november fifteeth

was probably the greatest day of my entire life :] So this weekend I attended Maata Näkyvissä which is the largest christian festival in all of Scandinavia. It was held in Turku, a city about 3 hours from my house at an Ice hockey arena [obviously, there was no ice.]. We left on friday around 1 30 from Jyväskylä and arrived in Turku around seven [we stopped for like 45 minutes at a gas station/mini mall in the middle of the trip.]. I went with Annina and her friend Roosa, the bus ride there was really fun :] There were around 11,000 people at this event, so it was packed ! Friday night we ate our evening snack [bread, butter, cheese, and yoghurt] and then went to the arena and listened to some music. After the bands played we had a hugeeee communion with real wine and bread, it was really cool. There were booths set up upstairs with merchandise and what not, cd's, t-shirts, etc. The night ended around 11 and then we headed over to one of the local schools where we would be spending the nights at. There were probably 200 of us in the school that I stayed in and the girls all slept in the gym, the boys were split up into different classrooms. It wasn't too bad sleeping in there, although it was impossible to go to bathroom cause the lines were so long. But that night Annina, Roosa, and I ate a delicious cake thing that Roosa baked for me for my birthday ! It was so sweet :] In the morning we got up and got dressed and went to the arena for breakfast around 8. We had disgusting porridge that made all our tummy's feel weird, but the bread and yoghurt was good :] The first set of bands to play were really popular finnish bands, some of them were quite good. Kraka, this finnish indie band, was probably my favorite out of them and did a duo-show with this finnish rapper. So there were two drummers, four guitarists, and two bassists on stage, it was amazing ! After the first set of music finished, the security cleared out the building so they could clean and such for the next set. So we all traveled over to the other building for lunch. Well, most of us. Annina and I, and others, got right back in line to be let back in in an hour, skipping lunch. We wanted a good place in the mosh pit for The Rain [a very popular finnish band], and we ended up getting 6th row :] So that was cool. After them there were workshops and studios set up with all different kinds of things to do. Annina and I went to listen to Pastor Dien Taylor from the Bronx, New York City. It was in english so I was in heaven. He talked about what heaven was like and why we should be excited for it, it was really cool. When he was done Annina and I wanted to talk to him and get his autograph and such, and as we were standing in line Annina turned around quickly and said "OH MY GOSH, LOOK BEHIND YOU." And there, standing two meters away, was Sanctus Real. The band. From Ohio. I had known they were going to be here at this festival, but they were standing right next to me ! So I ran over to Matt and asked him to sign my one dollar bill. He was really conffused at first, wondering where a Finn would get a dollar bill, but he figured out I must be from the states. So we got to talking and I met the rest of the band [PETE !] and we talked all about life and how great of an opportunity we both had, to be here in Finland witnessing to others God's great works and everything, it was so cool. Their manager, Curt, offered to take our picture, which you can see here: http://flickr.com/photos/ilovepaige345/3035839558/. So it was basically my dream come true and I was pretty much the happiest person on the planet. After they had to leave we walked over to the other building to get our evening snack [more bread and yogurt !] and this time we stood next to these rather good looking boys :] I kind of always bring attention to myself because I speak english, so after a while the boys finally asked Annina and Roosa where I was from and how old we were and where we were from in Finland. We talked for like 45 minutes and they were both really cool. One was named Roope, which is pronounced like rrr-ohh-pay :) When we were walking out I was talking to the girls and said something like "I really want to meet someone new." And right after that these two guys walked up and pretended to be from a TV channel and were like interviewing us and all this stuff. It was so cute ! At first we tried to convince them that we were all American, but it didn't last for long. I was soon singled out as the American and then they found out it was my birthday so they sang to me ! Since it was in english, everyone in the room turned to look :] We stayed and chatted for another half an hour, talking about such random things, and even making up this crazy dance ! It was so much fun (: We then realized that we needed to hurrry up and go get in a line in order to be first row for Sanctus Real. We stood in the freezing cold for 45 minutes, but it was well worth it. We were front and center, and it was so amazing. When Sanctus Real was about to come out, one of the hosts of the event came out and since he knew that the band didn't understand finnish, he told all of the crowd that we were going to play a joke on the band. He told them all to have their cameras ready and that when Sanctus Real came out on stage, to not make a sound. And then, once they sang the first line, to scream all at once and take a picture. It was actually really cool, but I don't think Sanctus Real got the joke...but it was hillarious from our point of view :] Their concert was amazing, and afterwords Annina and I ran out to go get autographs ! Again ! When we got back up there, they treated us like old pals, saying things like "oh hey ! nice to see you again !" And then Pete, my favorite member, told the fill-in guitarist, "Hey, this girl is from Bremerton, Washington ! She's so cool, and its her birthday !" Annina was great, and talked to them all. I told her she had to because her english was so amazing, and at the end Matt, the lead vocalist, said to her "Hey, you're a Finn right ?" She replied, "Yeah, I'm Finnish." And then he said, "Wow, cause you have reallly good english for a Finn." She lit up like a kid in a candy store, it was great :] And since Pete had already signed my dollar, I asked him to sign my hand ! :D Earlier in the day I found a half of a one dollar bill that wasn't mine on the ground of the arena. I couldn't think of how else an american dollar would have gotten in there, so I wrote Sanctus Real a note on the back saying something like "Hey, I found this dollar and thought it might be yours :] But thanks for making my 17th birthday FABULOUS. Your songs are so powerful and touching, God Bless you all. Jocelyn [WA]" And they really liked it :) So that was my birthday and it was pretty much the best day ever.

Sunday, the last day of the festival was just spent buying a Sanctus Real shirt, taking loads of pictures, and sitting because our feet hurt so bad ! One of the most popular activities at this festival was the "FREE HUGS" sign that almost everyone made for themselves. I kind of wanted to join in on the fun so I made myself a sign that said "HUG ME ! I'm American." And I got lots of hugs :] Because Finns are shy to use english they kind of just walked up to me and held open their arms, but it was sweet. The bus ride home was nice, I just slept :) When we got back to Jyväskylä it was SNOWING ! We got about 2.5 centimeters, and its so pretty ! So that was fun. I came home to numerous emails wishing me a happy birthday, so thank you to all who wished me one, I had the best one ever. One girl asked me "So what did you get for your birthday ?" And I replied "Sanctus Real." And she was like "Oh, like the CD ?" And I said in return "No, like the band :)" ahah, it was such a good day ! And a really nice weekend. I'm going to Juuso's school on Wednesday to talk to the 8th graders, and on thursday I have a dress appointment, and then on Friday I'm going to the Ice Hockey arena with Petra to work the concession stands again ! So that should be fun. I leave next weekend for Lapland, and then when I get back I'll go to the Viertola's house. I don't know their address, but you can always just write to the Sainpalo's address and they'll get it to me, they won't mind (: So anyways, hoping you're having a lovely november, mine has been so great ! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers :]