Happy Friendsday or As We Know It Valentines Day

Sup gals and gents, how are you today? (please tell how you are actually feeling to your computer it may make it feel special) Well anyway it has been another regular week in the land of Angry Birds and less then Canadian maple syrup. Nothing big happened it was another week of sauna, friends and school (once all that was at the same time, true story.) This week will be different though. Thomas (the Frenchman) has three friends from France up to visit. I'm getting things all strraightened out with my third host family ( :-) ) and as I'm sure you are all aware tomorrow is Valentines day, now who's excited?

Now for all you people who thought life with 1 frenchie was bad enough, now I have a week with four. Mon deau. No I'm kidding with you guys (mostly) Thomas is great, but this week is going to be crazy. It is also a big week for finns, it is graduation week for the third/ fourth years and also the "prom" of course I will be attending and I will make sure that I get a video. These proms are different than what we are used to so be sure to check up next week to get a video of myself in a kinda tux dancing waltz and tango.

Now time for My question for all you boys and girls. As we all know tomorrow is Valentines day (the most romantic day of the year and ironically the day with the highest suicide level.) Okay question time. And I expect an answer from every single person who reads this. Who is your date this year? Because I know you're all wanting to know my answer, my date(s) are four frenchies a german and a long sauna. Not my first choice for a date but it will still be very very cool. you can answer me through this sight, or facebook or at rapter_17@live.ca (email) make your answers serious or funny.

Well that's all for this week, if you want a fun game read through all these blog entries and you can see how my english is getting progressivelu worse through the months. I now speak what we call Thomas English. Well adults, babies and everything in between, stay frosty keep your stick on the ice and I'll post again soon from across the finnish line.
Robert

"If you don't get in that bathroom right now I'll kill you"

Just some friendly words from Thomas Zanon, one of my very good friends here. Hey everybody how are you guys doing? Sorry it has been so long since my last update, once again Finland has been keeping me away. Anyway, it has been a busy couple weeks and now that I'm in test week when everyother student in Finland is crazy busy I finally have time to update my blog, ironic eh? Love being an exchange student. Well anyway, this weekend I spent at one of the local ski hills, way to many people for a not that good ski hill. It was fun to go snowboarding again though :-) . The weather was -25. Warm for Canadians but to finns and germans and french people it's very cold so I got a good laugh out of it.

Anyway over the last few weeks I've been skating snowboarding and so on (winter stuff) alot. It's so fun. However it has a big down side. Because I live an hour away from the city center, where everything happens, I end up being away from home for 12-15 hours a day. It is wierd to be gone so long from the house because I never see the family I'm in. It's wierd but when you live so far away you either spend all your time away from home or all your time at home.

Okay that's basically it for now, I hope you guy are all enjoying your test weeks and are studying hard. Stay frosty keep your stick on the ice and I will post again soon from across the finnish line.
Robert Kluke

out of the holidays, into the hollow-day

Hey everyone how is it going on this the first day of 2012. (only twelve months and twenty days until the end of the world :P ) So I hope santa was good to all you Canadians and Finns and Rotarians. Well I had a good holiday. Christmas was spent with the family new years was spent with friends and in between was spent as a mixture of friends and helping babysit my three year old cousin with down syndrome. It was a fun finnish learning experience.

While I am on the topic of Finnish learning I should probably bring up a deal that myself and the french student made that we are no going to only speak Finnish (as much as possible) from now on. for me this started on the car ride home last night/ this morning at 1:30 and by 2:00 I was so frustrated I just went to bed, to anyone who thinks learning languages is easy let me tell you this. Some languages are (i.e. english, spanish, italian, even french) But Finnish Is Not By Any Means An Easy Language To Learn Or Speak.

Well as my title suggests school starts again tomorrow. So now everything is going to be ask back to normal as an exchange ever is. Sorry for the short blog, Stay frosty, keep your stick on the ice and I'll post again next week from across the finnish line.

Robert

Christmas..... 1 Week? Miksi?

Hey everybody, I know it's been a while but my weeks have been full. Almost too full but not quite. But things will get better in a bit because christmas will be done. Presents for past family, and current and I'm poor, great. If I may give any advice to any rotarians reading this. Never change a students families in december. Because then we have to buy gifts for people we don't know, but people we are supposed to know. Well that's my little complaining for this week now time to get to the update of what I've been up too, probably the reason you guys still read this blog.

