9/11/11: 10 Years Later

Hello Everyone! I hope you all had a restful and sincere September 11. Today, I woke up and made adjustments to my room.

After, I went biking with my host sister. We went to Vanhalinna, which is where the old castle used to be before it was destroyed (it is only 3 minutes away from my house by bike!!)

This is a view from the top of the hill where the castle used to be.

Afterwards, we biked to a bridge, where I took these pictures

When I got back, I watched the 2 last moments of silence on my laptop, the ones for United 93 and the 2nd tower collapsing. The second meant the most to me because as a child, I remember waking up and getting ready for 1st grade. All of a sudden I heard my mom scream on the phone and turn on the TV. I can't remember how long we were there, but I remember watching the 2nd tower collapse. So at 10:28 Eastern Time (5:28 pm Finland Time) I was suddenly back in my 6 year old body watching as the skyscrapers of NYC were suddenly reduced to nothing. It was a sincere, awesome, and eerie moment. How the time has passed!

After I finished the moment of silence, I rejoined the family at my host brothers 14th birthday party. For the most part, the family only spoke Finnish so it was my time to speak Finnish with the grandparents and little cousins.

This is one of my favorite patriotic songs. Please listen to it and remember just how lucky we are to be American.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEcsEtRotHk

Lipstick Terror Day

Today was a very great day! As of today, the 3rd years (the equivelant to High School Seniors) have only 100 more days left of lukio (high school). To celebrate, they decorated the 5th floor of the school to look like Hollywood.

After the morning announcements, we were sitting in music class while the teacher played traditional Finnish Waltzes on the Accordian when we heard a knock on the door... Then the 3rd years barged in with a loud boom box and lots of lipstick. If we didn't dance, they painted our faces. After this, I was able to follow the 3rd Years around because I did not have a class at that time

Here is me with some other exchange students from South Africa and Australia

Below are some pictures of lunch time. Lunch is free here in Finland and the cafeteria is very small, which makes everyday interesting. Also attached are other pictures that were taken throughout the day