Bon Voyage

The day I had been waiting for, for over a year, finally arrived! The long journey to Helsinki, Finland began on Tuesday 13th August. My plane left at 3:50pm from Sydney that afternoon and I arrived in Singapore at 11:50pm that night. On the plane I sat next to an old man who turned out to be a priest for an Anglican Church. Lets just say he liked to talk and I didn't get much sleep, let alone get through a movie. After an 8 hour flight I was glad Singapore airport was one of the biggest in the world as it meant it took me 30 minutes to walk to my next gate, and a long walk was definatly needed to stretch my legs. As I was walking throught the airport I discovered that Singapore airport is no ordinary airport, having gardens every 10 metres on the inside and a pool on the roof. I boarded again at 2:35am Australian time. I remember dreading the 12 hour flight ahead. This time I sat next to a little Finnish girl who slept on me the whole way. Most of the people on this flight were Finnish and tried to talk to me in Finnish multiple times. I just smiled and nodded and hoped they weren't asking me a question. When I arrived at Helsinki airport it was quite deserted compared to Sydney and Singapore and most of the people on my flight were getting on a connecting flight. I made my way through the securtiy checks by myself and then I was greeted by my host family! They gave me a big hug and even made me sign! When we walked outside I discovered it was raining and 13 degrees. Finnish people call this summer but to us Australian people its more like second winter season. As soon as we got home I was feeling the exhaustion, not having slept in over 30 hours by now and it was only 6:30am in the morning, Finnish time. My host family somehow kept me awake all day, taking me on a car drive tour to the capital, Helsinki that night. The city is so beautiful and very green compared to Sydeny, having parks or ponds everywhere. I also saw the harbour in Espoo (where I live) and Helsinki and moored there was the families sailing boat. My host family also started to teach me a bit of Finnish and I helped them with their English. We got post it notes and stuck them on every piece of furniture, writing both the Finnish and English names on them. My host families English is very good but there are still times when I have no idea what they are talking about and they result to explaining it to me in Finnish with hand jestures, which doesn't work at all, although it is very entertaining! Tomorrow I might be visting Selma's and Akseli's (My host sibblings) school and I start my school on Monday. I am very excited for the months ahead and so far It has been great!