Veerle had been ill the entire week and I caught her flu.. But I’m finally feeling better =). Friday two Greek girls (Olga and Eva) cooked a wonderful Greek dinner, unfortunately I couldn’t stay very long as I was ill. On Saturday Veerle, Mike, Alba, Carlos and Kristel went to the Helsinki zoo to admire the Ice Sculpture competition. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so I only made some crappy pictures with my phone. Fortunately, Veerle did bring her camera: Pictures on her facebook . It was really fun, it was cold and the ice sculptures were amazing =).

On Sunday one of the French guys (Antonino) decided that it was time that everyone in our building learned how to dance. And so we had a Rock ‘n’ Roll dance lesson! It was great, next Sunday: Next lesson .

And that pretty much brings us to today: Valentinesday =). I’ll be doing a lot of schoolwork today, later I’ll meet Sarah and in the evening I’m going to some free gigs as today is: National free rock music day . And all kind of clubs have bands playing and it’s free entrance, going to be great .

Tomorrow Yorick is flying to Helsinki =D. So I’m going to skip some classes in order to pick him up from the airport =). Not sure yet what the plan is, but in the evening we’re playing Catan . Thursday is my birthday, but the party won’t be till Friday and it’s going to be great as there is a Carnival corridor party going on the same night, so that’ll be the perfect afterparty! So, I’ll have a bit of Carnival here anyway =D.

No more things planned yet and I really need to get to my schoolwork now.

xxx

Almost :D is a post from Amy in Finland =).

Last week was full of schoolwork mostly, I had my final oral exam, which went quite good I thought. I also managed to finish one of my assignments that I still had to finish for one of my subjects in Groningen. Now there’s only one assignment left for Groningen and then I can fully focus on everything here.
Of course I didn’t just do schoolwork, as I mentioned in my previous blog, I went to the Tracedawn, Kiuas and Amoral gig saturday the 28th =). It was great! I went there with Javier and I met Leo there and Javier also met some friends. The bands were all really good and it turned out that Tracedawns singer (Niko) is DOTMA’s new second guitarist. (Inside information from Leo, who’s DOTMA’s first guitarist). Also Niko is the old singer of Amoral, and he and the new singer (Ari Koivunen!!) sang one of the songs together! After the gig, me and Javier rushed home, as there was a big corridor party going on as Thom was leaving. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, most people had already left, but we had fun anyway =).

Wednesday me and Veerle went to a 70′s disco party on a restaurantboat. The party was organised by the Student Union of Veterinary studies and my friend Tomi, who’s part of the organisation, invited us. So Veerle and I went second hand shopping and found awesome outfits! The party included Limbo dancing (Veerle and I ended up being 2nd and 3rd, but my back hated me the day after) and also musical chairs (again me in 3rd place, Veerle and I had to fight for one seat earlier in the game, and I won that ). The rest of the evening we just danced, talked (also a lot in Finnish) and had a lot of fun. (Pictures on facebook and on my photopage)

Friday me, Hessel and Veerle finally went to Hyvinkää! We went shopping and then to Heidi’s place, were we ate and when Johanna had also arrived played a game of Settlers of Catan. Lateron, Johanna dropped us of at the bar and she went home, Hessel and Veerle left at 1:30am to catch their last train back to Helsinki and Heidi and I partied all night long =D. As a result I was deadtired the next day (=yesterday) as I had to be home at 2pm as me and Anna were going to work on our assignment for our translation class: We’re translating ‘Jip en Janneke’ stories to Finnish . In the evening I was planning on going to bed early, but turned out there was an Italian Restaurant party going on, organised by Riky, Giovanni and Yari, so I went to eat some cheap, good Pizza and Foccacia =). Thanks guys =D.

After that I fell asleep real fast and today I’ll have my last tutor meeting and after that I’ll go to a Finnish church with Mike =).

Plans for next week:
- February 8th: Erasmus in Schools: I’ll be telling Finnish primary school children about my experience of living in Finland and also about living in the Netherlands.
- Lots of school stuff and probably some other things I haven’t planned yet

Bye for now =). Only 1,5 week left till my 22nd birthday, which means: Only 1,5week left till my boyfriend visits me =D.

It’s starting to get cold here =). is a post from Amy in Finland =).

