Gratitude Is Not Only the Greatest of Virtues, but Also the Parent of all Others

Trying to comprehend the amount of gratitude I feel now a days is one of the largest tasks I am facing. 

“You simply will not be the same person two months from now after consciously giving thanks each day for the abundance that exists in your life.” – Sarah Ban Breathnach

I have always been grateful for all of the things in my life, but somehow I missed expressing it as much as I could. As the holidays are coming to an end, I have made a list of thank yous for all of the people that have made this a wonderful Christmas season, even from as far as 6,800 km away.

Firstly, Thank you Toshi for the wonderful Christmas card, it was such a nice gesture and I couldn’t have been happier to open it.

Thank you Marjo, Timo, Moona, Peetu, and Minttu for including me in your family for Christmas this year. I was so excited to spend the holidays with your families and experience a traditional Finnish Christmas, and I had an amazing time, so thank you again.

Thank you to my Rotary Club here in Finland, I loved the Christmas gift and it was so nice to see you all before the Christmas holidays, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and I can’t wait to see you in the new year.

Thank you to my friends back home (Hailey and Madi) I am so happy to know that you are thinking of me, I loved the gifts, but I promise that I waited until Christmas to open them. Love you guys and I hope you had a Merry Christmas.

Thank you Grandma Fran, Grandpa Gord, Grandma Monica and Grandpa Tony for the Christmas gifts as well, also waited until Christmas to open them, they were lovely and I am happy to know that you guys are also thinking of me. Sending hugs and lots of love your way for Christmas.

Thank you Katja, Tiia, and your family for taking me to Iso-Syöte, the weather was cold (-28°C) but we made the best of it and I had an amazing time skiing with you guys.

Thank you Letícia and your host family for taking me to Ruka for New Years Eve, it was so nice to get to know your family and I hope we can all meet again soon.

Thank you Karrington, Taylor and Liam for the endless laughter you have given me, I miss you guys a lot, especially during Christmas time, but all of the snapchats, facebook pictures and texts lifted my spirits.

Lastly, thank you Mom and Dad. Thank you for the amazing cut out of my face, that you have been taking photos of, in Disneyworld. These photos make my day and let me know that you are thinking of me while I am so far away. Thank you for being incredible role models and always supporting my goals and dreams. Thank you for encouraging me to strive to do my best and for constantly reminding me of the things that are truly important. I never showed my appreciation for all that you guys have sacrificed for me, but just know that I wouldn’t be the girl I am today without you two.

I remember, just like every other kid, saying to myself “When I grow up I won’t be anything like my parents…”. Boy was I wrong. I find myself singing songs that I don’t know the words to and then realizing “I sound like my Dad right now”. Whenever I feel like I have a lot of things to do I make a “to do” list with my post-it notes; my mom used to do this for me whenever I was stressed, which was more often than I would like to admit. 

So as we all think “I’ll be nothing like my parents”, we eventually grow up, and as for me I’ve had a change of heart. If I turn out anything like my parents, I would be exceedingly proud to possess some of the remarkable traits that they do. So I guess what I'm trying to say is: thank you for being you.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

With thanks and appreciation,

Mackie

 Having a fun time in Disneyworld with my family hahahaha.

 Enjoying a Harry Potter Butterbeer hahahaha. 

Went exploring the unknown parts of Oulu with Moona. 

Enjoying the company of this Frozen Santa. 

 Enjoying the cold, but lovely weather at Iso-Syöte. 

Good weather and good company is all I need. :) 

The Heavier Side of My Blazer(s)

First and foremost, I’m sorry for the late update, as you can probably imagine, I’ve been busy.

This year is continuing rapidly, and it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. As this year progresses, I have noticed that changes appear to be the most prominent baggage accompanying exchange.

For me, I feel as though changes are happening fluidly, but sometimes I stop to think about where I was four fleeting months ago. My summer days consisted of sleeping, binge watching 90210, becoming the best smoothie artist in Booster Juice history, and daily pilates classes. Now a days, sleep is the only common denominator. I spend my time dancing, Rotary meetings, and also having the experience of a lifetime. My weekends are also no less than exciting, as I am often with friends and travelling.

I have been in Finland four months now (are you getting tired of me telling you how long I’ve been away?), so this means as a Rotary Exchange Student, I changed host families.

