FIVE MONTHS AND STUFF

And again one of these days. Exactly five months in U.S today. I left Helsinki-Vantaa's Airport exactly 5 months ago. Now because of that I've decided to do something different. I'm going to list you the good things about America and things I like here more than in Finland and then the things I like more there. I have to admit that it was kind of hard to find the good sides of America. It's so weird, because I like it here so much but I still can't find a lot of good things. Anyway...

America:

+ The absolute number one are the people. It is lovely how polite everybody is. You very often feel welcome and it is also easier to start talking to people when they are open and smile to you. I appreciate when you can smile to a stranger without them thinking that you are a complete lunatic! You can get great service in shops and stores, they say Hi, help you, and smile.

+ All the awesome places for example New York, Washington DC, Disney World... We have no such places in Finland and I have been so lucky to have the opportunities to visit them. Some day I'd like to see Los Angeles too!

+ Ranch. I have arrived to a conclusion that the two absolutely best things in America are ranch dressing and the way Americans use cheese in everything. It's also horrible though. No wonder I'm fat now...

+ The high school musical. It's just like in movies! Awesome. I wish we had that too in Finland. I think school sports are also a pretty cool thing.

+ The weather is so much nicer here. I don't miss those -30 weathers at all! And the darkness. When I'm in school in winters in Finland, I never see the sun because it isn't up almost at all. And then in summers it's shining at midnight and I can't sleep! Still I have to say that Finland's summer nights are something amazing. The feeling is something you can't describe.

+ Singers and actors/actresses. I have to say this even though it doesn't really have anything to do with my experience here. Many great people are from America. For example Meryl Streep!

Finland:

+ The School system. Oh my gosh it is just so much better. Don't even let me start to talk about it...

+ The fact that you can actually get to places even if you don't own a car! That means basically public transportation and sidewalks. I have my bike and I can get anywhere I want. I live about 5 miles away from the city center, where my school is too. I ride a bike to my school whenever it's not snowing or too cold. If I have to go to the store and buy bread or something I don't have to ask for a ride, I can just walk to the store next to us or ride a bike. In Finland you have to be 18 to drive a car so not many of my friends are able to drive yet. I bet it would drive my mom crazy if she'd have to take me everywhere all the time! And then if I need to get somewhere further from my home I can ride just a buss or a train.

+ FOOD. It's healthier and it's better. All of my family are good cooks! Finns don't eat out a lot. School food is free and it's actually good. There's always salad and vegetables with it, it's often like a home cooked meal. If you're a vegetarian there is a vegetarian option. If you're allergic to something, there's another option. The fast food I have been eating in school here is nothing compared to that. It's nasty. And then you have pay for that crap! The fast food culture is something I don't like. In Finland we don't have any Taco Bell, Wendy or Burger King. McDonald's we do have and I eat there like twice a year.

(+ Salt liquorice and chocolate. Finnish candy is the best thing ever.)

+ Free college is absolutely an amazing thing.

+ Sauna. Ahhhhh don't you just love sitting in a super hot room and then going for a swim in a freezing cold river?

+ The nature and the peace of it. Lakes and forests. It is beautiful here in Pennsylvania too, I love the mountains. But the thing is, you can't really go to the nature. In Finland I can just take my dogs and go walking to the woods. Or in a hot summer day I can start the day by swimming in the lake near us. With this comes also the every man's rights. You can go picking berries or mushrooms from the forest without worrying if you're in someones property.

+ Finnish. I think it's cool to have a language that is super weird and nobody understands it. It's neat! Finnish is one of the hardest languages to learn.

There are some. Okay I have to say that they put me in Uniontown and I bet this is not the exactly the greatest place in America (no offence)... So I may have some things just because of that. And I probably forgot something but oh well.

Then I'd also like to share with you the funniest/stupidest I've been asked during these five months.

Top 5 stupidest questions (and my answers).

1. Is the sky blue in Finland? (No. Of course not. It's purple. What did you think?)

2. Can you spell my name in Finnish? (Sure I can. The alphabet is the same though, so it won't be any different. But sure.)

3. Do you like speak English in Finland? No wait.... You speak Finlandisk? (...It's Finnish.)

4. Where is Finland?

-In Northern Europe.

Are England and France like near Europe? <-- I did not answer this one.

5. And the fifth place goes to all of these: Do you, like, have cars in Finland? What about televisions and computers? Do you have roads? Do you have stores? Do you have schools? Do you have dogs there? Are there like polar bears there? Are there Eskimos?

Yes I guarantee, all of those questions have actually been asked from me. I hope you knew the answer for the last ones... It's no.

And then about my name. No, it's not Anita, Aninia, Anninya, Annynay and certainly not Annalina. And it's not spelled Anina. It's fine though guys, I can't say your names perfectly either so no worries.

My last few days have been... weird. Today I acted so weird the whole day. I kept forgetting things and I couldn't remember anything, no information stayed in my head. I was also clumsy, what I'm usually not at all. After days like this I'm not surprised at all if people think I'm super weird. I don't really care though what people think.

I GOT MY MOM'S PACKAGE YESTERDAY!!! I screamed and jumped and my hyper-mood started (and actually I've been pretty hyper since then). I didn't open the presents yet, I waited till today so my mom could watch me opening them (skype♥). Half of the presents were from Baba and Didi and I also got some from Juuli. Thank you, all of you so so so much, they were wonderful and I loved them all. Now I have candy for like three months. I'll probably eat them in a week.

Tomorrow I have musical practice at 9 am. UGH. Then later I'm going over to Skoric's probably for a bit.

Anniina kiittää.

PS. hahahahah feel free to laugh, this is from Florida. I was "dancing" because it was so cold and I didn't realize at all that Jack was doing the same thing behind me.

PPS. All of the pictures are either taken by me, my sister or my mom (except the one of chocolate)