The Finns

  Hello,

  Here is a subject that i promised to write about in this post, because for example the people don't have a concrete idea about the Finnish people. So let's start.

  The most important adjective to describe the Finns is that they are very honest people. Here in Portugal we have a proverb saying "Achado não é roubado" and if I translate literally would be like "Found is not stolen", but that in 99% of the cases in Finland don't happend. They don't want to spoil the life of the other people because they don't see that it's a good thing and they also don't evade the taxes, they have a very good educational system, for example, because they have enough money to have it. They are also very honest people because they speak the truth, if they thing that something it's like that they will say what they think. They also don't speak bad things about the others in their back. I just love that.

  Before coming I've heard that the nordic people are very cold and quiet, and the truth is: they actually are a little bit quiet in comparation with the people from the south, but they are not cold. They have some problems in expressing their emotions but they have true emotions.

  And when you are speaking with a Finn you can also be a little bit away from him, specially with stangers, because they need their own personal space and they almost never kiss, with strangers that never happend.

  They don't like Russia because of the History, the relation with Sweden it's very funny because they are like siblings, they like each other but they are always "fighting", and they also speak a lot about Estonia because they go quite often there in the boats of Viking Line or Silja Line to buy cheap alcohol.

  In general they are not religious people, but I think that they have something of spiritual, because always that somebody wants to say that somebody is dead they said that, that person is in a better place, on heaven, in the sky, etc. Another good thing is the fact that they accept the people who have faith.

  Maybe i will say more about them in another post, but with this you can have an idea of what it's a Finn.

Delicious...

  Hello everybody,

  Yesterday i made korvapuusti, it was not like in Finland, but i really felt like, because of the smell and the confection. It really tooks me back there. Korvapuusti means, if i translate slap in the ear, because of the shape.

  Sorry, i know that i've promised to talk more, and i've started some posts but i need to finnish them.

  Bye bye!

Goodbye Finland!

  Yes it's true, i'm writing from Portugal right now. This Saturday I came, but first let's start with the things that I did last week.

  On Sunday I made my very first snow angel after sauna. I did twice and it was so funny because where I lived there was not very much privacy and I was just a towel, but it was 10 o'clock in the night so I haven't saw nobody. One very important rule: never go without nothing shoe. Your feet will sufer a lot.

 Monday I went to visit my previous host-family. It's was so good to visit them. There I made for the first time ski (in the backyard to practice) and it was very funny.

  Wednesday I went agian to Laajavuori with my host sister and we meet some Dutch group.

  On Thirsday I went to the workshop of food in Lyseo and the theme was Christmas food. After I visited the museum that exists in that school.

 We also went to the roof and we could see an amazing views. This part is Kilpisenkatu, one of the main streets of the city

  After I went to dinner with my first host-family.

Friday I went to buy something to the people in Portugal and in Kauppakatu there was this market.

  Saturday I come back to my home. A long day with 5 hours by bus from Jyväskylä to Helsinki-Vantaa with a change in Lahti. After, another 4/5 hours in the plane to Lisbon. I was a little bit scaried if they complained with the weight of the luggage in the airport, but thanks god, nothing happend. In Lisbon I was the one that looks more like a Snow White. 

  Sunday my parents made a little snack with some people.

  I'm missing so much Finland, the honesty of the people, the calm, my finnish bed (now mine seems like stone) and all the people that I met. 

  Well, I want to continue with this blog and talk about some aspects about Finland.

  See you some day!

School alone

 Hej,

  Friday was national holiday celebrating the independence of Finland from Russia. It's a very special day for the Finns because it still some old speople that lived before that time. Also after the independence were very hard times to Finland because of the several wars that they had with Russia. Actually it still exists some bad idea of Russia by the Finnish people.
  So exists some traditions in this day like go to the graveyard to put some candles in memory of thier family or the dead soldiers. They also put two candles in the window, have a special dinner with the family and watch TV where shows some important dance made by the President of Republic and the guests are important people, some veterans, ambassadors in Finland and former Presidents of Republic of Finland. After shows some important Finnish things like Lordi (finnish heavy metal band who won the Eurovision Song Contest) or the game between Sweden and Finland of ice hockey in 2011. All the years also appears a movie called "The Unknown Soldier" or "Tuntematon solitas" in Finnish wich shows the Continuation War from the finnish perspective.
  I really like this think of celebrating the national holidays, because in Portugal, a national holiday means a day to do nothing.

This photos as you can see are from the graveyard. Sorry for the quality. This last one is in honor os the Karelian people who was forced to move from their place because of the Russian occupation.

  Saturday I made my very first snowman. It was so funny. Before going home I went to Harju Tower to see the city with the snow and it's very beautiful.

  At night I went with another exchange students to Laajavuori to the downhill.

  Yesterday the Spanish guy left back to his home. But in January he will come back. It was very hard to find an host-family to him but thanks to the "power" of the social networks he found it!

  And finnaly I have a proof that the days are incredibly small. 

I took this photo in front of my school at around 14:15.

  Hej in the begging is in Swedish. It's mandatory to learn this language since the 7th grade here in Finland because of the Swedish-speaking population . About 5/6 % of the population, mainly concentrate in the coastal areas, have the Swedish as their mother tongue due to the history (Finland belonged to the Swedish Empire during several centuries). 

