Canadiens say "eh" :D

Yesterday we drove to Orillia, Canada to meet some of our relatives. They were really nice people and let us stay in their house the night! It has been really great that we haven't just been like tourists in hotels and stuff! We have got a chance to see rea people's homes and life and things like that!!! i reallly love that! That is how you can really learn!!! For example i learned what are really good chips with some dip and really great French toast!!! :D Haha, always food... And i really noticed that the Canadien people do say "eh" a lot!!!! That is funny! And also i have noticed that people are more like out-going or open or i don't know, like they talk more than we finns!!! And maybe thay think that we are weird quiet people who are either stupid or unpolite!!! That is why i have tried to talk and smile a lot!!! And you know, i really can talk much when i want, now i just have to do it in English!! But that is fun and i really think that it is much easier to me now open my mouth and actually say something, than it used to be!!!
      And today morning we had to keep going to Toronto. It is always sad to say good bye...And again in a car!!! we have been driving a lot in this trip!!! But it is okay, i can sleep in a car or try to take pictures ( my camera is ALMOST full now, i think i only have something like 60 pics left...) or something!!! There is at least room for everything! :D
     We stopped to eat in a...guess...HAMBURGER place!!! There really isn't anything but junk food near the highways!!! And if you are driving there and you get hungry you either suffer or eat the junk food!!! :D I honestly won't eat any food like that when i come home! Period.
         I haven't seen Toronto much today, we just satyed at our hotel but i think it is a big city too!!! Smaller than Chicago, but still... We are going to spend tomorrow the whole day in Toronto and then in the night, about 9:15 our flight leaves and we start our short short short night!!! You know, the flight takes about 6 hours but because of the time difference we will be in Reykjavik at about 7 a.m so we kind of loose part of our night!!! So i guess that means i have to sleep well tonight!!! :D

Niagara Falls

Okay, now i am here in Canada! we came across the border yesterday and stayed 2 nights close to the Niagara falls! They were amazing!!! You could hear them from far away and when you went close enough it felt like it was raining!!!! They were so beautiful!!! :) And we got to go by a helicopter!!!! it was a really small one and it flew over the Falls! i was first so scared!!! But also excited!! and it was wonderful!! i have never been in a helicopter before, and who knows, maybe i won't get a cahnce for that again!!!! It was... i can't even say it with words but i am sure you can imagine!!! AMAZING! My dad and sister and brother also went into a some kind of cave BEHIND the Falls...I couldn't go, I am too scared of a tiny places!!! :D
       Before the Falls we drove through Buffalo...It was a city that well, wasn't so pretty...Ugly old buildings, poor people...not fun...
       And we also went to a Native Americans area. But we didn't see anything like teepees ( I don't know how to spell this...but i mean their tents) or anything lik that!! Just normal people, well, maybe a bit more poor people than the "normal" ones...It wasn't so great...We only went to a place called Smokin Joes to eat and then went to a store where they sold Indian things. I hope the native americans got the money!
      Only couple of days left!!! On Friday we will fly to Reykjavik. Now we are in a small town and soon we will drive to Toronto. These weeks have gone by so quickly!!!

Amish

Yesterday and today i have had an exciting time!!! At least because I love history!!! And different cultures and so on! We are now in Ohio and the place where we stay is really close to a big Amish area. Do you know what the Amish people are? Here is a link to wikipedia, but i didn't really read it, so i don't know is it really good...( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amish ). But anyway, shortly they are Christian but they have their own rules and things, for example they dress up like old fashioned clothes and even live like that without cars or electricity or anything!!! And there they were, people driving buggies or carriages with horses there next to the cars! We spent a whole day there, shopping and just looking around! It was so fun and weird to drive past an Amish school where were little girls in dresses and and bonnets like in that tv show called Little house on the prairie! It really felt like i was in a movie or something, it just didn't feel real. Or that i had suddenly jumped in a time machine or something!!! I learned a lot of their life and bought some candy and took pictures! I had a fun day! And you could see horses and cows everywhere and some men harvesting with horses! It is so strange that there are people living like really modern life with all kinds of machines and electric appliances and right next to it there are people living such a simple life!!! I think that is amazing!

