Syntymäpäivä & Thanksgiving Suomessa

This November I celebrated two very different things here in Finland. One; Thanksgiving, and another; minun syntymäpäivä (my birthday).
Thanksgiving isn't a Finnish holiday, so it was just a normal night at my home. I had language lessons and school so I didn't get home till late anyways so it was a bit hard to make plans for some American style food.

 Since it was just a normal night, we ate salmon, potatoes, and brocoli. There may not have been turkey, pie, and stuffing like back in America, but the food isn't what matters.

 This year I am thankful to more than ever. I owe so much to others for helping me even get to Finland and I am truly thankful for the sacrifices and hard work that has gone in to getting me here. Thank you to my family back in America, all of my host families here in Finland (The Hagelin's and soon to be the Nevala's). Also, thank you Rotary! Thanks to my host club and sponsor club for granting me this opportunity of a lifetime. I really appreciate all that has happened this year and am very grateful of all that has happened. Kiitoksia paljon!  (Thank you very much!), and happy thanksgiving.

 My 17th birthday (syntymäpäivä) was on Novemeber 29th, but the Sunday before that we celebrated it with my second and first host families. That afternoon, my second host family came over and joined us for coffee and we ate the birthday cakes my sister; Host Helmi (inside joke) made for me. The cake on the right is a cheese cake with shredded dark chocolate, and the cake on the left is chocolate with raspberry jelly and white chocolate shredded on top. Both were delicious and made from scratch without any cake boxes and the frosting is melted chocolate.

 It was nice to see my other host family which I will move to at the end of December or very early January. My host grandma was also there visiting from Savonlinna. We chatted and had cake, cookies, and coffee, and it was very nice.

 I got a Pelicans towel and some chocolate from my second host family, a Moomin reflector, chocolate, some Pelican mittens (which I got from Helmi on the 29th instead), and a sketchbook from the Hagelin's. And my host grandma gave me a pair of mitens and some money for my ski lift ticket. Kiitos isoäiti ja Hagelin perhe ja Nevala perhe.  Isoäiti means grandma and perhe is family.
Reflectors are very common and important here in Finland since it is so dark. As in the picture, they easily reflect light which is good when your out and about since the sun sets early. This way cars will see you, etc.

 Thursday, November 29th was my real birthday and also a very busy day. The new period of school began, meaning all of my new classes started, and I had an important test in my Finnish class.
The school cafeteria now has a Santa or Joulupukki manikin too. Christmas is coming and there is plenty of snow on the ground outside now too.

 After Finnish lessons, I went to the Italian restaurant; Mamma Maria's with my very close exchange student friends; Mao (Japanilainen), Georgia (Australialainen), and Ailey (Amerikkalainen-skotlantilainen) to celebrate my birthday.

If you ask people in Lahti, then most everyone says that Mamma Maria's has the best food in the city, so since my host mom was out of town and I couldn't have my traditional birthday meal, I decided to eat out with my friends. Here is the salad and garlic bread that came with my meal.

 The restaurant didn't have my favorite meal of Fettuccine Alfredo which I always eat when I go out to Italian restaurants, so I was forced to try something new. In the end, I ordered a spinach pasta dish.

 The food was good, but I don't think anything can beat Pasta House in Rio Rancho. It is kind of cool, because the restaurant is managed by Italian people, but all of the workers come from different places and speak all sorts of different languages; American English, British English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Finnish, Swedish, Italian, etc.
The most important part was that I was with my friends. It was an excellent 17th birthday with everyone there. (Picture: infront from right to left; Georgia and me. In back from right to left; Ailey and Mao).

For desert, we ate the chocolate cake that Georgia made for me. It was delicious and a perfect way to end the night. I had a wonderful 17th birthday suomessa (in Finland).