CAR RUN IN CROMWELL

Ski trip to Queenstown

Trip to North Island

VC Deep cove camp

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I AM BACK

Pitkä hiljaisuus takana ja mä olen palannut videomateriaalin kera. Tässä meidän viime viikonlopun koulureissulta materiaalia. Mulla on ollut ihan törkeän kiireistä mikä on vaan hyvä. Katotaan jos saisin jotain muutakin laitettua tänne blogin puolelle. Cheers <3

TO MY HOST BROTHER

So the day finally came. On Saturday you got into a plane and left me alone to go back to your own family in Germany. 

You were such a pain. So many times I wanted to kill myself while you were singing loudly in the shower. Still you always had my back and were like a real brother. The big brother I've always wanted. We were annoying the shit out of each others all the time and then again we had so many good moments. Remember when we watched the cowspiracy from netflix and got pissed of the stupidy of this human race? And the day when we watched stars outside and talked about life? 

You taught me how things are done and helped me every time even too much. You were the one to take a late night walk to Maccas with and I opened up with my whole life story to you. You were there when I was crying and didn't know what to do. You saw the worst parts of me and still loved me (at least I hope you did lol). You helped with my tie and we made the best vegetable pasta together.

House feels empty without you but I guess I'll get used to this. I will always remember you and be thankful for all you've done for me. I am looking forward to our roadtrip around Europe one day! Love you brother.

// Eli siis lauantaina mun hostveli lähti takaisin kotiin Saksaan. Kotona on hassua olla ja tuntuu tosi tyhjältä. Vaihtariveljestä oli tosi paljon iloa ja hyötyä. Hän opetti mulle kaikki jutut täällä ja auttoi mua sopeutumaan. Me oltiin tosi erilaisia ja silti pikkuhiljaa meistä tuli kuin oikeita sisaruksia. Me ärsytettiin toisiamme mutta aina kun tarvittiin toisiamme niin toinen oli siinä ymmärtämässä.

Viime viikonloppuna tehtiin viimeinen roadtrip Te Anauhun. Meillä oli ihan sika hauskaa ja puhuttiin kaikesta. Käytiin tekemässä yhdessä kanssa yksi asia mun must-do listalta, nimittäin kiiltomatoluolat. Se oli ihan sairaan hienoo! Tuntui ihan niinkuin olin leijunut avaruudessa.

Fam <3

Läksiäispäivällinen, kumararanskalaisia ja tofuburger nam

Mulla tulee häntä ikävä mutta tiiän että me nähdään vielä. Suunniteltiin roadtrippiä Euroopassa kun tulee mun vuoro tulla kotiin täältä. Kiitos kaikesta <3 Oli kunnia olla sun hostsisko.

WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO

Siitä on ikuisuus kun olen oikeasti päivitellyt kuulumisia tai tapahtumia tänne blogin puolelle, eikä enää ole mitään mahdollisuutta kirjoittaa kaikesta. Laitan kuitenkin paljon kuvia mistä kukin voi itse päätellä mitä kaikkea olen tämän hiljaisuuden aikana puuhaillut.
Mutta näin yleisesti mulla menee ihan törkeän hyvin. Oon kokoajan tosi onnellinen ja kauhean kiireinen kokoajan. Ollaan kokoajan menemässä kavereiden kanssa ja en voisi olla kiitollisempi tästä koko jutusta.

Auntie Vicky's spa with girls

Verdon College Showcase & production 2016

Alex 17 years! <3

WRITING PORTFOLIO

Laitan nyt tänne blogin puolelle pari koulutyötä mitä oon tehnyt enkussa. Tuntuu että enkku on kauhean luonnollinen jo ja suomen kirjottaminen on kauhean kömpelöä. Osaksi sen takia ei ollut mitään inspiraatiota kirjoittaa tänne. Mutta oon tosi iloinen ja ylpeä kun mun opettaja kehu mun kirjotusta yhtä sujuvaksi kuin paikallisten. Tän vuoden aikana oon kehittynyt englannin ilmaisussa paljon ja tässä pari todistetta siitä.

17 280 kilometres that changed it all

Creative writing

Roosa Haapanen

I am running my finger over a big pile of paper. I can see corners of my plane tickets and on top of it all is a map. I have carefully highlighted every place I’ve visited from the map. I’m sitting on the floor of my room. I can see flower pattern in the curtains, my big and most comfy bed ever and a white mirror desk. Nowadays the room is my familiar safe place. Just a while ago it was all strange and filled with worries. It is such an awesome thing how much you can grow and learn just within six months. I hated this place a lot when I arrived, but now I am afraid to let go anymore.