Back to school XD

Yesterday was really exciting day!!! (I mean Tuesday). But let me start from Monday. We drove from Chicago to Wisconsin. Well, first we got lost in the not so good area of Chicago, but in the end we started going toward Slinger, WI. WE were going to have a dinner with Miretta (an exchange student from my home town in Finland) and her host family there. First we couldn't find it either, but finally, a little bit late, we arrived! The family was SO nice!!! And the meal was in the American way really big and delicious! :D Lots of food! In the night we had a fire outside also and it was really fun! And i loved to get totalk with Miretta too, I hadn't seen her for a while!!! Then my family left to a little Bed and Breakfast that was in a small town near Miretta's host family's home and i stayed the night there!!! Because, in the morning...Well, in the morning i was really excited!!!! Really!! I got to go to school with Miretta!!! :D
      Her host mom took us there early in the morning, around half past seven i think...The school was bigger than my own school in Jurva! There were about 1,000 students in this high school and well, miretta also thought it was big but her host family said it was small in here! But when i saw it i was like WOW, this school is HUGE!!!! And then i got even more nervous than i used to be...:D We had to go to get me a small name tag which said that i was a visitor and it had my name on it of course. Miretta had to sign in or something. I didn't really get that thing, but it was something like that when you come to school you have to sign in and when you leave it you have to sign out and if you leave in the middle of the day you have to write why you go and everything....
     First we had study hall, which means in our school that you don't have to do anything or you can just go to a store or something...But here..We had to sit in the lunch room, only three students in each tables (there were room for 8 people, but no!!!) and we had to be really quiet and there was a teacher in there watching us!!! It was weird!! And Miretta told me that you are NOT allowed to go even outside of the school, even to the front doors without permission! :D 
      When the bell rang we had to almost run because the break was only 4 minutes and there were so many people going to classrooms or somewhere in the corridors!!! Miretta had physics next. They had a test which seemed really hard ( the teacher gave me one of them too, just to look at it though :D) !!! It was fun that there was classical music coming from the cd player in the classroom WHILE they were doing the test and the teacher gave everybody candy!!! I am just saying, but it was a fun thing...krohm...get candy when you have a test...:D 
     Okay, then we had something like art history and we watched some old paintings. The teacher was really nice and it was really surprising how the students actually were listening the teacher (in every class i was with!! really!!). And then we had something like sociology. They had a test in that too but it wasn't so bad i think...there were only those a, b, c questions, those that you just have to pick one of them! And i think many of the tests are like that! I just sat there and watched! :D Ammm, then we had psychology...and guess what!! They had a test in that too!!! :D The teacher gave me the book they have and i just read it a bit...Wow, the books are so big and thick and heavy!!!! Poor Miretta!!! :D 
      We went to the cafeteria or canteen or whatever for lunch! We ate only muffins and some kind of chocolate rice bars and juice because we were going to go to have lunch with the rotary club. Miretta has their meeting every Tuesday where she tells them about her week and this time she took me with her. But in the school canteen there were so many choices, tacos, pizza, salads, fruits, yoghurt, muffins, rice, chocolate, juice, milk etc. etc. :D And just like in the movies there was the table for the "nerds" , the guys who play football, the "cool" people, the "normal" people and so on...:D We sat withe Miretta's friends in the "normal" area. 
        The rotary meeting was, well interesting. There was good food but they sang some songs i didn't know and talked about something i really didn't understand, but it was still an experience! 
      After that we hurried back to school and had the most interesting lesson! At least i thought it was the best lesson! First the teacher told everyone who i was and people started asking do i speak english and everything! :D It was kind of fun..and then it was so interesting to listen when they talked about homosexuals, racism,  genders and all kinds of that things! It was like English Communication so everyone talked and it was really well, as i said interesting class! 
    And then we had German class but it wasn't anything special. And that was it! Now i have to go, but i just say that i would have love to go for many other days to that school again too!!! :D I had so much fun, it was so different and all the people were so nice and it was great to see Miretta again!!! :) 

Opposites in the city - makes you excited and sad!

