On Wednesday we woke up and we went to our facility. I was in vocals in the morning. We practiced our Mexican Medley and worked on solo stuff. I spent the morning in a room trying to memorize lyrics in Spanish. In the afternoon I had community service. We worked with mentally and physically disabled people and had a barbecue with them in a park. I walked a man in a wheel chair and talked with my cast mates as we walked. It was difficult to communicate with the people because of the language barrier, but our actions spoke louder as we danced and sang with them. We were only there for one or two hours and then went back to have some internal time with the cast. My host dad, Antti, picked us up and we went home. When we arrived home and from there we went with our host mom to buy groceries. It was cool to be in a grocery store in a different country. I really love grocery shopping with my mom, and being with Taina reminded me of that. It also made me excited that in about a month, I will be able to do just that! But, even with my nostalgia, I enjoyed where I was as my host mom showed us around and introduced us to different Finish things. She let us pick out Finish ice cream and then we went to the check out. Also, they have machines in the front of the grocery store, recycling machines, that you put your cans and bottles in, and you get paid back for recycling them—I thought that was super cool! We went home, had dinner, and then had ice cream. We also had licorice shots, but that was not very good. Our host dad though, was excited for us to try them (I think because he knew we would not like them ha ha). After we had ice cream, my host mom showed me a book that tells about Finish culture. I learned so much in one sitting and now feel like an expert on Finland. After she was done showing me, I went to sleep. 

   Thursday morning we arrived to the facility to say good-bye to two of our cast members. Matt from Oregon and Leo from France. Matt broke a rule and was being sent home and Leo ad health issues that required him to be at home. It was not a great way to start off a day, and many of us were very upset. I don’t think anyone who is not apart of this group can understand what it is like to say good-bye—it is so different in Up with People. From there, I joined with my second semesters to have a meeting. We all went around and talked about how we had felt and been feeling about round 2. It was nice to have a check in and to see how everyone was doing. Also, I think it was much needed for people to say how they felt out loud. It has been tough at times, but I am so proud of all of us for the group that we are. I don’t know how I am going to say good-bye in just over a month. After the meeting, we had lunch and then I had vocals again. Vocals turned into free time when our vocal instructor had some very important things she had to work on, which was fine. I spent the time talking to my friend Caroline from Belgium and taking some time to myself. We had a presentation that afternoon by three of our education interns about the impact we have on ourselves, each other, and external people. They did a very good job on it and I enjoyed listening to it. Caroline, Clara and I decided to go for a run when we got home. I always thought that I was a lone runner, but I changed my mind after my two runs with them. Caroline is not much of a talker when she runs, but Clara and I talked a lot and I really enjoyed their company. Also, running with them helped me to motivate myself to run for longer. I enjoyed it very much. When we got back to the house, we had a ten minute work out session together, at which we shared a lot of laughs (which is, in my opinion, the best ab work-out). We ate dinner, and then went in the sauna. I was so happy to be with these sweet girls for the week, and my wonderful host family. 

   Friday was show day number one. We had a cast meeting in the morning that was much needed for some of our cast members. We spent the time allowing people that needed to talk to talk. I think it made everyone feel much better. We went from that into rehearsal and from that to greenroom, and show number one. The show went very well and then we started over. Rehearsal, greenroom, and show. After the show, we went home and sat around the kitchen table talking and eating. Three houses down from us were two boys from our cast, Ingberd from Holland, and Anthony from somewhere in the United States. While we were sitting at the table, we heard a knock on the window, and then the two of them joined us. It was nice to sit an talk with each other. 

