Harry Potter and some new introductions

We all woke up kind of late, I doubt we would have woken for another hour, if Antti had not called asking when was breakfast. We spent most of the morning figuring out what we would do and by the time we had decided, we had run out of time so we just left. We stopped first at an Army shop that sold all this old gear from the army and some of it was pretty neat! Pauli bought his bike and rode home and Antti and I set off back to Kiuruvesi. I read my Finland Culture shock book which was really good and I recommend it to any newbies reading this. When I got home Ritva told me that I had missed Henriikka (who had just got back from Australia) because she was having a Harry Potter marathon with her cousin and that I would go and see the new movie with them tonight. I imagine my host mum was very confused about my insane smile as I said I AM GOING TO SEE HARRY POTTER TONIGHT?

Needless to say I was a little bit excited that I would get to see a midnight screening! Henriikka came home a few hours later and it was very awesome to finally get to meet her! I met her cousin, Reetta, too who is one of the biggest Harry Potter fans I have ever met and she went to the premiere in London for the second part of DH which made me insanely jealous of her. She also reads my blog so hei Rettaa! We drove to Iisalmi for the movie and it was pouring with rain. The movie itself was AMAZING. I really, really loved it! In my journal there is a very long paragraph of just all caps that I can barely read about specific things that I liked about the movie but I will not list them here because it will take to long and this blog is for my exchange and not Harry Potter. I was a bit sad when it finished because it really is over now, no more books, no more movies. 

Blurry photo in the cinema before it had started

Harry Potter, Flights and Globe Genie

So you may notice that Harry Potter is listed first before the exciting news of my flights, what a bad exchange student I am! :D

I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 last night with two friends i've known since I was about 5 and I LOVED IT! By far the best movie mainly because it was very true to the books, there were a few scenes that could have easily been tweaked to make them more canonical (have I ever mentioned I love that word, its such a cool word to say) but apart from that, there were no glaring differences. There was also a little added scene that wasn't in the book, I dont want to give it away for those who havent seen it, but I thought it was really sweet. Absolutely cannot wait for the next part which I believe comes out around July 13th in Finland.

My favourite scene was dobby's speech!

I also got my flight details a few weeks ago, it makes it seem so real when you actually know what time your leaving! I leave around midday on January 21st on a domestic flight to Melbourne. Im glad its domestic because that way I can meet my Nanna and maybe my cousins at the airport and say goodbye to them. I have about 2 hours in Melbourne which will be taken up by customs and finding all the other Finlanders. Then we all fly off to Singapore airpot and we've only got about 2 hours there and then its straight back onto a 6 hour flight to London. By the time we get to London its 5am the next day and we've got a 5 hour layover and then onto a plane for a 5 hour flight to Helsinki! I arrive in Helsinki 26 hours after I departed Adelaide but it is 6 am Finland time when I land so I'll still have to stay awake for the rest of the day! I believe that when we arrive in Helsinki all the Aussies catch a bus to Tampere which is only a 2 hour drive and then we settle into our orientation campsite (and hopefully they let us sleep!)

Yesterday was the 9 weeks left mark and tomorrow is the 21st which means 2 months left! I've got a caching event tomorrow and then 1 more week of school, then 3 days of work experience and then Im free! Free to prepare and to get right into some finnish learning! I have also been doing some lose planning for when my cousin comes to visit me in Finland. Were both not sure when or how or what yet because I have to speak to my family about when the best tim for her to come is but i'm quite excited because we hope we can both go down to Savonlinna which is where ou Great- Grandfather was born.

Also if you are into travel, you should check out this site: Globe Genie. It is really awesome, it randomly transports you to a spot in the world. You sometimes get boring streets but sometimes you get beautiful scenery or a street with really strange houses. I really love it but be warned its really addictive! I actually ended up in Kiuruvesi after about 2 hours, it was really exciting! I just clicked teleport then and I've ended up in France. 

14 days till Final Briefing (BLAZERS!!!!)

34 days till Christmas

61 days till Finland! (wow, so close!)