who teaches us Russian language. It takes really long for me (about 2 hours I think) to get to the school. I went there with my host brother. We first we walked then took this water taxi to get over the Kuban river then walked and after that took this 'Russian little bus' and then walked again to get to that school. Officially school in Russia starts the 1st of September but now we foreigners are having this intensive Russian language course.
  At home I will have my own room but at the moment my family is renovating the house and the upstairs is not ready yet. The house is really nice. It doesn't look very attractive outside but is very nice indoors. And really big I think.
  As for the weather. When we arrived to Moscow it was really hot. Weekend was a bit rainy so it wasn't as hot but when we arrived to Krasnodar (about 6 pm.) it was 30 degrees! So anyone who thinks Russia is coldest country in the world - I don't agree!
  I am quite tired because of the hot weather and all the new things I think. I is really exhausting to try to understand and speak Russian all the time. I like it (like I like the weather) but it's hard for me because I haven't got used to that (yet ;) ).
  Now I will go because I  really don't want to spend much time on the computer. So I didn't bother to re-read this and I'm sorry for all the mistakes. I just thought I had to write something because I think everyone are really interested (especially my parents) :)

Love
Nella

Surprise!

Yes, I can't believe I'll leave tomorrow morning. I have been packing and I finally finished.. with 3 kilos too much luggage. I have planned everything so carefully so I don't know what I should leave behind! :s I'm so stressed at the moment.

But I had a fantastic surprise yesterday! My friend ask me to come swimming with her and of course I went. We ended up to a summer cottage where were more my friends. They had rented the cottage and decorated it with balloons and candles and made good food and all kind of stuff for me! They also had made this book for me about our years together and put pictures there. I just felt and still feel speechless. I don't know what to say.. except thank you<3 How can I have such a wonderful friends :) The fact that you're leaving away for such a long time makes you realize that there are so many lovely and important people around you. You really learn to appreciate relationships.
  We ate great food, went rowing with this small boat in there, enjoyed sauna and swimming! We had a blast! It was just a perfect moment of relaxation between all this stress. I just want to say thank you especially for my friends but also for all the people who have been there for me. I could never forget you. I'm sure a year will go by fast and I will be back. I really haven't said any goodbyes.. I just prefer 'see you' because it doesn't make me so sad :) Today I'll go to school to see my friends for the last time. I hope I won't start to cry.

They had written 'Have a good journey!" in Russian.

I didn't have my camera with me but I tried to take some photos with my phone..

Love

Nella

P.s I was thinking about writing this in Finnish but I haven't wrote here Finnish.. yet :D In Russia it would be so much easier for me to express my feeling in Finnish. So maybe I will write in Finnish.. maybe in English

3 nights

I realized that there are only 3 nights until the departure! I will sleep only three nights at home anymore.. It sounds so unreal. Two whole days to do what needs to be done before my year will begin O.o I still don't understand this is actually happening now. I haven't cried yet. Maybe I realize this is true when I get to the airport and then I might start to cry.. It remains to be seen :)

And what needs to be done..is packing. It is so hard for me! I always take too much stuff with me where ever I go but now I can't. I have already started packing because I need to plan carefully what to pack and I want to make sure I remember to take everything necessary with me. I would prefer not to think about it but I have to :D I can take 23 kg plus 8 kg hand baggage (Last time I thought it was different but these are the right amounts I think). That's really not much for a year! I just have to decide what to take and what I will buy in Russia.

Love

Nella

Baking with my other friend :D

I have much spare time now in my hands before my departure so I have time to do the things I love - baking and being with my friends. This time me and my best friend Essi made profiteroles (tuulihatut) with two fillings. It turned out great!

Sweet filling - raspberries, whipped cream, and quark

Savory filling - ham, cream cheese, cream and fresh basilica

Love

Nella

P.s And here's the Finnish recipe online: http://www.yhteishyva.fi/ruoka-ja-reseptit/reseptit/tuulihatut/01236 (but we didn't make those fillings)

Baking with my friend

This has nothing to do with my exchange but as I have said I like baking and cooking :) So my friend Amanda visited my place and she brought chocolate, ice cream and blueberries with her and this is what we end up. It tasted even better that it looks ;)

Mud cake

 Love
Nella

P.s Here you can find the recipe if you're interested http://www.maku.fi/resepti/mutakakku#axzz2bIRNaFhr It's in Finnish thought