I didn’t realize how close people become in such brief periods of time. In the short three months I spent with the Heiskari Family, I fell in love with their dog, found my rhythm in a new place, and truly appreciated all of the basement movie nights. Thank you again for all that you have done for me, I can’t wait to see all of you guys again.

My new host family has given me the gift of laughter in the form of a smiley three-year-old girl named Minttu. I am also so thankful for my host-mom, Marjo. She was an au pair in Boston, and when I say “I’m in Phase Two”, she knows exactly what I mean.

Lifetime of exchange, in phases:

Phase One – The Honeymoon

This is the time when everything is new and exciting and you are in love with everything that your host country has to offer.

Phase Two – As the Going Gets Tough…

This is when you begin to notice the small differences between your home and host cultures that may cause you to feel homesick, usually around Christmas time when you remember all of the traditions you may miss during your year abroad.

Phase Three – Thriving

This is when you understand the culture to the best of your ability and you are ready to thrive in this environment by understanding that cultures aren’t necessarily “right” or “wrong” but simply, “different”.

My host mom gave me some great advice, so for any other exchange students that are feeling slightly “Phase Two” as the holidays get closer; remember that telling yourself that this feeling will pass and things will change is the first step to really accepting the cultural differences, and becoming the exchange student that Rotary has supported and encouraged thus far.

Since my last post our second jakso (period) has finished, so this means many exams and a bit of studying. Now we are into our new classes which are already off to a great start.

But most importantly, since my last blog post, the Finnish exchange students had their Lapland Tour. We spent 4 amazing days together and I can’t believe how many activities the Suomi Rotex fit into our few days up north.

Day 1: I got on the bus to Muonio at 4:30 AM and we arrived at the Harriniva accommodations at 10:30 AM. We spent the day exploring the area, enjoying the snow, and greeting all of the 130 exchange students that we hadn’t seen for over three months.

Day 2: we spent the day at the ski center near by, I had forgotten how much I loved skiing but once I had become comfortable with my skis I was invited to accompany the boys from the Alps. *feeling proud* It was then soon after a fellow Canadian, Emily, attempted slope parkour, which was unsuccessful as she ended up without skis and in a pile of snow. After we had a good laugh, we went up the hill again, and lucky me, I also ended up without skis, and with snow in my pants. We were both okay, but surprised that we tumbled down the hill, one after the other. That evening we also had an outdoor dinner, overall a night full of culture and new experiences.

Day 3: my day started off at a nature conservation center where we learned about the animals and foliage of northern Finland. We then went to a historic house where we learned about the lifestyle of Northern Finland’s Sami people, and their close relationship with reindeer. We went to an ice castle that was in the process of being built, and the precision that was involved with this ice sculpture was truly incredible. We then finished our morning with a quick stop in Sweden. Then we went to visit the huskies; the only thing I wanted to do was lay in the snow and get covered in puppies, although this was a fantasy, my reality was pretty close, there were over 50 dogs there and I was allowed to pet almost every one of them. Our husky visit concluded with a dog sled ride. THEN we went to visit the reindeer and also went for a reindeer sled ride, and finished by snowshoeing back to Harriniva.

Day 4: we went for a stop in Santa’s Village to visit Joulupukki, then had to say our quick goodbyes as the bus made it’s way south, dropping off exchange students along the way.

Now, the title “The Heavier Side of My Blazer(s)”. I saw a post in this widely known “You Know You’re a Rotary Youth Exchange Student When…” group on Facebook, and it explained that this boy had been putting all of his pins that meant something special to him, on the left side of his blazer (by his heart). As I read this I remembered adding pins to my blazer(s) with my new host sister, Moona, last Saturday, and I subconsciously did the exact same thing...

I found three pins that said “Leticia Muniz” on them, and I remembered when she gave them to me, once at lunch when she was just a name on a pin, twice when we were told we were in the same district, and thrice when we had our first lunch date. Since then we have spent countless hours in class together, at coffee and most recently, in Tupos. I couldn’t believe all of the things that these small pieces of plastic reminded me of… I then purposely put them on the left side of my blazer(s).

Then I continued to think about all of the changes that have happened so far this exchange, and just like the pins can be rearranged, added, and removed, my life can adapt to change as well.  I guess I finally began to symbolically understand my Rotary Blazer(s).

Happy Holidays Everyone,

Mackie

I did a presentation for the Oulu Rotary Interact Club, such a great group.

