So...

I blog when I've got time on my hands. 

This post will be more of random thoughts flowing in an outpour from my mind. 

Perhaps I should post things that are more interesting, instead of worrying about frightening my non-existent readers away? By that I mean real opinions and emotions of Finland (nothing bad, no worries). 

We shall see.

In Finland, the weather is kind of like my thought process: one minute sunny, then rainy and sunny, then just rainy, only sunny again. ADHD weather, how suitable to my mind. 

More people should read this-

I received an email stating someone left a comment on my blog. Which means at least one person reads this thing!!! 

Regardless, I'll get down to the narrative: it was my friend Justin who left the comment. I saw it was left with a google profile, so I checked out his blog. I found it highly entertaining for those of a moderate to liberal political lean, or even conservatives who like to think a bit outside the party line. Independents would perhaps be best suited. The blog is really a catch all in topic, but I found his political views to be edifying: I had thought I was the only one to think conservatives were given everything by the President. 

If you enjoy such musings, check it out: 

http://thejt33.blogspot.fi/?m=1

The title is in reference to Justin's blog, not mine. I don't care how many people read my blog to be honest. Youth exchange is not a shocking sensation or political musing- to most who haven't experienced youth exchange, it is an amusing anecdote. 

Get this:

My school has a sauna:

Settling in

I've begun to settle in, in Finland. Not sure of the previous sentence works grammatically, but any reader gets the concept, I would assume. 

I've left language camp- thank you to the Finnish Rotary and their associates at the camp who allowed for an enjoyable time filled with, well, a heck of a lot of soccer/football. 

My host family is very lovely, and I feel settled in somewhat. Obviously, I will have to overcome my own excessive awkwardness, yet nevertheless, I love it here. Finland is such a vastly different country from anything I have ever known. 

Somehow, according to my YEO Jari Valkama, 40,000 people are crammed into forests and valleys. And all of them get perfect cell service. Crazy. The Internet is faster here too. 

When I visited Helsinki, many of the buildings are older, yet in very good shape, but are not stylistic or aesthetic in any fashion. I appreciate the implicit philosophy in this: take care of what you have while it's there, and only upgrade when absolutely necessary. The same applies to cars, as they are ridiculously expensive here. I've seen so many 15-20 year old Volkswagens and Volvos that I'm almost used to such a sight. 

I think I'll like this culture very much. 

Tampere

I have certainly not posted in a while, but I must declare that now I am in Finland! I meet my host family tomorrow, after language camp is over. 

Yesterday, with language camp, there was a trip to Tampere. Tampere is a beautiful city, but very similar to North American cities nonetheless. Not to say N.A. Cities are ugly. 

Last Rotary Meeting

So today I attended my last East Aurora Rotary Club meeting for the year. I was not a regular, that's for certain, but it was nonetheless bittersweet as it cemented the fact that I am leaving in three days. 

Wargaming with My Pals

So as I've said before, I thoroughly enjoy Miniature Wargaming. Thusly, tonight I had decided to introduce my dear friends, Sal and Alex, to the wonderful hobby. They were hesitant at first, but eventually caved as they love DnD. Plus, my Gripping Beast Saxon Thegns stole Sal's heart. Alex preferred the Perry Men-At-Arms. 

We played a simple game, with each figure having 3 attributes: Fight Bonus, Shooting Accuracy, and Movement. No need to explain morale to beginners. To fight, a die was rolled against the opponent's die, and the higher score, combined with the miniature's Fight Bonus, won out, killing the loser. A hit from an accurate shot also spelled death for a foeman. And if miniatures were fielded in groups, still only one die was rolled- only one miniature would die per turn. 

Thus, my human Knight, with his loyal footmen and mercenary orcs, took the field against Sal (a vampire) and his Skeleton thralls (also accompanied by a bodyguard/standard bearer). Alex fielded two mounted knights, a Beastman/Shifter/Lycan (his character), and a boatload o' lovely goblins. 

We were able to get through about 3-4 turns before their ride came. The game so far (it will be continued):

My ever cunning younger brother with a lemonade bottle. "It's a trap!!!" -Admiral Ackbar.

The battle at present. I'm doing quite poorly- my troops, though decent, are facing superior foes. I shall marshal on, I resolve! 

All are probably wondering how this relates to my going to Finland. I shall explain. Sal and Alex have been my friends near literally since birth, and I will really miss them both. Concurrently, I shall miss communal Wargaming. So that's all wrapped up nicely, eh?