Back home!

Hello, So now I’ve been home for about 2 weeks. Leaving Michigan was for sure one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. How am I supposed to leave my family, my home, my friends and my life to go back to my family, my home, my friends and my life. It’s a very weird feeling and mostly confusing and it feels unreal. The last days went by so fast and we had a lot of fun. Even though mama Kelly kept telling me “you get to choose what you want to do on your LAST day” over and over again I still didn’t realise that it was actually going to be my last day. A couple of nights were weird for all of us when we started thinking about all memories we’ve had through out the year, and just laughed and cried. It felt like the year went by way too fast but then again we have done so much together and we have so many precious moments to remember. I can’t ever thank everyone enough for everything they’ve done for me to make my exchange year the best.

I’ve met so many awesome people that I’m gonna stay in touch with for the rest of my life and others who I’ll remember as part of the journey. Everybody were so welcoming and nice. It made it a lot easier to fit in and find people to hang out with. I couldn’t have wished for a better experience and even though I’m a year behind at school here right now I would never take it back or regret going. No school lesson or class ever could teach me even half of the stuff I’ve learned in the past year. I have seen how much more there is to life than what I’ve seen. I have learned to do things I never even thought would be possible for me or that I didn’t know existed.

I remember when I left Finland, 11 months ago, not knowing what was waiting for me, who I was gonna live with, what I would be doing, how my school would be. Will I find any friends? Am I gonna get lost? Am I going to be okay for a whole year away from home? What if they’re not nice? I had all these questions in my head in the airplane on my way there. It’s crazy how much a year can do. The place I once looked up on google maps, the place I had never heard of and the place somewhere far away with the big pond downtown is a place I now consider my home.

I still remember my first day of school like it was yesterday. I stood at the bus stop, with my backpack and my morning coffee, waiting for the yellow school bus to come pick me up. I got to school all confused about where I should go. I had already lost my schedule and I had no idea what was going on. I found my first classes by asking once or twice but my last hour I had to go get the principal and he had to take me to the class room. It was so embarrassing. Being uncomfortable has become a life style to me.

The school is at least a half kilometre long and there are so many hallways and doors it’s insane. 2500 kids. I still saw a ton of new people the last day. It took me about two weeks to figure out how to open my locker. When I finally understood it I felt like an actual HS student. I knew all the hallways in about three weeks and everything was okay then, but I will never forget the struggle of being alone and not knowing anyone, anything, and just feeling exhausted of having to pay attention all the time.

I also remember the car ride home from the airport. It was kinda awkward. I didn’t know what to say at first. It was kinda like “hey what’s up, I’ll be living with you for the next year”. I didn’t want to say anything weird or stupid because then they would get the wrong picture of me. There are so many things I was so worried about that now afterwards feels so stupid. We’re all family now and I consider them my parents and my brother. Home for me is not a place anymore, it’s a feeling of safety and acceptance. Home is where your heart is. I will always be welcome to go back and the door will always be open if I’ll ever need anything.

It’s not just a year and then it’s over. I will go back and visit, I hope they’ll make it over here sometime and maybe we can meet up somewhere totally else some day too. Who knows what time brings. Mama Kelly posted on Facebook when I left that “we might be a household of three now, but we’ll always be a family of four”. I can share everything with them and I know I won’t be judged. I can totally say that I’ll do whatever for them. Anytime. Anywhere. No matter what.

I have so much I could tell but I think I’ll stop before I write a whole book. I hope you’ll all remember that life is good. Don’t worry about small things, it’ll all work out. Take every chance you get. Do crazy spontaneous stuff. Travel. Life life fully. Don’t spend too much time regretting anything. Just go do what you’ve always wanted to do. Life is too short to waste.

If someone has any questions about anything feel free to ask. You can comment or if you know me personally just private message on some social media. I’ll gladly answer anything I can.

Thank you for reading my blog ❤

love, Marianna

Some pictures from the last days,

Graduation

Brighton High 2014 graduate!

