Large and In Charge Update!

I realized it's been a couple weeks, so maybe I should let the world know what I'm up to.  Because my life is so interesting.  In reality, life here is shockingly similar to that in America.  I roll out of bed, go to class, and come home.  Being here is honestly more relaxing than anything I've done for the past couple years; I don't have to get up at 6:45am to nanny, and I can listen to whatever music I want to while I get ready in the morning (I'm still not over having my own room)!  My classes are definitely challenging but there's not a whole lot of outside work to do- a couple essays, but no regular exams.  Here's what I've been up to in the land of Academia:


Finnish class is really great; I have it 3 times a week, so it's my most regular class, but that's probably good because I would forget everything otherwise.  Finnish is definitely a hard language, but not as impossible as I was afraid of.  I'm also taking a Finnish music class and a Finnish history class, which are really interesting.  Between those 3 classes I feel like I'm getting a pretty complete view of the culture.


Chinese has been a trip; the teacher is definitely a grad student or something, and his English is not fantastic.  The first lesson had me seriously considering dropping the class, but it's gotten better and I'm loving it!


I started my Finnish special education class this week, and it's set up a little differently than most classes I've taken- there is a lecture once a week, and it's pretty much just a research presentation on something relevant to Special Education.  Then we have a textbook that we have to go through on our own and take an exam on at the end of the term.  After 2 weeks of classes about Finland and China, it was so nice to listen to a research presentation about 2nd language learners this week- I understood all the wonderful psychology terms and really felt back in my element. 


Other than school stuff, I've met some fantastic people and I'm loving how organized the university is with both the exchange students and the departments.  Last week there was an exchange student party where we were supposed to dress up as a cultural stereotype.  So naturally I went as corporate America- lots of McDonalds' and Coke labels everywhere.

We've also had some Psychology department things going on; I went to a brunch last weekend and met some of the Finnish Psych students.  Then on Monday Erin and I showed the Finns how to play Ultimate Frisbee.  It was a brilliant success, mostly because my frisbee skills automatically get about 90% more impressive when I step off of North Park's campus.


Oh, and in the highlight of my life to this date, my roommate Tiia got a kitten last weekend! Her name is Pikku Myy, which is a Swedish cartoon character, and she is about the cutest thing I have ever seen. She's 3 months old and I love her when she's not dragging my things from my room into Tiia's room, hiding under my bed, and stomping all over my computer keyboard.  It's really nice to have a pet though, and it makes being in the apartment that much better (almost makes up for the broken oven, although I think that was my fault, and the construction at 7am).