Enough already with Finnish, I have probably done already so many mistakes in just one sentence! My Finnish is becoming better day by day, but I have still too many things to learn!
I have been in Finland for more than seven months now, and I'm not lying when I say that it is barely describable, I imagine even less understandable since not everyone has experienced what I'm living now, furthermore, people see the same things in very different ways.
In this post I would like to write about host families, after all this isn’t Emman vuosi, it is Suomalainen isäntäperhe!
When I left Italy I was told all the things that would have happened during my exchange year, the emotional rollercoaster, the continuous changing of mind about the same things, still, I was surprised when all of this occurred. But, I'm proud to say, that I came out with some things of my own, things of my own, things that nobody had ever told me, as I said, people experience things in different ways.
When I left Italy I was told all the things that would have happened during my exchange year, the emotional rollercoaster, the continuous changing of mind about the same things, still, I was surprised when all of this occurred. But, I'm proud to say, that I came out with some things of my own, things of my own, things that nobody had ever told me, as I said, people experience things in different ways.
One of these things is the relationship with my host family, which I consider now as my second family. Coming from a country where family is extremely important and very big, I was told that things would have been so much different, since Finns usually tend to be “lone wolves”: family is still pretty important, but most of the times it is considered as the parents and their children, unbelievable for an Italian!
I was repeatedly warned not to expect from my family some normal things as having dinner all together, or always being driven somewhere instead of taking the bus and therefore having to organise so many things by myself! So, I didn't expect at all that I would have had such a strong bond with my family, and I'm really happy about it because not all the exchange that I know (not just in Finland, but also some from my Italian chapter) are so lucky.
I was repeatedly warned not to expect from my family some normal things as having dinner all together, or always being driven somewhere instead of taking the bus and therefore having to organise so many things by myself! So, I didn't expect at all that I would have had such a strong bond with my family, and I'm really happy about it because not all the exchange that I know (not just in Finland, but also some from my Italian chapter) are so lucky.
Of course it always depends on the family, on the exchange student, on how they interact together and on the expectations, since, before leaving your country, you just get a couple of papers about the people you're going to spend the next ten months, so you can just imagine how they are like, same for the host family.
But, the most important thing I realised that I never thought could be possible was that you realise you start being comfortable somewhere when you're annoyed. Just by some small little things, for example, I’m starting to be fed up with the wind, the same way I was usually annoyed by the fog in Italy; also with the family, this is really important in my opinion. Just think about it: in your biological family there is always something that your sibling/ parent does that freaks you out, well, when there is something like this in your host family, you understand that you are completely blended in because perfect is not normal.
Having sometimes a boring weekend with no plans is normal, and, from my point of view, a weekend spent at home means more chances to do something with your family!
Unfortunately, I am not as good at writing as Äiti, but I hope you enjoyed what I wrote!
-Emma
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