The beginning of the end

So today I have been here for exactly 300 days. It’s crazy how fast time goes when you stop counting. My motto “Don’t count the days, make the days count” has worked pretty well. I stopped worrying about time and just lived my life. The last month here has started and I have started packing. It’s so weird to just empty out the whole closet and all drawers. Everything needs to go somewhere. When I packed at home I could just leave the stuff that didn’t fit but now I need to pack everything. It’s not just packing. It’s reflecting and thinking over the past year. It’s just gonna happen and be both sad and happy. Bitter sweet. 

Have a nice week!

<3: Marianna

 

 

Hey guys!

Lately I’ve been to Traverse city up in Northern Michigan, went to prom, had my last choir concert, had my last school day.

Traverse City

We drove up there for about 3 hours and we stayed at my cousins grandparents house. We were just hanging out and walking around downtown. We also went out for a boat ride and I went swimming.

 

Blessed to be a part of this wonderful family ❤

 

Mom ❤

 

Papa ❤

 

My cousin Clove! ❤

 

 

 

Choir concert

We had the last concert of the year. It’s called The Spring Spectacular. The choirs get to choose their own songs and we make funny koreografies too. My choir sang “Some Nights” by Fun and “You Can’t Stop The Beat” from Hairspray. We also sang the opening song from Frozen and “For Good” together with all the other choirs. I had a little solo part in “Some Nights”.

Senior Night

We had our “senior night game” in lacrosse. That is a game where you have some extra stuff before to honour all the seniors. They told something about each player and then our parents walked us out on the field. 

 

Camila, my favourite Brasilian fan ❤

 

Caroline made me this sign!

Prom

I went to prom with my friend Livius from Switzerland. First we took some pictures, then we had dinner and later we went to the dance. We also went to Walmart just because. Prom was so much fun! After the dance we came to our house with Livius, Sooyeon from South Korea and her date Johannes from Germany.

Livius, I, Cori and her date Lasse from Germany.

Johannes, Sooyeon, I and Livius.

 

Chilling at Walmart in our casual every day clothes.

Birgitti, Tom, I and Livius.

Cori and I made a cake for our team.

Last day of school

Friday was my last day of school. Seniors get out earlier so I have 2 weeks of vacation by myself. I need to pack a box to send home.

Miyu, Ms. Forsberg, I and Jinjuta.

Cori and I.

Alex and I.

Me and Courtney.

Kaylynn, I and Aubrey.

Carolyn and I.

Rachel and I. 

I, Jordyn and Camila.

Miyu, I and Jinjuta.

I, Anna, Miyu, Camila, Birgitti and Christine.

Birgitti, Mr. Neuman and I.

Locker A-195 ❤

 

Last night I got a surprise visit by these guys. It made me really happy! 🙂

Julian and Darwin.

 

Take care!

<3: Marianna

 

 

 

“Don’t count the days, make the days count.”

I have about 2 months left now and the time is goig to fly by so fast!

“A year has passed and now we stand on the brink, of returning to a world where we are surrounded by the paradox of everything and yet nothing being the same. In a couple of weeks we will reluctantly give our hugs and, fighting the tears,we will say goodbye to people who were once just names on a sheet of paper to return to people that we hugged and fought tears to say goodbye to before we ever left.We will leave our best friends to return to our best friends.

We will go back to the places we came from, and go back to the same things we did last summer and every summer before. We will come into town on that same familiar road, and even though it has been months, it will seem like only yesterday. As you walk into your old bedroom, every emotion will pass through you as you reflect on the way your life has changed and the person you have become. You suddenly realize that the things that were most important to you a year ago don’t seem to matter so much anymore, and the things you hold highest now, no one at home will completely understand.

Who will you call first? What will you do your first weekend home with your friends? Where are you going to work? Who will be at the party Saturday night? What has everyone been up to in the past few months? Who from school will you keep in touch with? How long before you actually start missing people barging in without calling or knocking? Then you start to realize how much things have changed, and you realize the hardest part of being an exchange student is balancing the two completely different worlds you now live in, trying desperately to hold on to everything all the while trying to figure out what you have to leave behind.