I needed two blazers because you can never have enough pins.

Beautiful Lapland

 Selfie featuring my new friend Rudolf the reindeer, so serious.

I don't know how I feel about being in two countries at the same time.

Welcome to Santa's Village, home to the real Joulupukki.

Biggest, happiest and best snowman I've ever seen.

Embracing my inner Canadian on the ski slopes.

Holiday greetings from The Three Musketeers. 

"I've Been Busy" Is An Understatement

As you can see from the title, these past two weeks have been action packed, and here is my condensed summary.

During syysloma (autumn break), the week started off on an airplane. As mentioned in my last post, I was on my way to Helsinki. We spent three days in the city; shopping, visiting museums, Starbucks, site seeing, breakfast at the Fazer café, and Mamma Mia + desserts at the Svenska Teatern, filled all of our waking hours. I was able to buy all the boots one girl could need for an Oulu winter. I also purchased some Christmas gifts, this snowy weather has got me in the holiday spirit :). At Starbucks I had my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the year, and even though the weather would have been more suited for a Peppermint Mocha, I was still comforted by the cinnamon and nutmeg reminders of last year’s autumn days in Kamloops. For those of you who know me well enough, you know about how much I love Mamma Mia, you can imagine the excitement I felt when I first saw these tickets, and suddenly I was sitting in the theatre. The musical was in Swedish, but the incredible actors and the catchy tune of all of the ABBA songs, made it one of my favorite performances. When we were exploring the cobblestone streets of Helsinki, I couldn’t help but admire the history and appreciate the modern accents. I am so grateful that I was able to see more of Finland, especially with such great company. Those few days flew by so fast, and then I was travelling back to the great white north.

I spent one night in my home in Oulu, and then I was on a bus to Raahe for a weekend with the District 1400 and 1380 exchange students, for our Inbound Orientation. We spent the weekend sharing our experiences, hosting the Finnish Exchange student Olympics, and of course simply enjoying being surrounded by our best friends. We went to a museum in Raahe where the oldest diving suit in the world is, and we also had a tour of some of the most important landmarks in Raahe.

We are such a unique group of people, I am always surprised by how helpful and creative we are when we are together. We wanted to have a movie night but unfortunately our only resources were an electric piano, an antique cd player and an unreliable projector.  I realized that if this had happened at home, I probably would have given up and the movie would not have happened, but because of teamwork and percistancy we were able to fix our problems and the movie was a success.

Now we are at Monday, back to school. As much fun as my week off was, I was happy to get back to my routine with school, Finnish class, dance, gym, and fencing.

I just started fencing this year, and I really enjoy it. Although it took me a while to get the hang of getting dressed in all of the equipment, I reached a milestone last Friday, when I won my first fencing match :).

Yesterday I spent the day with a fellow Rotarian and his family. We took a tour of the Oulu Nokia factory where he is working. I discovered that this factory in Oulu is internationally known for it’s innovative technology in the “Base Station” sector of technology. This factory in Oulu is unique because it develops and tests most of the prototypes, for Nokia, which are then shipped and mass-produced in other parts of the world. This Oulu factory is also one of the oldest, in the world. So essentially, Oulu is where the Nokia-magic first starts. Thank you again Ville and your family for including me, I learned a lot, and had an amazing time.

Today I went to my second host-family’s home for an “official visit”. We discussed what day I will be changing families, I can’t believe how fast the day is approaching. Also my current host family and I celebrated thanksgiving today, I was in charge of the turkey, but I’m sorry Grandma Fran, my stuffing did not compare to how yours turns out. Nonetheless everyone enjoyed the meal and I promised I would perfect the stuffing recipe for next time.

And the adventure continues,

Mackie

Linnea and I posing in front of a historic church, in Helsinki.

Admiring history and art in one place.

Svenska Teatern - helping me discover my fear of heights, I didn't know I possessed.

Exchange students in their natural habitat.

Oldest diving suit in the world, such a treasure, so close to my new home.

 Nokia Family Day.

Why Become an Exchange Student?

Firstly,

Day 78: feeling excited (as always).

Do you know the feeling you get the night before your birthday? Or maybe the night before you leave on a vacation? Or in my case the night before the first day of school? #nerdy

You are so excited for the possibilities, and happy that after all this waiting, you are finally going to do this THING, whether it was turn 17, or go to Disney World, or finally have French class with your favorite teacher, your excitement cannot be contained long enough to sleep.

