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An amazing occurrence: the Northern Lights were on display. (Photo by Chelsea Kennard)

My year in Finland: Part 2

The following account was sent to us by Chelsea Kennard, a 2013 graduate of Watkins Glen High School who is spending the year in Finland as a Rotary Exchange Student. She agreed to update us from time to time on her experiences there. This is her second entry. The first can be found on SchuyLines.

By Chelsea Kennard

I believe there are two kinds of exchange students in this world, the first being the ones who only want to party. And then there's the ones who are walking travel cliches, who love sentiment and are obsessed with the idea of having a perfect exchange experience filled with cultural meaning, expecting every moment to be perfect and meaningful. Most of them (and other travelers of the sort) have a pre-set idea of how they want their experience to be, and when it's not exactly that, they feel less than worthy of their opportunity.

We are obsessed really with emotion and with epic moments that sometimes don't come. We come abroad expecting to have these moments which signal: " I am alive, I am doing something amazing and I am experiencing something most people in the world, let alone people my own age, do not get to experience." Like when we are standing on the top of a hill and honestly feel like we are on top of the world, looking down on foreign lands. It's the same feeling when you are on a roller coaster -- in that moment when it drops and you feel suspended in air for a split second, and then your whole body is falling.

We are thrill seekers really, but the matter of the fact is, this is our life. We aren't on this constant rush that we all thought we would be on. We eat, we sleep, we go to school, we get tired, we cry, and we get bored.

But most importantly, we DO in fact have some epic, amazing moments; it's just that most of the time we don't realize when they are happening. The nature of exchange is that something beyond our experience is constantly appearing before us, and we become a little inured to it -- and thus often blinded to the special moments. Only when we reach the end of the day might we think to ourselves: "Wow, that was a really amazing day." And those days stay in our minds for a long time, and I imagine in some cases for the rest of our lives.

And from this I've learned: Think in the moment, no matter how impossible it seems. Appreciate every little thing, especially during exchange because it's an insanely special year in our lives. The most real and truthful thing that anyone will ever tell you in your life is "You don't know what you have until you lose it." And as much as I hate to admit it, my exchange is going by SO FAST. I've been in Finland for 5 months ... and it's felt like 5 weeks. And in less than 7 months, I leave. It seems long, but it's short. Like the rest of our lives. It seems the older I get, the faster time goes by.

******

I realized as I unpacked from my Lapland trip how fast time goes. Lapland is northernmost Finland, located at the Arctic Circle. It felt like I was just packing for the trip, and I instantly wanted to hit the replay button, because I realized that this trip was a perfect moment, but I didn't really recognize it as such until it became a memory.

It started off with a 13-hour bus ride, headed North, picking up exchange students on the way. I was picked up at 8 p.m. and we were scheduled to reach our destination around 9 a.m. the following day. You would imagine this as a quiet bus ride, with pillows and blankets surrounding sleeping passengers, but this is the farthest image from accurate. When 45 exchange students are put on a bus, you get a blaring music playlist with numerous languages, a sugar rush from candy from all over the world, and no sleep.

After we got to our hotel, everything was a whirlwind of activities and reconnecting with all of the exchange students who I had met my first week in Finland at language camp. We went on a ski trip for two of the days, having the option to downhill or cross-country ski. Being with people from all over the world with different experiences opens your eyes to things that seem so simple and almost minute in your eyes. Especially during this trip. For many it was their first time seeing snow, and being able to witness their shocked and mixed reactions made snow, a previously "normal" thing to me, seem special.

One of my friends from Mexico was not so thrilled with the temperature being about -13 degrees Fahrenheit. He kept asking me questions like, "Hey, is it normal for my nose to hurt?" This same friend also got his tongue frozen to a pole because he thought that the tour guide was joking when he warned us not to lick anything outside in the negative degree weather. We were on a tight schedule and all of the exchange students, myself included, were trying to think of brilliant ways to detach his tongue before the bus left. Eventually he got it unstuck, but not before numerous pictures were taken to memorialize the moment.

The third day we were able to go to a reindeer farm, learning about the traditional farming ways versus the modern techniques. In Lapland, reindeer are very common, roaming around in the wild. A few times the bus had to stop, because there were reindeer crossing the road. We were able to feed the reindeer, and we also went on a reindeer sleigh ride. In the same day, we snowshoed about half a mile to a husky farm, where about 400 huskies -- sled dogs -- were being trained to become part of a husky team. The exchange students paired off, and each pair enjoyed a husky-pulled sled ride on a track through the forest.

After this, in groups, we carved ice sculptures outside of our hotel. This was the coldest day we were there, averaging about -22 degrees Fahrenheit. We were outside for the entire day, even having dinner outside in a large teepee in the middle of the woods. There was a large fire where we all sat around and enjoyed the meal and each other's company. As you can imagine, at the end of the day we were frozen, so when we arrived back at the hotel we all went to a sauna, which led to us running around out in the snow in our bathing suits.