Last weekend was a weekend for partying! On friday there was a beerpong tournament going on in my building, unfortunately Hessel and I were just too late to sign up. But it was still really fun to watch! There’s pictures on facebook and on my photopage. As Veerle stayed at my place for the night we talked and played games instead of sleaping, and when we woke up the next morning at 11am we had to rush off to the city centre as I was going second hand shopping with ESN. I managed to find a pan, some decent mugs, a glass, 4 cd’s and an awesome bag. I went to Hessels place to leave my stuff there for safe keeping, as Hessel lives close to the city centre and as I had to rush off to an indoor picnic organised by the faculty of Arts tutors. After that Veerle and I (unknowingly) successful crashed a private Finish party at a bar and later we met with Hessel for the Negative gig. We got there at 830pm, but unfortunately the gig didn’t start till 1215am.. Luckily we ran into a German girl Veerle knew (Luise) and the four of us ended up playing Monopoly in Finnish until the gig started. It was definitely worth waiting for, as they played really well and put up an awesome show!

When I finally got home (almost.. I was walking up the hill towards my building), I realised that I didn’t have my keys on me, and remembered that they were probably in my bag that I had left at Hessels place.. I phoned Hessel, who luckily was almost home and he found my keys in my bag. I took the nightbus to the station, waited for half an hour in the freezing cold and finally got to Hessels place at 430 am. But unfortunately, as it was Sunday, I couldn’t get back home easily until 620am. So we stayed up watching Ducktales (in Finnish) till 6 and I finally got home (with my keys) at 7am.. By that time, I wasn’t even tired anymore, so I studied and in the evening there was an international dinner in our building and I brought ‘arretjescake’ and everyboyd loved it =). There were so many good dishes from all kind of countries, unfortunately I haven’t been able to try everything =). After the diner we all left to go to the Tiger (club in Helsinki) for cheap beer, as it was Sunday.

More school from Monday to yesterday and yesterday evening I went to a party of the student union for Finno-Ugric languages and cultures and later to a gig of The Spyro with Veerle. It was epic, the whole crowd loved it and was dancing on stage, with the band. The whole crowd, were 5 people =).

This weekend I’m going to do a lot of studying as I have an oral exam next Tuesday, though tomorrow evening I’m going to ‘Tracedawn’, ‘Kiuas’ and ‘Amoral’ and afterwards to the goodbye party of my fellow Dutchy Tom, who also lives in this building.

Find the pictures on my facebook or on my photopage =).

Love, Amy

Beerpong tournament, Negative gig and international diner. is a post from Amy in Finland =).

It’s been over a week since I arrived in Helsinki and it’s been pretty busy here! Apparently, the building I live is in famous for it’s corridor parties, so we had the first of those last Saturday and the pre-party the Friday before that =). But before all that happened I picked Veerle up at the central station on Thursday, 3 hours later than planned due to storm @ Schiphol.. But we finally made it to Veerle’s apartment and as it was already late, I stayed there.

On Friday we went to my place early to pick up Hessel’s keys and my shoppinglist, as we were going to the Ikea. Dominik (German flatmate) joined us. We met Hessel at the station, gave him his keys and were finally off to Ikea! Bought what we needed, ate a very cheap (€1,50) children’s meal and waited (2 hours) for the bus back to the city centre. When I got home, I got word on the pre-party and went to see what was going on. Met a bunch of other exchange students from everywhere, but mostly from Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. Luckily there were also a few Finnish girls who were very impressed with my Finnish (they were a bit drunk though =P).

The next day was calm, just getting settled and I ran into Sem who also studies in Groningen and we explored the building, very interesting place this –> the laundry dungeon would be perfect for a horrorfilm! =). In the evening I met new people at the corridor party and that was all. I think I slept most of Sunday..

Monday and Tuesday were the introduction days at the university. Hessel and I were in the same tutor group and our tutor Nelli was very fortunately very helpful. She showed us around and made sure we got all the necessary documents (Hooray travelcard: €22,- a month, let’s me travel unlimited within Helsinki area) and I finally got my timetable sorted out. Tuesday evening my Finnish friend Kalle came by for a beer and later I had some other students over in my apartment

Wednesday I already had my first class: Finnish music. My teacher is great! He’s lived abroad for quite sometime and so he’s got a very critical look on Finnish culture. Another good thing about him is that he is not too serious and he just wants us to (I quote) “chill out” during the classes =). In the evening there was a party at Hessel’s place: His legendary Canadian housemate was celebrating his birthday and apparently, he’s well known for his good parties. He’d invited our building via facebook, as apparently he’s partied here aswell. I ate at Hessels place and then played beerpong (and won! (en then lost)) and met a lot of new people.