I won’t ever forget the day when I left Finland. I was standing in the airport and balling my eyes out. I knew that a year is not a long time but I was still terrified. I had to leave my family, friends, boyfriend and everything safe and familiar behind. I had spent a month in a language course in UK before but leaving alone to the other side of the world was so different. I was having doubts that leaving would be a mistake. Having an exchange year had been my dream for a long time and  the time finally had come. I had to remind myself that my passion was to see new places, people and just simply to see the world. There is nothing better than to get out from a plane on the other side of the world and have all the opportunities to do anything. I live for those moments which make me feel alive. It can be a wind from the ocean that plays with your hair or a nice exotic drink in a cafe along a lively street. I am always looking for those moments which make this life worth living. I love things that make me feel like the world is free from miserable things just for that second. That was what I had to convince myself when it was time to leave. We took last pictures and gave last kisses. Then just in a second I was already gone through security. I couldn’t see my loved ones anymore. The world was mine and my own adventure could start.

Just the flights took forever. Luckily another Finnish girl Liisa came together with me the whole way. It was good to have company at that point. Me - just turned 16 years and all alone leaving to the other side of the world. We had to make three connecting flights: first in London, second in Singapore and third one in Sydney. At that point where I got to see the lights of London up high from the sky I started to feel super excited. The grief from leaving everyone behind started to fade already. We saw a beautiful outdoor cactus garden in Singapore and finally got wifi connection in Sydney. Just telling about our flights would take me forever, but that is not the point. Two days out of a year is not a big deal.

When I now look back, I wouldn’t regret anything. These past six months have made huge changes to myself. I was so terrified to leave on the other side of the world all alone. That was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done. I was so sure that I wouldn’t have any friends or actually to be able to start feeling like home. When our flight landed in Auckland and we started our soft landing camp, I was so done. I cried myself to sleep and stayed up the whole night skyping back to Finland. The jet lag was awful and I tried to stay positive and energetic when I just wanted to cry and sleep. I didn’t even eat much. Still though, I can remember the feeling when I saw New Zealand the very first time from window of the airplane. I felt a wave of warmness going through me and I could think only one word. That word was home. It sure was a rough path, but I am so glad I made it up here. The first couple of months were fighting day after day. It is so extremely hard to come to a country you basically knew nothing about, speak different language to everyone all the time, just come to someone’s home and be like ‘oh I live here now’. And not even speaking of starting in a new school, trying to get friends, starting new hobbies, adjusting and trying to feel like home. It was lot to take. But hey, pressure makes the diamonds.

I have grown up so much during this time! I can’t even explain all the things going on in my head. Here I’ve started to feel like I actually belong somewhere and everything has a purpose. I’ve built better version of myself while being here. I have confidence that I can actually do anything. Things I was so terrified to do before are my everyday life here. Quotes say “Sometimes you have to go far to meet yourself.” That is certainly true. When you leave everything to travel all alone, there is no other option than to learn to know yourself better than ever. While being here I’ve taken up new sports like badminton and pole dancing. I’ve learnt how to challenge myself. I also have started to do art again. I didn’t even remember how much I missed painting and drawing. All these things who make me who I am. It might sound corny, but I’ve found myself in a completely new level and I have so much stronger picture of who I really am. I am also constantly finding myself smiling without any specific reason. I’m every day grateful of this all. My host family is absolutely crazy and better I could have ever hoped for. They have done so much for me. I also have the world’s greatest friends who accepted me to be part of the squad. It is natural to use English as my daily language and I don’t have any problems with understanding. When I first arrived, the Southland accent was freaking me out. People pronounced words in a funny way and I needed to pay extra attention to get what people were saying. And now I can do the slang myself. Before this I had no idea when to say churr bro, sweet as or yea ghee.

This past year has been so amazing. I’ve learned how to surf and how to shear a sheep. I have biked over mountains and been tramping till my legs couldn’t move anymore. I even got covered of cow poo when I was milking. I’ve seen sun going down on the bottom of the earth. I have loved and cried. I’ve felt disappointment, sadness, joy, happiness and success. I have made tons of mistakes and learned to overcome them with a laughter. I’ve seen the most gorgeous views ever and been scared by a sea lion. I’ve had so much fun breaking the rules and expectations. I’ve realized that life is so worth living and we can make anything if we really want to. I don’t completely agree with the saying “Exchange is not a year in your life, It is a life in a year.” This year has been the most awesome year ever, but it is not a different life. It all ties up together. This life here isn’t over even when it’s time to go home. This year as a kiwi won’t ever leave me. These 17 280 kilometers have changed my whole life.

