Softball

Tyler and Chloe have asked me to do a post in Finnish, so here you go. I'm going to write first in Finnish, and after that the same text in English. 

Keväturheilukausi on nurkan takana. Muistan kuinka kuukausia sitten ihmiset kysyivät minulta aionko pelata softballia. Mutta sanoin että mieluummin harrastaisin yleisurheilua kuin pelaisin softballia. Kun kausi lähestyi, monet sanoivat että minun pitäisi pelata, ja aloin tosissani miettiä sitä. Okei, en ole kiinnostunut yleisurheilusta ollenkaan, ja vihaan juoksemista, joten miksi harrastaisin sitä? Kaikki (etenkin Bri) painostivat minua pelaamaan softballia, joten päätin kokeilla sitä. Muutaman kerran olen mennyt Miles Lane koululle sunnuntaisin harjoittelemaan, ja myös jäänyt koulun jälkeen tyttöjen kanssa. Olen hieman huolestunut, sillä meillä ei ole sotballia Suomessa, joten en ole koskaan ennen pelannut. En tiedä sääntöjä ollenkaan. Osaan lyödä melko hyvin, kopata ihan okei, mutta en osaa heittää palloa. Aluksi kokeilemisen jälkeen en tiennyt jos haluan pelata vai en, mutta nyt olen tehnyt päätöksen että pelaan. Tämä on ainut mahdollisuuteni pelata softballia ikinä, joten miksi ei? Voin myöhemmin harrastaa yleisurheilua Suomessa jos haluan. Rakastan joukkueurheilulajeja, ja softball vaikuttaa ihan kivalta, joten uskon että olen tehnyt oikean päätöksen. 

Spring sport season is just around the corner. I remember like months ago how people asked me if I'm going to play softball. But I said I would rather do track than play softball. When the season got closer, many people said I should play, and I really started to think about that. Okay, I'm not interested in track at all, and I hate running, so why would I do it? Everyone (especially Bri) pushed me to play softball, so I decided to try it. A couple times I've gone to Miles Lane on Sundays to practice, and also stayed after school with the girls. I'm a little bit worried, because we don't have softball in Finland, so I've never played before. I don't know the rules at all. I can bat pretty good, catch okay, but I really can't throw the ball. First after trying I didn't know if I want to play or not, but now I've made a decision to play. This is my only chance to play softball ever, so why not? I can later do track in Finland if I want to. I love team sports, and softball seems pretty nice, so I think I've made the right decision.

Family comes first

My family means everything to me. Actually, now I have two families; my real family in Finland, and my host family here in Maine. Let me tell you a little bit about my Finnish family. I would also tell you about my American family, but I can’t fit everything in 500 words.

My mom Pirjo works as a receptionist in a hospital. We are both really lazy, and we just like to watch TV together. My mom also likes basketball, so sometimes we go to watch games. When I was younger, I wasn’t so close with my mom and didn’t like her that much, because she was always the strict parent. But as I’ve grown up, my mom has become more and more laid-back. We became really close while my sister was on exchange, and we are always hugging and cuddling.

Even though I'm close with both of my parents, I've always been more daddy's girl. Probably because we had the same hobby for years; when I played basketball, my dad was my coach. The last couple years I played my dad didn't coach me anymore because he started to coach another team. But after I quit playing, I became his assistant coach. My dad is also a taxi driver. We have such a great relationship with my dad. He is the funniest person ever, and he’s always acting silly.

My sister Anna is 19. She still studies at high school because she was an exchange student, but also works at a gas station. When we were younger, we didn't get along very well, and we were fighting all the time. But nowadays we are so close, like best friends. I can’t even describe how weird we act together… Everyone says we look like twins, but we think we don’t look alike at all. We share everything, like our secrets, clothes, and makeups. We have many mutual friends, and we usually spend a lot of time together. Either just the two of us, or in a group with our friends.

My brother Juho is 21. He is an electrician. We have always had a great relationship, even though our childhood included a lot of fighting. As we have grown older, our relationship has just become better. Sometimes I hang out with Juho and his friends. They are like four years older than me, but we get along well. Juho doesn't live at home anymore, he lives in his own apartment near us. He doesn't like cleaning, so sometimes I go there and clean the apartment or to the dishes, and he pays me. On weekends Juho and his friends usually have a little party there, so every Sunday I go and pick up all the bottles, and bring them to a store so I can get money. After one night, I got 30 euros, which is about 42$. That works for us; I get money, and my brother gets a clean apartment.

I miss my family so much <3

-Aino 

And that's who I am

I love traveling. During my life I've visited 11 countries; Sweden, Estonia, Norway, Iceland, Italy, San Marino, Greece, Egypt, Israel, Canada, and USA. But I want to see the world more. I want to see beautiful landscapes, go sightseeing, try different foods, and experience new things. I just want to see another cultures, and how life is in different countries. That’s one reason why I'm here.