   Saturday morning we had a late start, so I woke up at a decent time to go running. I didn’t realize it was running until I opened the door. Before I left, my host mom asked me if my host dad could join me. So he did, and we ran and talked about music and UWP and running. It was a really great run and I kept myself to his pace the whole time which was a good challenge. We ran about 4 miles in 26 minutes. When we arrived for show day number two, our cast staff was on stage performing for us. Today would be cast appreciation day. They did a whole show for us performing silly renditions of our songs from A Song for the World. It was very funny, and very well thought out. I would explain the acts, but it was only funny because of the fish bowl we all live in together. At the end, our education coordinator, Abby, sang the last number of the show for us. I cried because Abby would be living to go home early, also due to heath reasons. They spoke about how they appreciated us and then invited us on stage to dance with them. It was wonderful. We went into rehearsal. During rehearsal this time we practiced the Mexican Medley on stage and I sang my first ever solo rehearsal in UWP. I don’t know if it will be my solo, but it was a huge accomplishment for me to even be singing there. I felt very proud of that. We had dinner after, and the staff had us all sit together and then they brought our food to us. We even got ice cream! It was so special, even just the thought of a cast appreciation day. We had greenroom, the show, and sign outs. I spent the night learning to be a crew leader. When we go on community service, we have crew leaders to help lead each group, talk to facility contacts, and be informed on what we need to do. We went home, and straight to sleep after that. 

   Sunday we had a regional learning day at the Arctic Zoo. We were split into groups and guided through the zoo. It was fun, but the zoo did not really have any crazy animal that I hadn’t seen before. So, the best part was the company. We left there and were picked up by our host families. When we returned home, we had dinner. Our host mom had prepared for us Reindeer, which is very Finish. It was really good! And so was the last dinner together, which of course was followed by Finish ice cream and rice cakes (Finish rice cakes). I went to Skype my mom, and unknowingly brought my four year old sister with me. While I attempted to talk to my mom, Sonja played with my hair, brought me her toys, jumped on my back, talked to my mom, and sang me some songs. I was laughing and attempting to stay focused on my mom (who I think may have been a little frustrated ha ha). My mom said, “I am impressed. I cannot believe you are still tolerating this.” And we laughed. Up with People has really paid an effort to my patience and tolerance levels in so many areas. I actually really loved her being in the room with me. I was kind of disappointed that I didn’t get to fully talk with my mom. But, I have been paying attention to the word impact a lot lately, and I think that I impacted Sonja just by taking time with her. We took a lot, A LOT, of photos on my mac book, and we laughed even more. It was a good way to spend my last night with her. 

   Sunday we had a lazy lazy day. I slept in, wrote in my journal, and went for a run. It was nice to have the day to relax. It was also very nice outside, and it was cool to be able to write and sit in the sun. In the evening, my room mate made us a real Chinese dinner, that was VERY good. We then packed our bags, and our host family took us to be dropped off at the facility we would sleep in for the night. I skyped with my grandpa in the parking lot, due to no wifi, and then we went to sleep. We slept for maybe three hours and then woke up at 3:30AM. We then took a two hour bus ride to Stockholm where we boarded a ferry that would take us to Finland. During the boat ride, I slept, showered (super weird experience), talked with my friends, had two meals, and spent time watching the water go by. It was an awesome experience and one of the best travel days I have had. After thirteen hours in the boat, we arrived in Finland where we then took a 5 hour bus ride to Seinajoki. Finally, we arrived to our city, where we again slept in a facility on the floor. Lucky for us, this time we were provided with pillows and mats to sleep on.

   We had more time to sleep and when we woke up we were provided with breakfast. We ate and then got ready for our allocation meeting. First, we went to the town to do promotion for our show, and then we met our host families. I found out that my room mates would be Clara from Spain and Caroline from Belgium. I was very excited because they are two of my good friends, and it would be my second time to be hosted with Caroline. We met our host mom, crammed all of our things into her car (including ourselves) and then were on our way to our first Finish home. When we arrived, we met our host dad, and our two host siblings, Sonja (4) and Niilo (2). We arrived in the afternoon, so we had a lot of time to spend with them. We played with the kids after getting our things settled and then we went for a walk with our host mom, and then the three of us for a run. When we returned from our run, we had dinner, and then we went in the sauna. Sauna’s are a very big deal in Finland! We went to sleep after that. 

I have a feeling this will be a great week, with my awesome host sisters and my host babies!