Equal love

During the past few years there has been a huge bustle going on with the equal same-sex marriage law. Politicians voted about Finland taking a step forward in the modern world and legalizing same-sex marriage. A bill for legalization was approved by the parliament on 12 December 2014 and signed by the President on 20 February 2015. Same-sex marriage will be legal in March 2017. This decision unfortunately separated the people of Finland in half. There have been rainbow carnivals to support human rights and then there’ve been counter motions to convince people that same-sex marriage is wrong. The organisation called ‘Aito Avioliitto’ which means ‘The Real Marriage’ took action. They started campaigning against the law. That all got me thinking. I get both sides of the arguments, but I personally think that it’s just ridiculous to deny someone else’s love because of your own faith. Marriage is isn’t just a christian tradition anymore. It’s a way to legalize the covenant of two persons. It also gives better and easier opportunities to arrange estate and adoption. Even in our religious studies class I’ve been taught that Bible should be interpreted very carefully and translated into a modern age language.

One argument against the law is that marriage is a holy covenant of a male and a female. Not only that this brings strong stereotyping to the picture but also includes expectations about sex roles. We live in the 2010s and there isn’t that strong dividing atmosphere in the terms of two sexes anymore. Wives do not belong to the kitchen anymore and husbands aren’t the only ones working and providing livelihood to the family. These are old opinions and so is the statement that marriage should be only between man and woman. In the terms of sex roles we have to consider transgenders. Where is the line that defines are you a man or a female? We definitely don’t have to put everything on specific boxes with name tags showing what’s inside of it like society nowadays does by defining who you can and can not marry.

Nowadays there are more acceptance to variation from the society. Being unique is not a punishmental action anymore and the law should adjust with the changing society. We are clearly going to the right direction. Luckily being gay is not considered as a disease like it was couple centuries ago. It is not a taboo anymore that there are many different ways to love and think. There are tons of evidence what proves that gayness was even common in the ancient Greece. So why some people are so scared of something normal? Human beings are not even monogamous, but society has defined it for us. It’s a norm that people has only one spouse who is opposite sex than you are. I courage everyone to look outside of your safe little world and see that there are lot of options. They actually might be just as good as something familiar, acceptable and safe to the society and you.

Do you think that everyone is equal? Do you think that everyone has the right to be loved and love? Do you think that everyone deserves to dream and that everybody is allowed to want to have children? If you thought ‘yes’ to any of the following you should support same-sex marriage. It doesn’t have anything to do with your life but you could make someone else’s dream to come true by standing behind the same-sex marriage law.

Imagine that you have a dearly loved spouse and marrying him would always had been your dream, would you just adjust when someone says that it is unnatural and wrong or would you fight back? I personally would be pissed if someone minded my own personal love life and deny it just based on their own believes. Everyone should have the right to have their personal love life if there is no harm to anyone. If we are talking about same-sex marriage, there are two responsible adults in love. What is the matter with that? Just to follow UN’s declaration of human rights we have to take a step forward to the modern decade and delete the shame what comes with being queer. We all are born equal and we have the right to love. No one should find someone else’s personal life disturbing.

Are you are still doubting? Is that because of the argument that the children of same-sex couples are growing up unstable and unhappy because they didn’t have a stable and safe home with mommy and daddy. That statement is on the table a lot. ‘Aito Avioliitto’ has been using that argument a lot that the child will suffer if he is raised by same-sex couple. It’s time to have a tough wake up call. There are millions of children who are growing up in terrible conditions. Aren’t loving parents better than nothing? Myriad orphans are in need for a home. 1 out of 3 marriages end up to divorce nowadays and way too many children have to grow up without their other parent. Single parents can do it, so why would two adults be any worse? The is no such a thing as perfect parents or perfect family. Making same-sex marriage legal makes things easier to everyone, including adoption inside the family and doing estate if someone accidentally dies.

If you are worried about the child from same-sex family facing bullying the change should start with you. We have to let go of our expectations and create an atmosphere of acceptance and love in to our world. That is the way how we can get away from the bullying. We have to raise next generations to think that there is no right way to be a human and to get accepted. Everyone has the right to love and is perfect the way they are.