My final blog post

Hello again!

I have now been home in Gothenburg for about five weeks and it feels really nice to be back. I have started working and it's going great. I learn new things every day :)

I love to travel and have always dreamed of living abroad in a warm country. And my wish to do so has grown even bigger after my EVS-period.  Maybe I can study abroad whenever I have figured out what I want to study or work as an aupair or work with something else, we will see.. I will just have to wait and see what the future brings :)

I’m glad that I was able to be an EVS-volunteer, it has given me so much that are useful both now and later on. I feel that I have grown as a person and I have discovered new things about myself. I have challenged myself and stepped out of my comfort zone and because of that I got to experience and learn new things.

I don't feel that I have that much more to write about so I will finish my last blogpost by saying thanks to everyone involved in this EVS-Project! It was a great experience.

- Linnea

My "first" Finnish week

Moi!

As I mentioned in the last blog post I traveled to my relatives in the northern Finland and Sweden. It was a wonderful trip and I am so happy that I had the opportunity to go and visit my relatives :) Nine hours in the bus was very long but so worth it!




On Wednesday it was time to work again, so I continued with the PowerPoints and soon I will be done with them as well, hopefully on Monday because I don't have much time left.
I'll go back home next week's Friday, so exactly one week. About going home I have some mixed emotions, on the one hand I miss my friends and family and I wanna see them again and my own home and city but on the other hand I feel like my time here has gone by really fast and I would like one or two more weeks.

Thursday I was at Martat, a cooking class with other youngsters from different workshops. the day before I was a bit nervous about going there because the class was in Finnish but I worried over nothing. The youngsters were really nice as well as the instructor Niina who even knew some Swedish but the main language was still Finnish :) First Niina gave us an introduction about Martat and about saving money and after that we started making the food and dessert. We were divided into smaller groups, some were two and two others were alone. It was fun and I'm glad that I went :)
 After that I went to my Finnish lesson and we went through some new stuff. Later I went for a coffee with my new friend, who is also taking the same Finnish lesson :)




Today Friday I have started writing in my Youthpass about my learning experiences, it can be a bit difficult to put words into it but I'm sure it will work out in the end :)


- Linnea

Sightseeing and my first hockey match

Hello!

This week has gone by really fast.. Last weekend I was visiting a friend in Helsinki, we saw and went to different tourist attractions. And just walked around and discovered the city :)

It is a beautiful city and I would like to go back there at summer time  :)

On Tuesday I went to my first hockey game with Lauri, his friend and his son. Pelicans (Lahti) vs. Kärpät  (Oulu). It was a fun new experience and it's not the same as watching it on Tv. Pelicans scored the first goal and after a while the score was 1-1, Kärpät won when they scored another goal during the extension period, Pelicans 1-2 Kärpät.

Thursday morning me and Susanna visited a Swedish school here in Lahti. The principal informed us/ me about the school and its history and after that she gave us a tour arond the building and introduced me to the pupils. It was a nice school:) And later that day we went to visit a 4H farm. Two of Susanna's clients are being there so I got the opportunity to come with and see some of the activities.

Today around lunch time I'm taking the bus to the northern Finland and Sweden where I'll be staying during this long weekend and visiting my relatives :) I'm really looking forward to seeing them :D but I'll have a looong busride ahead of me.. almost 8,5 hours.. I'm coming back to Lahti on the independence day 6.12

-Linnea

My first week and a half in Lahti

Hello, I have been here in Lahti for about one and a half week and it has gone really fast :) I really like to be here, everybody are so kind and nice :)
I arrived November 15th and my mentors Lauri and Vesa picked us up from the bus station. Then we went to the apartment to sign some papers and do talk and to get some information.

The second day contained more information, basically the first few days was informative. That day we walked around in the market square and then we made a quick visit at Ohjaamo, the place where I'll be work during my stay here in Finland.

Later that day me and Lasse, the Swedish coordinator,
 went for a walk to Sibelius Hall

This is Sibelius Hall from the inside

Thursday 17.11: first day at Ohjaamo. More information about what Ohjaamo is and what my work coaches, Riina and Susanna do. Then tour in Ohjaamo. At the office there is a turtle called Orbi :)
I don't have a picture of Orbi right now but i will take one and put it in the blog.

Friday Riina and I went to Multi-Culti to meet my finnish teachers, then to Tiimari to buy material for the window decorations for the FIS Nordic World Championships in feb/march 2017.


On Saturday me and Irene went to the market square to see Santa arrive in a helicopter. It was many families with kids there ofcourse.
Then after that we went for a Coffee and it was a nice day :)


Sunday I went with Susanna and her son to one of her sons schoolfair. We went through everything  then we watched a play, Snow white, played by 5th graders i think ,in  finnish ofcourse. It was nice to hear finnish and i understood pretty much everything :) then we went to one of the Cafes. It was really nice of Susanna to ask if I wanted to come with her and her son :)
The kids at that school do really creative stuff

Second week is almost over but it started on monday with a mentor meeting and work at Ohjaamo. I started doing Finnish flags that are supposed to be window decoration at Ohjaamo during the FIS Nordic World Championships.

On Tuesday I had my first finnish lesson here, it was fun and I'm excited for the up coming lessons because I already understand some finnish but I want to be able to and get the courage to also speak finnish. We'll see how it goes :)

The rest of the days i continued doing the flags and on Thursday I was finally done :)
I also started with my other task which is to translate powerpoints from English into Swedish.

Aerial Yoga

 On Thursday evening I tried Aerial Yoga for the first time with Susanna. It was a lot of fun and relaxing. At first I was like 'what have I gotten myself into..' but it turned out to be a really good experience and I would like to try this at home in Gothenburg and bring my friends or my aunt who I think is in to Yoga :) so thanks Susanna :)

I have probably forgotten something but i feel that this text is very long now..

Until next week
Linnea

Meet Linnea- volunteer from Sweden

First name:

Linnea

Where am I now?
I am now in Lahti, Finland

Age
19

What am I expecting for my time in Finland?
I would like to improve my Finnish, this is a good experience for me that also can be used in the future.

Is there something that I find exciting?
To see a new part of Finland since I have only been in the northern Finland. To meet new people and learn new things.

What are my hobbies? what kind of stuff am I interested in?
I like to watch TV-series for example The Vampire Diaries and others, I like hanging with friends and I like to read.

What is the most important thing I am going to take with me?
An open mindset and my phone

What would I like tell about  Sweden to people I'll meet in Finland?
I don't really know but if anyone have questions I will try to answer them. I live in Gothenburg, the second largest city in Sweden.

What do I wish for my future? What is my dream?
I would like to study or work abroad in a warm country in the future.