Thursday me and Veerle went shoeshopping, as my sneakers would not hold out the snow and rain and my other shoes are not made for snow (apparently). I found the perfect boots on sale: 35€ instead of 70€ =). Afterwards Veerle, Hessel and I went to our friend Tiina’s place for dinner, games, beer, wine and a lot of catching up. And I got a PINK <3 kettle.

Yesterday (friday) Veerle died part of her hair blue, and my entire hair red. (Traffic light: first green, now it’s red =)). And then we went to the ESN (Erasmus Student Network) party at a club called ‘Le Bonk’. Seen a lot of familiar faces, but also met more exchange students.

Today I sorted out the rest of my timetable, did some studying and had dinner with Veerle.

So in short:
Very busy with Partying, Studying, Hanging out with old friends, but also meeting a lot of new people and making new friends. Pictures on facebook and on www.amyinfinlandfotos.mijnalbum.nl

First week: Introductions and parties is a post from Amy in Finland =).

Today I finally flew to Finland. I only just made my flight, the man in the seat next to me started by ordering a Bloody Mary at 9am and continued ordering more as the flight continued, result: An coughing man who stank of alcohol and me being worried he’d throw up on me.. But everything turned out fine. My suitcase arrived really fast and Gineke was there to pick me up =). Went to the Housing office to pick up mine, Hessel’s and Veerle’s keys and met a German guy who had to go to the same building I had to go and who didn’t know the way. So Gineke brought us to our bus and we were off to our new home =).

We dragged our suitcases through the sludge that once was snow and found our studio apartments. I couldn’t have been more pleasantly surprised! Everything was clean, there is more than enough room, enough storage space and there were actually a few pans, knives, forks, spoons, glasses and cleaning material! =). And as you see, my internet connection works!

After having checked our studios and making a shopping list, Dominnik (the German guy) and I set off to Ikea, only to find out that there was no IKEA bus after 6pm.. So we did some other shopping in the city centre and finally returned home. Where I am now, and I have to admit I have some noisy neighbours who are having some kind of party, but I’m so tired I’ll sleep anywhere. Tomorrow I will unpack my suitcase, go to the university to try and arrange things and do some homework and in the evening Veerle will arrive and I will pick her up from the central station.

That’s all for now, I’ll make some pictures later this week, right now I just want to sleep.

Hello Helsinki! is a post from Amy in Finland =).

In only 6 days I will fly to Helsinki to live and study there for the upcoming 5 months. I ought to start packing my suitcase, as I will leave Groningen this Saturday and I won’t be seeing my house before I return at the end of may.

Today I had a fotoshoot with Yorick <3. So we'll have pictures of us and of each other to look at while I'm in Finland =). It was fun, the results will be on facebook as soon as I get them.

This was all for now. I hope you will keep reading my blog (and I hope I will be updating it regularly )

- Amy

Less than a week to go! is a post from Amy in Finland =).

Nieuwe blog. is a post from Amy in Finland =).

Twas echt heel veel lol. Donderdag vertrokken we al (ik, Marjis (moeder) en Timo (vader)) naar een campingplaats waar Joonas er ‘s nachts bij kwam (die was op kamp geweest en zou daar uit de bus stappen). Vrijdags naar Vaasa gereden =). Daar hebben we gevolleyd, gesauna’ed, gekaart (poker, texas hold’em en blackjack, ik en 3 jongens en ik won (bijna) alles xD hoezo lol xD), gezwommen (in de modder -_-*, aangezien er zoveel modder/klei in het water (zee) zat dat je niet verder kon als je knieën, veel gepraat en gelachen, doodgestoken door de muggen enz. En ‘s avonds om 00.00 gingen de meiden 7 verschillende bloemen plukken aangezien de legende zegt dat als je dat doet (alleen en zonder te praten) en die onder je kussen legt en meteen gaat slapen (zonder met iemand te spreken) erna je die nacht je toekomstige echtgenoot zult zien in je droom. Maargoed, ik ben niet meteen gaan slapen en ik heb ook nog heel veel gepraat dusja.. Bij mij werkte het niet =P.