While we were outside, we noticed bright green lights dancing through the sky. We soon realized that we were witnessing the Northern Lights, and it was a scurry to grab cameras and to let the other exchange students know. Soon everyone was outside, in various states of disorder from the rush of getting outside. Sitting under the Northern Lights is truly magical and completely breathtaking, and became such an unforgettable moment.

The last night of the trip was the hardest, because we had a "Going Away" ceremony for the exchange students who were leaving in January, known as the "oldies." It was our last time together as a group, and we were forced to say goodbye to some of our best friends, not knowing the next time we would see them, but just knowing that we will meet again. I realized that the most amazing people will pass by you, change you, and leave to another corner of the world in the blink of an eye. These people have shared incredible, indescribable moments with me and they all hold pieces of my adventure.

The next day was the departure, but we had one more stop before we all returned to our host families. We stopped at Santa Claus's Village and got to meet the man himself. Also there was lots of shopping, sledding, and visiting the different parts of the village filled with Christmas trees and snowmen. In the center of the village was a massive Christmas tree that had flags from all over the world hanging on it. Next to it we found a sign holding numerous arrows pointing in the direction of major cities around the world; one stated that New York was 6204 km away. I was hit with a moment of clarity, realizing just how far away I was and what I was experiencing. I have constantly asked myself: "What have I gotten myself into?" And I have come to believe that if you're not asking yourself this question, then you're not doing it right.

The bus ride home was equally as loud and long, but this time was riddled with hugs and goodbyes -- and we all realized how lucky we are to have such a close bond with one another that makes saying goodbye so hard. This trip was, in a way, a wonderful close to the start of my exchange, because three days later I found myself loading my freshly packed suitcases into the car of my second host family.

*****

Change is never easy. You fight to hold on, and you fight to let go. But the secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new. I had to keep this in mind as I hugged my first family goodbye and tried to squeeze every last box in my new family's car. This transition seemed to pass as quickly as it started, and was filled with excitement as my first Finnish Christmas approached. This year it came quickly and snuck up on me because the Christmas feel wasn't present.

First of all, the winter weather was unusual so we didn't have a white Christmas, and unlike the U.S., Finns don't decorate heavily. It is unusual to see lights hanging from the roofs of houses, and there are no stockings hung. Soon enough, though, the Christmas traditions were in full swing. From going out to the forest and finding the perfect tree, to attending Christmas parties, making gingerbread cookies, having a Christmas calendar, and finally having Christmas approach, I was constantly asked, "So do you miss your family yet?" This is a complicated question.

It is hard to be miles away from where your home has always been, where you know that your house is filled with lights on the Christmas tree, with presents wrapped up tight, and it does hurt to see the pictures from the outside looking in. At the same time, I know that this year will pass quickly, and next Christmas I will remember how separated I felt, and will relive it in my mind, and will nonetheless miss my Finnish Christmas and family. So I didn't dwell on what I was missing, but I dwelt on the moment I was living in and who I was sharing it with.

There is more to the traditional Finnish Christmas than Santa Claus and gifts. It is a time to enjoy the company of loved ones; my family spending it at my host grandmother's house. Food plays a central part in the Christmas celebrations, ham being the main dish in most households, and a variety of fish, casseroles, and salads served with it. The most authentic Christmas Eve breakfast is rice pudding, where one almond is put into the large pot. Whoever gets the almond in their helping is said to have good luck and fortune for the following year.

In Finland, Christmas Eve is the main event of the holiday. So on the 24th of December we drank Glögi, enjoyed Christmas dinner, and opened gifts. Glögi is a Scandinavian holiday drink, which is based on grape juice, flavored with spices, and served hot with almonds and raisins.

Then the following day, relaxing quality time with family and friends is preferred. So on the 25th we attended more Christmas parties and ate lots of leftovers. Gingerbread cookies and chocolate are the traditional sweets during the holidays, along with "Joulutorttu," which translates to "Christmas Tart." The Joulutorttu are star-shaped tarts, made from pastry, filled with prunes.

Everything was a little bit different this Christmas, but it was something that I will remember for a lifetime because it allowed me to expand my horizons, to move beyond my normal to extraordinary. Not only am I referring to this Christmas as extraordinary, but now I see that my usual Christmases -- ones that I have enjoyed every year until now-- also contain this extraordinary factor.

Every day I am rediscovering that this is a crazy world we live in -- or maybe it is just the view that we have of it. It's like we are looking through the crack in a door, never being able to see the whole room....or the whole picture. Being able to discover different pieces of this picture ths year is making this experience life-changing and completely irreplaceable.

Onnellista Uutta Vuotta Kaikille! (Happy New Year All!)

Photos in text (all by Chelsea Kennard):

Top: Chelsea and an Australian exchange student in front of their hotel in Lapland.

Second: A beautiful sunset at 2 o'clock in the afternoon.

Third: A reindeer on hand at the reindeer farm.

Fourth: The teepee where the exchange group ate dinner on their Lapland trip.

Fifth: A plate of Joulutorttu, a traditional Christmas pastry.