Four Months/ One Week

  Hello,

  So what I did last week?
  Sunday I was all the day at home so I decided to take a walk until Jyväsjärvi (the lake in the center of the city), and it was one of the biggest mistakes that I've made. When I get out from my house it was very windy and ingeneral near the lakes is so much worst, so when I went to the lake I was dying and frozen.

It was so windy that even a tree fell down.

 This is the view of the city in the other part of the lake.

Because the railways goes in the middle of the city, there exists some "bidges" to the pedestrians, bicicles and anothers for the transports.

  On Tuesday I went to Helsinki to some event called Studia, where there where represented universities and universities of applied sciences of all Finland and also from another countries. There was one from Portugal and of course I enjoyed the moment to speak face-to-face with somebody. It was very nice, but the most interesting thing was the lady said that I have a little accent on my Portuguese. After I went to see the others universities and I ansked for courses in English and everybody said "Yes, of course we have, but go to our site in the Internet for more information because i'm not very well informed about that". 

  After that we went to Ateneum or Kiasma, but i've seen already both and were the some exhibitions that I just follow a friend and so I saw Ateneum. After that everybody went to shopping but I went to see the sea. It was so special to me to see that. It really remind me to Portugal. After that I just followed to coast and I also went to the Kaivopuisto, one of the most important parks in the city and were you can see a fabulous veiw to the sea and the city near the small astronomic observatory. After I was so scary to loose the bus that I was running to the bus meeting place. It was a tiring day for the 8 hours in the bus.

 Ateneum

 This is the Ursa Astronomical Observatory

The view to the city from the Observatory.

   Wednesday I went to see the Hunger Games to the cinema.

   Thirsday I ate for the first time in Arnold's and also I ate fro the first time moose. My host-mom asked me what I would like to do and that was one of the things. It's very delicious.

  Finnaly I took some pictures to the Christmas Lights.

This is in SOKOS, all the years they make some kind of animated representation.

  The title of this post it's about the time that i've been here in Finland and the time left to go back to Portugal.

  Näkemiin.

Time goes by

  Hello everybody.

  It's so sad, I will leave from Finland in two weeks. When it's your last month of something that you really like, the unique thought that comes to your mind it's "This is almost ending". That never get out of your brain specially if you are in Finland in December. Now, at 4 o'clock it's already night and it's so cold that nothing happens, so I have plenty of time to think.
  Actually, yesterday I just get out of the house at night to go to one housewarming party. Here the youngs, they start to live alone very early, like 18/20 years old. In the way back home I saw three rabbits in the middle of the city. Another very common animal are squirrels, they are everywhere and I was almost having an accident by bike with one a few months ago.
  Have been snowing almost all the days and the roads are extremely slippery. It's funny to see everybody walking very slowly and falling.

Two days ago I saw this tree in the Church Park.

Yestarday was snowing all the day, and my mom was making m jealous showing the sun in Portugal through the window.

  Bye Bye.

The Perfect Combination

   Hello, hello!

  It's officially the Christmas season here in Jyväskylä. The opening was Sunday and actually I was expecting more, it was only some fireworks and some people speaking in Kompassi and the lights it's only one star in the sky and some threes with lights and nothig else. I went to a higher place near Harju to see better the fireworks and was there a lots of people.

  My host mom tried to baking pulla, and it didn't happend so well as expected so there was not so much, but the ones that survided were very delicious.

  In Wednesday it was my Multicultural Project exhibition. In my group I was with the people from Afganistan, and I never felt bad for being with them. In the project basically we prepared some works showing our countries and our cultures and it tooks all the day, so I didn't went to the classes :) .

  At night I went to see some concert (for free) in Siltasali. My music teacher said to everybody of our class to go there, but as a good Portuguese that I am I went late and so I only saw the concert in the entrance of the building were they put some televisions for the peoplewho haven't got sit. I really liked them.

  Has been the coldest days of my life and everything is full of ice and snow and negative temperatures (I'm just feeling that I'm in Finland). On Thursday was snowing and I was very excited, for me when it's snowing it's a very magical moment. So I was taking pictures with the camera and walking at the same time and KABUUUM, I fell in the floor because it was slippery due to the ice under the snow. So, my advice to everybody is: never take photos when you are walking and much less when it's snowing.

 This is my new lake: Tuomiojärvi. But I will never forget my Palokkajärvi.

   The view from my bedroom.

  This weekend I went to camp with in a scouts camp. I meet one of the leaders in August and she invited me. I was the unique boy, and it's quite different from the camps in Portugal. They go to sauna (yes, even in the camps), they have a lots of candys and the tent was bought in the Finnish Army. Of course for the feezing winters they need special tents with fireplace. It was a very special camp with the snow and I really enjoy it.

Delicious, banana with chocolat 

 The first tent with chimney that I had been.

Marshmallows

  And today I finnished my Finnish lessons at the city library.

  Actually I saw that I'm almost always talking about weather now in the blog. To say the truth the title it's about the weather that was today, completely sunshine and snow everywhere.

  Näkemiin