We now know the meaning of true friendship. We know who we have kept in touch with over the past year and who we hold dearest to our hearts. We’ve left our worlds to deal with the real world. We’ve had our hearts broken, we’ve fallen in love, we’ve helped our best friends overcome stredd and hard situations. We’ve lit candles at the grotto and we’ve stayed up all night on the phone just to talk to a friend in need. There have been times when we’ve felt so helpless being hours away from home when we know our families or friends needed us the most, and there are times when we know we have made a difference.

Just weeks from now we will leave. Just weeks from now we take down our pictures, and pack up our clothes. No more going next door to do nothing for hours on end. We will leave our friends whose random e-mails and phone calls will bring us to laughter and tears this summer, and hopefully years to come. We will take our memories and dreams and put them away for now, saving them for our return to this world.

Just weeks from now we will arrive. Just weeks from now we will unpack our bags and have dinner with our families. We will drive over to our best friend’s house and do nothing for hours on end. We will return to the same friends whose random emails and phone calls have brought us to laughter and tears over the year. We will unpack old dreams and memories that have been put away for the past year. In just weeks we will dig deep inside to find the strength and conviction to adjust to change and still keep each other close. And somehow, in some way, we will find our place between these two worlds.

In just weeks.”

Have a nice day!

<3: Marianna

Spring break

So i got home from NY on saturday evening. On sunday we did mostly laundry and packed. On monday morning Jason, Braylen, Birgitti and I left to Tennessee for our spring break. Kelly had to work so she couldn’t go. We drove to Fall Creek Falls state park in Tennessee. It took us around 10 hours. The next day we went to look at some waterfalls and later to a cave. We did a lot of hiking and one day i hiked 11 miles. We had a lot of fun and the nature is so pretty there. It was a nice change from the NY city life to a quiet hiking trail in the middle of nothing. A nice week with a lot of fun. One guy asked me where I’m from and I told him I’m from Finland. He then goes “isn’t it close to Australia?”. He almost got it haha. I’ll post a lot of pictures they’ll describe more.

It was so warm that day ❤

Today we went to the grandparents house for easter. I had a lot of fun hanging out with my cousin Clove.

Grandpa got all the kids chocolate bunnies. 

it’s gonna be awful to go back to school after 2 weeks off.. I can’t even remember my locker comb anymore! Oh well gotta get used to it again. Have a nice week!

<3: Marianna

 

DC & NYC

A long time has passed by again since I last posted something. Like I mentioned I had a lot of tripe coming up. The week before I was so busy with everything I barely had time to pack. I had a couple games that week. On monday we ad a home game and we won. On wednesday we had a game about an hour from here. After school I went to grab food with my friend Bridgette. We went to Panera wick is like a healthy fast food restaurant. They have all kinds of salads, soups, pastas and sandwiches. I love it. After that we went to her house for a little bit before we had to leave to the game. The game went good and I even assisted a goal. I was so happy. Our game on friday was not so good… It was freezing outside and we lost. When the game was over I couldn’t feel my toes or my fingers. Oh well, Michigan is finally slow and steady starting to catch up with the spring. They still had a snow day in April in the UP (northern MI) a couple days ago. 

On saturday morning it was time to leave for the YFU East Coast trip. I was so excited it’s crazy. We had to drive about an hour to the bus stop in Ypsilanti. I was lucky to be on the last stop. Some of the kids had been driving for 6 hour to the first stop in Cheboygan and then an additional 4 hours to the Ypsilanti stop before we even started the 10 hour bus ride to Washington DC. We stayed in DC for two nights and then we went to Philadelphia for a day. From there we drove to NYC where we spent the rest of the week. I’m not going to write more about what we did that week I’m going to let the pictures speak. It was so amazing to actually see all the buildings and Times Square. All the people in suites and fact clothes wondering around doing their thing. It felt so real but yet so unreal at the same time. I got so many new friends during the week and I love our group. It was so hard to say goodbye after an amazing week together. I was so sad. I don’t even want to think how it’s going to be when I have to leave the US. I had known those people for a week and I have been living here for almost 11 months by the time I have to leave… Well I’m trying not to think about it and just make the best out of the rest of my exchange year.

