The Toad, the Car, and the Wine

That title sounds like a great introduction to a weird short story, but it's not. I just want to tell you about a few random things that don't really have a connection.
The Toad: Yesterday Sari was cleaning the car and she suddenly screamed and said something very panicly in Finnish. The reason was a toad that had jumped on her leg. She then told me that toads are very common around the house and I wasn't so thrilled because I really dislike any animal that doesn't have fur; not to say I'm scared of them. And toads are soooooo ugly! :-/

The Car: My host family doesn't just have one Oldtimer, but two. Besides the Beetle, they also have a Triumph which was built in 1972. Tommi bought it in Great Britain and it, of course, has the steering wheel on the right side. Tommi offered me to drive it, but I wasn't brave enough yesterday. But I might in the future!

The Wine: My host parents are both wine-lovers. But the last wine they bought didn't turn out to be their taste. However, this wine reminds me of the kind my mom always buys: kinda dry and strong. So, when my host mom wanted to throw the wine box away, I stopped her and said that I would gladly drink it. However, they didn't want it to be in the kitchen any longer and now I have a box of wine with about 2 litres in it in my room. I'll probably be an alcoholic after 3 months here in Finland. I already drink at least one glass (mostly 2) per evening and now I have my own wine...how bad can it get? *lol* I mean, I've always liked alcohol, but I never drank it that regularly. By the way, the 3 litre box of wine costs 25€ in Finland and I would never throw something that expensive away!

Better Late than Never

I now have been here for two weeks and just yesterday I finally I got my room all to myself. Well, as I already mentioned: my host family is a bit chaotic and the parents work long hours every day, so nothing can't be done at once.
When I arrived, my host parents let me decide if I'd rather have the computer room or a kind of indoor-balcony as my room. Although the indoor-balcony is very cool because it's high up (like a bunk bed), I chose the proper room because it has more natural light and more privacy (After all, I'm German and I like to close my door! *lol*). So, last week the computer was taken out and moved downstairs, but the desk was still full of papers and pens. But yesterday the desk was tidied up and moved, my bed was moved to a darker spot, I got an extra nightstand, and one of those sacks you can sit on. Now my room is all comfy and very pretty! :-)

My host parents actually wanted to buy me a new and proper bed from IKEA because the bed I'm sleeping on is just a pull-out couch. But I LOVE this couch; it's comfy, has lots of pillows and it's red...why would I need a new one?

Finnish Nights

On Saturday, my host family and I were invited to the graduation party of one of our neighbors. So, we dressed in our prettiest clothes and walked across the lawn to get to the house. The first interesting point about graduation of senior high school in Finland is that the graduated person gets a rose from his guests (plus either money or some kind of voucher). The second interesting point is that he or she (in my case: he) has to wear a cap all day that looks like some kind of sailor hat.

So, after eating lots of food (In Finland they make something calles sandwich cakes. It's made out of several layers of bread and in between you have either fish or sausage with mayonnaise and maybe vegetables - very delicious! :-)) and drinking a glass of Russian champagne (which was bought in Estonia because buying alcohol for such a big party in Finland would make you go bankrupt), my host parents and I spent the rest of the afternoon on a swing.
In the evening, we went back to our yard, got back into our comfy clothes and read a while. And then I got to know Ville, a guy who only lives a couple of houses across the road, has spent a year in Germany and speaks German faster than I do. We exchanged phone numbers and he said that he's call me if he's going out or if there is some kind of party somewhere. Let's wait and see! He's definitely funny and entertaining! :-)

After having had a bottle of German Weizenbier (Weizen = wheat) and two glasses of champagne, the neighbors asked us if we want to come over again to have the rest of the food and some more alcohol. So, off we went. Then, I was supplied with another glass of champagne, a glass of white wine, a small glass with some kind of liqueur, and a can of Finnish beer which tasted like the watered down version of German beer. Although I only speak 30 words of Finnish and ,of course, can't understand any conversation in Finnish, I stayed there until 2 o'clock at night. Although they only partly spoke in English, I felt very comfy be the little fire and surrounded by many happy people. (And I could stare into the fire for hours and still be entertained. Fire is awesome!) And yes, there are stereotypes about Finnish people that are true. And one of them is: Most Finnish people like to drink lots of alcohol! :-P

What did I do the rest of the weekend? Well, I was working on my tan! Lately, we've had like 28 degrees Celsius here and I managed to burn my neckline a little bit.
And today I did another shopping trip with the Beetle and it went so well that I collected all my courage and took the high way route back home! So far I had been afraid to take the high way with the Beetle because I was afraid it wouldn't make it. But I got it up to 100 km/h and that's the speed limit on this particular high way anyway! *lol* My host mom told me that the Beetle is a girl and can be quite moody sometimes and she really proofed that to me: sometimes she won't start at all and on other days she's just fine!