I happen to know this feeling very well. Ever since arriving in Finland, I get this feeling almost every night because I am so excited about my future. I am excited for the next day at school. I am excited for the Vanhat (prom, mostly just excited to wear my dress again, I’ve never loved an inanimate object as much as that dress).  I am excited to spend time with new people on the Rotary organized trips. I am excited to finalize my university plans, and also begin attending university.

There are so many things that will be happening in my future that I cannot wait for. I do not want to live my life always waiting for something to happen, but I won’t deny that I am almost always excited for something whether it will happen in 2 hours, or 4 years.

Secondly,

I would like to do a quick recap of how my life has been going over the past two weeks.

My new classes are going swimmingly, and I could not be happier with my choices. I am being challenged with the new language, but somehow I am gaining a plethora of knowledge that I didn’t realize I wanted to learn. In my Geography class we are learning about natural risks, the terms are hard to understand, but with the help of images, I fell in love with Mother Earth all over again. In my Ethics class I am learning about controversial issues I previously believed were black and white, but now I see the added grey shades. My language classes (French, Spanish, and Finnish) are going well, and I am fueling my love for languages. My school schedule is now complete with one math class and also a physics class, I am always ecstatic when I see the familiar numbers and formulas.

I received my marks from last jakso, and I am incredibly impressed with how I did in my classes, which were in a foreign language. The grades I received were; Math: 10, English: 9, PE: 9, History: 9. *giving myself a pat on the back*

I happily completed two interviews, maybe I felt slightly famous... One interview was about my experiences in Finland for our school newspaper, the second was for Rotary Day, and I described life as an exchange student.

It was also International Day last Friday. The exchange students at my school (including myself) did a group presentation about our countries/lives, the students loved to learn about the differences and similarities between our cultures, and we loved being able to share a part of our lives with our new classmates and peers. Of course, as the outgoing people we are, we dressed very patriotically, so there would be no confusion regarding our home countries.

Thirdly,

This week is our autumn break, so no school this week, but I will still be as busy as a bee. On Tuesday my host-mom, Niina, host-sister, Linnea and I will be going to Helsinki. Our trip will be a perfect balance of culture and shopping, so I’ve been told, but I am excited to see another part of Finland with the company of Niina and Linnea. Then Friday will be my Inbound orientation in Raahe with the District 1400 and 1380 exchange students, I’m so excited to see these international beauties (see “Family” to truly understand my unconditional love for these fellas). I assure you, loyal reader, that I will update my blog with information about how my autumn break went.

Lastly,

I noticed that, back home, they are beginning the selection process for next year’s exchange students! THIS IS SO EXCITING! So for anyone that isn’t sure whether an exchange is for them; here is why you should become an exchange student:

1.    Experiencing a new culture

2.    Learning a new language

3.    Meeting people from all over the world (who doesn’t love diversity?!)

4.    Gaining a second/third/fourth/fifith/so on family

5.    Personal development

6.    A new perspective

7.    Because no matter how globally informed you may be, you can't really know what's out there without experiencing a piece of it. The world is larger than our lives, and it deserves to be experienced.

8.    "Experiencing the world through endless second-hand information isn't enough. If we want authenticity, we have to initiate it, and when it comes down to it, it's pretty simple. We will never know our full potential unless we push ourselves to find it. This self-discovery is inevitably what takes us to the wildest places on earth. Adventure is what you make it. Whether it's the travel, the discovery or just the feeling of letting go. The only way we'll ever find out... Is to get out there and do it." ^^^ AMEN TO THE AUTHOR OF THIS

But as for me, I wanted to become an exchange student because the thought of going away, experiencing a new adventure and having a whole new life seemed to be the greatest thing ever. I didn’t want to become an exchange student to “find myself” but rather, remember who I’ve been all along.

I hope all is well with you, reader,

Mackie

Making ceramic angels to sell at the Christmas Market as a fundraiser.

Teaching our fellow classmates how to dance to "Ai se eu te pego".

 Rotary Interview on Rotary Day.

Admiring Turkish food at our culture presentations.

Focusing really hard in physics class....

Showing off our incredible musical abilities, mostly Miguel's talent, but everyone needs back up, right?

One of the many forests in Finland.

Being patriotic.

Someone who understands me <3<3<3