My room mates Anastasia from Germany, Anna and Birgitti.

Arlington cemetery.

The memorial of the unknown solider.

Anna and the White House.

Rocking it out at the Washington monument with Birgitti.

Memorial fountain.

Vietnam war wall selfie

Capitol Building.

“Let’s take a crazy picture”. So we did.

Riding the carousel. This was a day when we had 3 hours to look at some museums. Everybody who knows me well probably knows how much I love museums… Right, I hate them. So does Anna. So we were just doing other stuff and killed an hour at Mc Donalds.

Lovely Morgan. She is american and she is my friend’s host sister who came with us on the trip. She went on an exchange to spain last year and she fit really well in the group.

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A huge candy store. 

Central park with German Leon.

Sooyeon “The Korean treasure”.

Central park.

Times Square with Livius from Switzerland.

Got our picture up on one of the screens on Times Square. 

Statue of Liberty.

9/11 memorial. It was beautiful they had done a really nice job there.

NYC skyline by night with Bernardita, “Bernie”,from Chile.

Brooklyn Bridge.

On the top of the world!

Rockefeller centre with Darwin from Germany. 

NY skyline by night and “The top of the Rock” were breathtaking moments where you just stood there with your mouth open looking at the view. I could have been there forever and never get bored. There is just so much to look at. 

The whole group at the Rocky statue.

Being crazy with Patrik who is also a Finno-Swede and lives in Helsinki.

We partied on the bus every night on our way back to the hotel. I went crowd surfing on a bus. It was pretty awesome. Leon told me I should go crowd surfing and that he will lift me up if I want to and without thinking I just said sure and there I went. I have always been spontaneous and crazy but I had totally not ever planned or imagined that haha.

On the ferry to Liberty island with Livius and Toke from Germany.

All the Finns and one crazy Greman! 

No idea what’s going on but Times Square.

There are all kinds of people in a big city…. 

Anastasia and Toke.

Morgan ❤

Finja caught us taking a selfie 😀

There are a lot of strange pictures of me from the trip and I really wonder what I’m thinking in all those moments but oh well I had so much fun and that’s all that matters. I post one here but the rest of them are more or less people friendly so I just keep them safe on my laptop.

Thank you everybody for an amazing and unforgettable week ❤

take care!

<3: Marianna

 

Live without any fears

Lately I have played lacrosse. We have won most of our games and I slowly start to catch up with the idea of the game. On the weekend I had dinner with my lovely friends and then I had a sleepover at Camilas house. She is from Brazil. We had fun and watched movies and ate popcorn.
This week is crazy busy with lacrosse. On saturday I’ll leave for Washington DC and New Your city. So excited. I’m going with a group of crazy exchange students from all over the world! The week after that is spring break and I’ll go to Tennessee! So much fun stuff going on. More about my trips later.

Have a nice day!

<3: Marianna

Hello again!
Sorry for not posting in a while but I’ve been crazy busy and when I have a little time to do something I’m just too tired to write and think. Anyways, everything is good here and it’s only 100 days left now. Time is going by faster than ever before.

We were talking about culture and culture chock in one of my classes and it really made me think about how different the American culture and the Finnish culture actually are. In the beginning it felt pretty much the same but I just didn’t realize all the small things and aspects of it. Americans are a lot more talkative and it’s totally okay to talk to a stranger somewhere without feeling weird or uncomfortable. I have learned so much about myself and my own culture and my values by being away from it. Being in uncomfortable situations and not knowing what to do has become a lifestyle for me. I’m not afraid to ask for help or make mistakes anymore.

I have always been taught that if you don’t have anything important to say, then be quiet. In Finland a quiet time is nothing special or at least not bad. It’s totally normal to just sit there without saying anything for a while even when you hang out with people. Here people get awkward with silence and take their phones out. I like talking and I haven’t shut up since I learned to talk so it’s no big deal for me to talk with strangers and keep talking all the time.