On Saturday morning we went to a hairdresser to get our hair done for the wedding! The person who did our hair was...really interesting!!! Oh no, not in the bad way, he was really nice and sweet and good at his work, it was just...well, just think about those gay hairdresser/stylist or that kind of men in the movies and tv programmes - and you will know what i mean!!! It was so funny!!! And actually the whole Friday night and Saturday it felt like I really was in some movie because the city is so AMAZING!!! When i saw the skyscrepers, all those high buildings from the road still far away from the city it felt like a dream!!! I have never seen that kind of place!!! Only in movies!!! In the Friday night we went up to the John Hanckok Center's Observatory! I can tell you, it is really high!!! And we went all the way to the top and the view from there was brethtaking!!! Unbelievebly beautiful!!! The sun was just going down and we could see the lake and all the lights and other buildings in the city! :) 
       Okay, back to the Saturday...I walked in the Water Tower Place wich is a huge shopping mall with my penpal Abbey! And in the evening the wedding started! It was a really nice place called West Loop Studio and there came a lot of people!!! And, if it can be possible, they were even louder and happier than american people are usually!! I guess alcohol had something to do with it...:D It was really fun idea that they had the party first and then in the midnight the ceremony!! I had a great time there and i really got to speak english with abbey and it was good!!! My mother was the maitron of honor so after the ceremony we still had to stay there and help cleaning a bit. 
           The weather here is really really warm, hot actually!!! And i don't have any summer clothes with me! I just couldn't think in Finland that it could be so hot in here! :D This is a big city and we have seen so different people and everything!!! There are limousines, luxory hotels, all those expensive stores, cabs driving everywhere, police cars, people protesting against something with signs like " Skip Halloween!" or " Abortion kills babies!" , reastaurants and cafes, women on really high heels, horse carriages (believe or not!!! there are lots of them in Chicago), and lots of other great and amazing things! But then on the other side you can see lots of homeless people, families trying to sleep in a park under a tree, a man looking for something to eat from the trash, people sitting on the street with peaces of paper that say " I am homeless and need food..." and so on... That makes me sad! But that is the way the big cities are I suppose! And to add still something to my long list, today was a big marathon here in Chicago, so a lot of runners!! :D Many roads were closed because of the marathon and there were even more people in the downtown today!!! With all those balloons and signs and everything. 
       Today we went to Jenni and Jim's home for lunch! For the last time we helped with cooking and everything. There were many of the people that were there in the wedding. When we left there it was kind of strange because we have spent so much time in there and with those wonderful people! I am really going to miss them! Jenni's parents I am goign to see soon because we will go to Ohio to visit them. We are their Finland's "grandchildren"! :D It has been really wonderful to get to see real peoples life and home and everything instead of just beeing a tourist somewhere! It has been amazing!  And it will continue because tomorrow we are going to drive to Wisconsin to Slinger to visit Finland's exchange student Miretta! her host family invited us and on tuesday i will get to go to high school with Miretta!!! I am so excited! :) 
      Now I will go to bed and listen to the noices of the city. It is really not those sounds you hear in my home town! :D

Funny things I've noticed..:D

Yesterday we helped Jenni with all her wedding stuff! It was really nice to get to do something instead of just sitting there! We made small bags for the wedding guests who stay in a hotel in Chicago! A little gift bags! Then we helped with cooking! And went to get Jenni's wedding dress from a tiny lady who had made it! 
    In the evening we had "girls' night" at jenni's home! There were about 20 of her friends. I don't know why she invited me and sofia too, we were so much younger than anyone else there, but...:) Everyone of the ladies were so friendly and kind to us and asked all kinds of things of our life in Finland and it was good practise for us! :) Everyone was so interested of us! 
     This morning we went ot a cafe or something like that to eat breakfast! I ate blueberry pancakes! They were really good! It was funny to go somewhere like that palce foir breakfast! But i think it is just normal here...well i guess not every morning or everyone, but maybe more than in Finland or at least more than in Jurva! :D And one thing about eating i have learned; it is polite to eat everything with just a fork without knife! Not like in Finland with a fork in your left hand and a knife in your right, no! You use the knife just for cutting and then eat it with only your fork! :DHahah, yeah i pay attention for stupid things :D Like, we have made a LOT more of trash here than in Finlkand, everything is in plastig or paper and in a store they pack your things into small plastic bags and...yeah. Hmmm, another funny thing is that there is much more water in the toilet seat here than in Finland! :D 
      Small talk and smiling and that is really imortant here...I guess...:) It feels to me that people are more like...hmmm, i don't know  how to explain this but they talk more and louder and are friendlier than in Finland! I mean, a small group, like yesterday those 20 women made a lot bigger noice than our whole school with 200n or something students!! :D And every time you come in to a store the sales assistanat is right there asking how are you and how can she/he help you and everything!!! :) That is great! 
     Today we are going to leave this hotel and finally go to the downtown of Chicago! Into a hotel where many of the wedding guests stay :) Sofia is so excited that she is going to see skyscrepers :D And i want to see the city too, of course!!! :D 
     
