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