Here every conversation usually starts with “how is it going” or something in that style. At first I was kinda confused about what to say when the employee at a store asks me how I’m doing. I’m used to people only asking when they really want to know or they’re worried that something is wrong. Here it’s just a phrase to avoid the silence. Nowadays it’s a lifestyle for me too and I know what to answer.

A question i often get is “do you like it here?”. I do like it here, a lot. I love the American way o life and that’s why I wanted to come here. I thought it was gonna be a lot different from what it is but it has only been better than I could ever imagine. I’m so thankful my awesome hostfamily opened their home to me and they have been the best I could wish for.

Porvoo, the city where I have lived for 17 of my almost 18 years is always gonna be a be part of me. I have never seen it as anything special, just home. Now i have realized how much impact your hometown puts on you. It’s a cool place and there is a lot of stuff that you can’t find anywhere else. It takes time to realize how everythig around you does a huge difference in who you are. Day by day you change a little bit without paying attention to it, and when you look back at your life later you see everything is different. A lot of stuff have just always been there and I have never really appreciated them before they weren’t there anymore.

I have two families, a lot o really important friends from all over the world, two homes, two hometowns, two schools and a lot more confident and strong version of myself.
I have 3 more months to make an even better year to look back at. It’s gonna be hard because everything has been so good.

In these 3 months I’m going to
play lacrosse,
go to prom,
go to NY,
graduate american high school,
hang out with my friends,
meet new interesting people,
get even closer with my lovely hostfamily,
have a graduation party
and just live the life I love and love the life I live.

I found a good quote about exchange so I decided to share it with you!

“Wrapped up in one package, exchage is beautiful. It’s rapid, and always moving. It’s brutal. Hurtful. Uncomfortable. Ovewhelming. Unexpected. Eye opening. Crazy. And most importantly, amazing. It’s thinking you know exactly who you are and what you want to do with your life, to having no idea who you are and why you are doing what you’re doing.. and in the end, you turn out being someone new. It’s finding yourself, when you didn’t even know you needed to be found.”

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I’m more than happy to answer.
Have a good time!

<3: Marianna

Last but not least,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEETIE RONJA! LOVE YOU ❤️ hope you have and awesome day 😘

“Courage is to leave everything familiar behind”.

Hello!

Last week I had a four day week. Monday off. The rest of the school week went by fast and nothing special happened. On thursday evening I just randomly decided that I want to do some other sport than track&field during spring season so I looked up the options on the BHS athletics page. There was tennis, soccer, lacrosse, cheerleadering, softball, baseball and some other that I can’t remember right now. I thought lacrosse sounded cool so on friday I signed up for that. I got the schedule for practises on sunday and they had practise on sunday evening. I was a little nervous because I have never played lacrosse before and I hadn’t really thought that far yet. I just decided not to worry and just go there and see what happens. Everybody on the team are really nice and lacrosse is so much fun. I’m so excited. We have tryouts next week and I’m kinda screwed because I won’t have much time to practise but I’ll do my best and see what happens. 

 

 My lacrosse stick!

On saturday my host cousin Clove and Kelly’s sister Barbie came over to our house. Braylen also had his friend Alex over. We played some games, talked, played just dance on the wii and had a ton of ice cream. It was really much fun I hadn’t seen them in a long time.

 

This week monday was a normal day. On monday Sooyeon from South Korea came over and spent the night at our house. We played just dance and just hanged out. Tuesday seniors didn’t have any school. The juniors were taking their ACT:s which is the test that colleges look at when you apply. Sophomores and the freshmen had some other tests going on. In the morning I skyped with grandma.  At 11 Tom came and picked us up and we went to Panera for breakfast with a group of people. We also went to a book store because Tom needed something and then we stayed at starbucks for a little bit. In the evening I had practise. I love lacrosse.

I found a book about Finland at the book store. I opened it and this is the first thing I see. I had a good laugh.

 

 

Today I went to school at 10.25 and tomorrow too. I love late mornings. I could wake up at 8 instead of 5.30.

They have this campaign at school against texting and driving. “If you text and drive at the same time you can kiss your life goodbye”.

Take care everybody!

<3: Marianna