Die nacht niet veel geslapen. Volgende dag zijn we met een boot naar een ander zomerhuisje (dat van familie van degene waar dit zomerhuisje van was), maar eerst naar de langste brug in Finland ^__^. Toen naart andere zomerhuisje, eten, sauna, zwemmen, meer sauna, zwemmen, sauna xD. Toen terug naart eerste zomerhuisje, veel gepraat, spelletjes gedaan, gekaart, gegeten, etc. etc. Zondags inpakken opruimen en terug naar Hyvinkää, in Seinäjoki Mummo (oma) opgehaald van het treinstation want die kwam meen naar Hyvinkää aangezien Joonas volgende week zijn Communie/vormsel heeft.

Maandag avond kwam Salla terug uit Duitsland, ze had het leuk gehad en ze heeft Singstar Deutch pop-rock gekocht xD. Alleen maar Duitse liedjes die hebben we gisteren dus de hele dag zitten zingen xD. Gisteren avond ben ik voor de laatste x (voorlopig dan) naar DOTMA hun repetitie geweest en vandaag even de laatste dingetjes inpakken en wat dingen opsturen naar Nederland met de post. Vanavond (als het beter weer wordt) gaan we naar Linnanmäki (pretpark in Helsinki) met Salla, Joonas en wat vrienden van ons.

Morgen afscheid nemen van iedereen en vrijdag naar Duitsland. Dit is mijn laatste blog voordat ik weer in Nederland ben denk ik. (misschien dat ik er nog een typ voordat ik terugben, maar ik denk het niet). Tot gauw.

xxx Eimi.

Juhannes –> Midzomernacht is a post from Amy in Finland =).

Maandag en dinsdag ben ik met YFU in Estland geweest, was vet gezellig =D. Tis echt mooi daar, Tallin is een oude stad en echt heel mooi en ook vet goedkoop ^^. Maandag ‘s ochtends met de boot naar Tallin gegaan vanuit Helsinki. Op de boot waren zo’n 50 Nederlands, was best grappig, ik helemaal in schok toen ik Nederlands hoorde. En toen bleek dat dat een groep van ongeveer 50 mensen uit heel Nederland was. Die hadden een reis, die georganiseerd was door de ANWB. In Tallin naar het hotel gegaan, tassen gedumpt en toen kregen we een gids en gingen we Tallin bekijken. Veel foto’s gemaakt enzo =). Toen gingen we eten, toen naar de supermarkt en meer sighseeing en toen weer eten en toen hadden we geen programma meer. We gingen met een aantal van de YFU’ers weer naar de supermarkt, goedkope zooi inslaan en dan tot diep in de nacht lol hebben =). Om half 5 ging ik slapen =). Om 7.30 was ik weer op om te gaan ontbijten, daarna souverir winkelen met een hoop anderen =). Ik heb met Kirsten afgesproken dat wanneer we 18 zijn we teruggaan en de hele nacht goedkoop gaan feesten =D.
Toen weer met de boot terug en nog met Martin, Krisse en Wenke in Helsinki blijven hangen. Morgen komt Krisse hierheen voor het weekend .

Bijna terug.. =) =( =/ is a post from Amy in Finland =).

Ik dacht, laat ikmaar weer eens een blogje typen. Heb wel een paar dingen te vertellen dus .
Vappu: Op 1 mei is het hier vappu, laat ik het maar de finse carnaval noemen, men is gek verkleed en de avond ervoor is zowat heel Finland dronken xD. Er was ook markt en daar ben ik heen geweest en heb en cool truitje gekocht =).
DOTMA: Dat is dus de band van mijn vrienden en zaterdag hadden ze hun eerste optreden =D! En daar was ik (als hun eerste officiele fan) natuurlijk bij =D! Het ging echt super =D. En 2 juni hebben ze hun 2e optreden =D. Heb veel foto’s gemaakt, zet ik binnenkort wel op mijn foto site . Samen met de foto’s van de thema dagen .
Thema dagen: Donderdag 3 en vrijdag 4 mei hadden we ‘teemapäivät’ op school, Donderdag was ‘landbouwer’ en vrijdag was ‘back to the 70′s’ Was best leuk ^.^ Ik was een 70′s hippie xD. Foto’s komen binnenkort online .
Verder heb ik bijna vakantie. Vandaag, morgen, woensdag en volgende week maandag nog school en dan proefwerkweek en dan VAKANTIE!! =D (ja dat is een maand eerder dan jullie xD). En 24 mei komt mijn papa me opzoeken hier =).
Nu moet ik stoppen, want Elli wil gaan eten (ik ben op school). Doei xxx <3

P.S. Geef aub reacties =D.

Vappu en DOTMA ^.^ is a post from Amy in Finland =).