   

I love Pumpkin Pie

Monday and Tuesday we didn't actually do anything very special...We went to a huge shopping mall and ate of course, but nothing super ecxiting :D Last night when we tried to sleep there was and weird smell in our hotel room though and mum was just so nervous that we are going to die or something...I was too tired to think about that!!! And, guess what, we didn't die! :D
        Today is or was dad's birthday! In the morning after brekfast we went to Jenni's home (mum's friend) and we got to help with cooking. I cut celery...yeah, they gave me a knife! :D Then we went for a lunch in a pizza place and it was good! after that we went to some kind of park where were all kinds of plants...It was a bit boring place but today it was so hot hot hot day that it was fun to be outside and not in a town! :) 
      In the afternoon we went back to jenni's house and met her parents! They are so sweet people! Her mum wants to take care of everyone and is just so sweet like i said! We went to see Jenni's dress and it was beautiful! This wedding is going to be really interesting experience to me!!! In the evening i really experienced an American "family" dinner, or something...There were jenni and his fiance and their both's parents... and us :D The meal was really good and it was so fun to listen everyone and everything! And i just loved the desert: cheese cake and pumpkin pie!!!! So good!!! :) 
     Now i am sitting in the hotel's lobby and should go to bed... You can tell from my writing that i am tired because this is so short...:D

Grocery shopping...:D

Okay, i will shortly tell about Sunday... We drove to Woodridge (a smaller place near Chicago). While we were driving I noticed many things. For example, there are so many different churches here; " the first church of god", "the first church of christ" "mormon", seventh adventist church....etc. :DD I really can't remember the names but there are so many of them! And the other thing was that there are no one walking or going by bike anywhere!!!! Not really! Everyone goes by car everywhere! That is so crazy! Like my brother said: " They drive every journey that is longer than their car! " Don't worry if you didn't get that, at least it took me a while to understand what he meant! :D And the cars are big, there are much bigger cars than in Jurva for exmple! If we drove in Jurva with this car that we have in here everyone would look at it for a long time but here are so many similar cars that nobody notices! :D For lunch we ate hamburgers in a place called Big Boy...And seriously, i am going to look like the Big Boy if i keep eating like this for a long!!! :DDD
     And then one not so fun thing was when we wanted to drive smaller roads and ended to the southern part of Chicago...Most of the people there are poor, and you could see it! And almost everyone there was african americans. And most of the rich ones here are white...That is so unfair!!! And the area made me so angry and sad...And also a little scared.. You could see some plaaces that there have been shooting and it was ugly and mum just said to dad that he mustn't stop in the traffic lights or anything! I am sure there wans't danger but still!!!! And it was funny how quickly it cnaged, first there was almost like slum area and suddenly nice looking houses with gardens...That is so different to Finland! Of course we have poor people too and everything but i think the line between poor and rich people isn't so clear like here...Or maybe i just live in a so small town that i haven't used to that! Anyway, it made me think! 
      Then we came to our hotel and then went to a grocery store! You would have laughed to us!!! Me and sofia were like, i don't know, we went absolutely crazy there!!! There were so many different and funny things and we ran around the store and laughed at something and yeah, it was amazing!!!! We bought some breakfast because we don't have it in our hotel! :D
       in the evening we went to mum's friend's Jenni's home! Her wedding is in the weekend! She had made us dinner, finally real food, not just hamburgers! :D
          
Okay, now i am too tired to talk about this day...Maybe tomorrow!!! :)

We are the " bad guys " - arrest us!

