I love my host family

I was paired with an older girl,Iida and I thought that it would be a problem, however it was the best pairing ever. We got along awesomely and I love her to pieces. My whole host family was great. They were so nice, thoughtful and caring. I also got to have 2 cute dogs while I stayed with them.

Friends like sisters

I went on my exchange with Elena, a student from my school. Before getting on that plane I didn't know her at all. However, during the two months of our exchange, she became one of my closest friends. Iida, my host sister, also became really good friends with her. We became inseparable, that's why we all cried so much at the airport saying goodbye.

Made international friends

At our school there were a lot of international students. We all had an international class together, so we made friends from Finland, Belgium,Germany, US and France. I miss all of them a lot.

Our school: Schildtin Lukio

Schools in Finland are very different from Spanish ones: The classes last 1h and 15min, the school serves free lunch from 10:00 to 13:30 and in the hallways, there are couches, ping pong tables, guitars,... Phones are allowed and everyone uses laptops in class. They also did fun events. For example, they did a dance with fluffy dresses.

Did a lot of cool things!

My favourite thing to do was to make bonfires with my friends. In my free time, I skied and did sauna a lot, but I also went ice skating, watched hockey games, did a cold plunge and went bowling.

Went on trips

While in Finland, my host family took me on a week-long trip to Ruka, a huge skiing centre near Lapland. There I got to see and eat "Poro" (reindeer) and see the northern lights. The snow was  On our way back we met some friends in Wuokatti and skied some more. On my last weekend in Finland, my host family took me and Elena to Helsinki! It is a very beautiful city, but it was a bittersweet experience because we were leaving soon.