Well it has been a very school orientated week, I've been doing my art homework most of the weekend. Also yesterday I went to the dance recital of my friend Thomas. He is a good dancer. I filmed his dance and it will be up on facebook and youtube soon so you guys should check it out.

I start Christmas Vacation on wensday, I think. I'm not quiet sure because I haven't got a straight answer out of anyone. Finns are very bad for that. Well unfortunately that is it for this week. Not much happened. I'll post again after Christmas. Stay frosty and keep your stick on the ice and I'll talk to you soon from across the Finnish line.
Robert

So It IS a Small World After All

Hey guys, sorry it's been so long since my last update, the last week I have been very sick (like the kind of sick where moving is out of the wuestion let alon blogging) and I went to muonio in the finnish lapland. Also I have made a great discovery about my friend Santu that the boys and girls back home will probably never believe.

So as I said I was sick over the last week. first time in a long time, and afterwords I was so thin it was scary so now I have to hit the gym harder than ever. I started going back this morning and nobody told me my relax class was going there, so two and a half hours with diego then to school only to find out I would need another hour and fifteen minutes. that ought to do it ;) (winky face)

Now the part that everyone reading wants to hear about. Lapland. First off I want to say, I missed snowboarding so much. Even though I can do that one back in the great white north I can still say that it was my favourite part. I was able to snowboard with a south african girl and an american guy who were both pretty good. I also taught a few people how to carve. And on the "jump run" I am pround to say I showed off a little for Canada. We also visited a reindeer farm went on dog sled rides and partied like foriegners (ya a know we are) I love those other exchange students. It's good to have a network of other boys and girls going through the same thing as you, and how I loved to be able to talk to the other Canadians because they are cool and even though we ended up singing bieber on a stage to represent our land we still represented it well. I can't wait to see those guys again and if you all want to see the photos check out facebook they are all there.

Before I sign off I would like to say that little something I found out about my good buddy Santu (to all fins reading this you probably wont get this right away so bear with me to the end please) I was hanging out with Santu and I was talking to his mom, she mentioned that Santu's cousins lived in Canada. I said o cool where? and she replied....... Blind River Ontario!!!!!  (a small town outside of my small town about 15 minutes away!!!!!) I mean holy crap what are the odds? So if anyone is going to Blind River anytime soon and you run into anyone with the last name Repo let them know there cousin is doing fine

Well that's all for now my friends this post will be linked on facebook, and I'm sorry it's so long. I still love to hear your comments, it lets me know people are still reading this thing. Stat frosty, keep your stick on the ice and I'll talk to you all again soon from across the finnish line

Robert

New Post, New Family, New Problem

Terve everybody. Before anyone says anything new problem is supposed to be a play on words, it is to be stretched so it sounds like no. It's a pun there is no problem as of yet. But as My title says I am in a new family, I do miss the old one but I have to move on, that's part of the experience of being an exchange student. We come to leave. The Family is nice. The mother doesn't speak english but this is good because it will get me better at finnish. Finnish as a language is so hard. However I am getting the hang of it. The only problem I am having with the language so far is remembering sentences when people tell them to me. but I will when I get to use them more often. I want to give a bug Kiitos Paljon to Mrs. Margret Yli-Juuti who taught me most of the finnish I know so far, with out her I wouldn't be half of where I am today. Well that's all I have to post for now, I'll post more when I have it. Keep your stick on the ice and stay frosty and I'll talk to you soon from across the finish line
Robert

Harasmies (a gentleman in finnish)

Terve, how is Canada this week? That's great. Finland you say? it's good. Exam time again so as an exchange student I am prepared for failure. I had a math exam today, in finnish, I failed but I tried so I count it as a win. (Lame I know) I have three more exams to do. French, history, and Physics. I don't expect alot (except for history) but I still am trying.

This saturday I am switching host families. Alot to go into on that one so I'm gonna keep it short. New family, new challenges, new everything. I'm nervious. But I'm Canadian I will endure. Hahaha. I will put a better blog entry after I get settled.

Today on the bus today I did something proud to call Canadian. I saw a old woman on a crowded bus (I was also on this bus) so I stood up and offered her my seat. She was SHOCKED. I found it hilarious. I gave her my seat and now I'm here. hahaha Well that has been my recent progress in Finland. Stay frosty and keep your stick on the ice. As I said I'll talk to you later, from across the finnish line