Yesterday (Saturday) was pretty much just driving toward Chicago. There are 8 seats in our car and i got the whole backest backseat for me! that ment sleeping...:D Still recovering from the jet lag i guess! Driving in Toronto, or actually out of Toronto was crazy! We all shouted the street names, mum tried to look at the map and dad often turns somewhere while he was following his "instincts" - and then we were even more lost than we were before that, it it is possible! :D Finalyy we ended to the right road! 
          We saw lots of corn fields and houses wich are exactly like the ones you can see in the movies! And pumpkins! Halloween is coming so on almost every porch there were big and orange pumpkin! It is too bad that i leave here before Halloween, it is so big celebration here that i would have love to see it! We ate lunch at Taco Bell's! And seriously, food is so good here! Everything i have ate has been delicious! And there is lots of it!!!! And lots of fat in the food... And in the restaurants the waiters and waitresses are SO kind and firendly and helpful!!! That is of course because they hope to get tipand giving the tip, about 10-15 % is almost a must here! It would be roud to not to give it! And that is the waiters almost only pay, so...
      We came to the US border wich was a huge bridge! I was scared again! And now we had to stay there for two hours!!! They checked our car and baggage and we had to show all the money we are travelling with and then they asked all kinds of questons from mum and dad and we kids just had to sit there and wait in an ugly small room...Then they also took our fingerprints and photos of us! But in the end we got to go, because we hadn't done anything illegal!!! But still it was strange that we had to stay there so long...
      Now we are in a hotel in somewhere in the USA!!! And i just ate breakfast - waffles again! And there was actually nothing salty and the bread is really white!!! I think i will soon have enough with the waffles! :D 
      Soon we will start driving the car again, and today we are supposed to get to Chicago! There mum's friend Jenni waits us! And now i have to pack my things...plaah, my things are growing all the time, even if i haven't bought anything yet!!!

24

I can't remember that i would have stayed up the whole day, 24 hours, before yesterday...:D Well, it was an experience! A long long long day!!! And lots of sitting in a train and airplane! On our first fligth i still was pretty excaited of beeing in a plane and everything! I have been in an airplane before quite many times but never in Icelandair! There were a tv/computer screen thing behaind every seat in the palne! And we could watch movies and listen to the music or play some games during the flight! I thiught that is possible only to people who travel in business class or something! :D 
    After our first 3 and half flight we landed to Iceland! When we flew on Iceland we could see it well and it was amazing! Really something that you don't see  everyday in Finland! No trees! Actually nothing green at all!!! Maybe a couple of small plants here and there but what it seemed to me there were nothing but darka brown land and mountains and ice!!! The ground was so dark that it looked almost black and it wasn't flat like in my home! Mountains, hills, volcanos and glacier!!! It was beautiful and n the same time little scary...It felt like we were landing to the moon!!! 
     On the airport we had to run to our connection flight and then we were in a plane again!!! And this was much longer fliht, about six hours! I watched one movie, i ate lots a sandwich and tried to get some sleep - without success...There were so many jelling people in there...or i was just too nervous! :D 
    It was like half past two in the morning in finland but only half past seven in here, Toronto when we finally landed! We were really tired and cranky!!! But we didn't get to go to bed for a while...Frist we had to go throuhgh some kind of security check/ customs (i was scared, i always am in that kind of situations!!! and those security guys were so...well, angry looking and they didn't smile or talk a lot!!) and the we had to get our baggage from baggage drop! All our baggage were here! Yay! All our BILLION bags :D 
      Then we get our rent car...but it wasn't the one we had reserved so we get to choose another in the same price..And you can imagine how my dad was excited! he was like a kid in a candy store! And now we have that AMAZING and HUGE and well, so cool car that i feel like i am some kind of celebrity!!! I try to put some pictures here some day so i can show it! :D 
       When we tried to find our hotel we got lost many times...I was so tired that i just laughed hysterically for everything!!! :D Our hotel is so pretty and the roomns are so beatuiful and comfortable!!! We finally fell asleep about at half past six a.m. Finland's time...so yeah, the whole 24 hours awake!!! 
      This morning we ate yammy waffles!!! Mmmmmm!!!! :D