I'm seriously the laziest person ever. When I get home after school, I put my pajamas on immediately, and just lay on the couch and watch TV. I always have to push myself to get out of the house. I could just sleep all day long.

I've had this problem my whole life; I just can't keep my room clean. I'm too lazy to put my clothes on the closet, so I just throw them on the floor. I try to clean my room once a week, because usually there is so much stuff on the floor that it's hard to move. And two days after cleaning, my room is a mess again…

I already know what kind of wedding dress I want, where I want my wedding to be held, what kind of decorations I want there to be… And I don’t even have a boyfriend.

No words needed, it would be so awesome. 

So many little things can make you happy. One nice word or compliment, a hug, delicious food, good movie, sunshine, new piece of clothing, or just seeing someone.

I'm always running late. My mom and I are supposed to leave to school at 7 every morning, because she has to drive to Orrington to work, but I'm usually like 15 minutes late. I'm never the first one arriving, more often the last one.

Sauna is the best thing ever. In Finland we have sauna in our house, and I go there like 3 times a week. My last night in Finland before I left here, I was sitting in the sauna at 4 am, just a couple hours before my alarm went off. Only because I knew how much I'm going to miss it. 

I make wishes at 11:11. My phone is on military time, so also at 22:22 (10:22 pm)

My big sister is my best friend, we are inseparable. Everyone has a person they look up to. For me, that's my sister.

-Aino

Play hard, play smart, play together

During my life I've tried many different sports; gymnastics, soccer, swimming, skiing, snowboarding, and horseback riding. But there is one sport I love the most, basketball. I started to play basketball when I was six, and I played for 10 years. In Finland we don't have sport teams at school; we have club sports, and we play almost all year long. During those 10 years I learned a lot, experienced great things, got a lot of good memories, and made new friends. My team became like a second family for me. We traveled all around Finland playing in tournaments, and also got to play outside the borders; in Sweden, in Italy, and in Iceland. 

Italy

Sweden

The last couple years playing with my old team weren't that good. We got a new coach, who was awful, and some girls quit playing. My six friends and I also had enough, and we decided to start playing in another team, the team in the neighboring city. At the beginning of the season we had playoffs, which separated the teams to different divisions. We won our playoff games, and made it to the highest level, where the best 12 teams in the whole country played. That was my last year playing in Finland, and it was really competitive. At the end of the season we got the third place! I will never forget that feeling, it was one the happiest days in my life. 

After that I decided to quit playing, because it just wasn't as fun as it used to be. But still I didn't want to leave basketball, so I started to work as an assistant coach for young girls. Twice a week I went to their practices, and once a week we had a game. I coached them for 10 months. It was a great way to keep basketball in my life. 

When I came here, I had so much pressure before the basketball season. I don't know why, but everyone thought I was so good at basketball. People said me things like ''We are going to be good this year because you play with us'', or ''I heard you're like a star at basketball''. I was so nervous, because I hadn't played for a year. But luckily when the season started, everything went fine. Well, we didn't win as many games as we wanted; we had many tough losses, but also some great wins. Playing here was different than in Finland. Also the rules, but especially the atmosphere; the Pit and the band, we don't have those in Finland. Having sport teams at school is way different from having club sport teams. Playing here made me like basketball even more. I miss basketball season already, and I will never forget it. 

  -Aino

Wherever you go, go with all your heart

When people hear that I'm an exchange student, the first thing almost everyone says is: ''You are so brave! I wouldn't have courage to do that.'' Actually, that's what I thought first too. I didn't always want to become an exchange student. I was too scared; I couldn't imagine leaving my friends and family for a year, living with strangers, and communicating in a language I'm not that comfortable with. My sister was an exchange student in Texas 2011-2012, and people always asked if I will study abroad too. I always said I won't. In June 2012, just a couple weeks before my sister came back home, my dad and I traveled to Texas to see her. During that week I changed my mind about being an exchange student. At the airplane heading back home, I told my dad I want to go on exchange too. I wanted to experience American lifestyle and improve my English.

At the end of the summer I applied for AFS, and about a month later, after they interviewed me, I was accepted to the program. Before I came here, I had to fill tons of papers, go to the doctor’s and take vaccines, pass a language test, and pass a Visa interview. 

I chose to come to USA, but I couldn't pick the state. In the beginning of May, I got my host family information. When I opened that email and noticed that I was coming to Maine, I started to cry, and I can tell you those were not happy tears. I cried all day, and my eyes were swollen for the next two days. My dad was so angry; he was ready to call AFS and insist them to place me in Florida or somewhere else in south. But I had decided to go wherever I was placed, even though it would be a small town in Maine. Now I've been here 216 days, and I have 110 days left. I've experienced so many great things, and met some awesome people. My host family has become like a real family for me. I am so happy I decided to do this.

''Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.'' 

-Aino