Vanhojen Tanssit

oli mukavaaaaaa :) Ah, it was so much fun ! I don't even know where to begin with the details of how it went. I guess I'll start in the morning. Raija and I woke up at 5 30, I ate some breakfast and proceded to brush my teeth for ten minutes [there ain't nothin' better than minty fresh breath] and then got dressed in tights, leggings, a tank, and sweats ! I'd put on my dress after getting my hair done. Then at 6 45 Raija and I left for Piia's house [Raija's niece, not her sister in law] and got there around 7 10. We sat down, and started to take out all the hair curlers which I slept [or rather, tried to sleep] in, and then did my hair. It took about an hour and a half to complete the whole thing and I got to school perfectly on time. My hair was really pretty, I really liked it :] At school we stood in line to take a picture and then marched down the stairs through a tunnel made of first years [sophmores]. At high school here there are different classes of students, sort of like an ASB, but there are multiple ones. Each class has about 20 students, and they usually have a lot of the same classes together, but not always. Annina is in 07 D or something, and Joonas was in 07 E, I think. So the sophmores have corresponding classes [08 A, B,C,D,E,F and IB, just like the juniors, and the seniors as well] So the sophmores all make up some sort of skit to perform on the day of the big dance that basically shows their "respect" for the older classmen :] It was really interesting, but really hilarious, one of the classes did a harry potter rendition, one did rambo, etc. So that was fun to watch :] Then we had to dance for the first years. All of the juniors were split up into three different groups, and each group did three different dances that we had been learning. My group went first and we dacned the Austrian Opening Waltz, the Virginia Reel, and the Tango, it went well, although my dress was too long in the back for some reason and I kept stepping on it ! And it was still a bit too big, so during the tango it would turn almost completely around and I'd have to secretly tryy and fix it during one of the turns...hahah it was hillarious :D After we danced for the sophmores we had two or three hours until our lunch reservation, so Joonas went to go visit his older sister at her apartment ? I just hung around at school....haha it was interesting. At 12 30 ish Joonas and I started walking to where we were going to eat for lunch but we made a stop at the supermarket to buy some food for him for later in the evening, the boy really doesn't stop eating, ever. Then we went up to Rosso, the restaurant we had reservations at and ate with Olli and his date, they were both really fun :] I had the vegetarian pasta which was really really tasty, there was peppers and tomatoes and summer pumpkin, mmmm. Two hours later we took a bus up to HipposHalli, the place we'd be dancing at. We had practice from 4-5 30 and then the parents started to arrive. Annina and I got a professional photo taken which should be emailed to me at some point this week I think, but it was really pretty :D And then at 6 the whole thing started, my host parents [all 5 of them] arrived along with Maria and Saimi [her cousin] and Nuppe and Mimmi [my next host sisters] so that was fun. We started off dancing the Austrian Opening Waltz, then virginia reel, tango, mignon, salty dog rag, our own school dance, cicapo, some traditional finnish dances, and then the finale the Wiener Waltz. I had loads of fun, and I'm sure we looked really nice, all the girls looked so prettty and the boys so dapper :) Our own school dance was awesome, and the best one there really, it was so much fun to dance to. I did get lots of pictures but the ones I have are really, um, not so good. So I'm waiting to get ones from Annina, and anna, and Joonas, and Piia, but I'll upload what I have. I also have videos of it, but since Joonas and I were in the second row, you can't really see us because theres always this one couple in the way....But we tried. Anyways, so afterwards my feet hurt SO bad, but it was well worth it. I didn't go to the afterparty, I just went home wiht my host mom [it took an hour to get out of the parking lot and Raija and I had to help push cars because the got stuck on the hills because of all the ice...:D]. And then yesterday was valentines day, and nothing special happened, it was just a nice day. But in the evening we had Virpi [Raijas best friend, the one with the cute dogs] and her husband come over and staying with them is this one man that their daughter Suvi met in Brazil last year and he is now in Finland. He's from florida and working on a business project he strated called K.N.O.W knowledge of the nationalities of the world or soemthing like that, and hes been travleing the world for the three years now. He's 23 or something and really awesome. we talked about everythinggg, from experiences to missing home to meeting new people to racism [he's black and wanted to know what it felt like to be black in different countries] He has amazing stories, it was so cool to talk to him. I hope I get to again before he leaves for some other coutnry. But yeah, now its sunday. Tomorrow I ahve an art test at 9 and then a meeting with my counselor at 12 and finnish lessons at 2. And tuesday starts my break ! Friday I'm going with Raija to her school, thursday I have a meeting with a Rotary member, and friday I go to stay with Sirpa [my third host mom] for a week while my current host family goes up north ! Yeah :D keep checking www.photobucket.com/josesuomessa for pictures and videos, they'll be up soon (: