Hello! It's Winter after a long break of writing into my blog :D
December went really fast and that’s why I’m now a little late with updating. Last month was full of activities and fun events. I’ve watched school sports and hung out with friends. Every week there is usually at least one hockey game where I go. It has been chilly outside, temperatures are between 0-34 Fahrenheit. We have quite a lot of snow on the ground. In school everything is going well and it’s almost time to start the second semester!! It means that I will have 7 new classes in my schedule. The classes that I have currently will end. My year is going very fast at the moment and I hope that next the next half will be as sweet as the first one was.
Hockey games have been the best! I have been almost in every one of them. New Ulm has a good team and we have won most of the games. Many people from school attend the games and it is a good way to meet them also.
Mt.kato-the closest place to ski. It was cold and windy but skiing can't be anything else than fun !!
We went to this nice seafood buffet.
I made Rice Crispy treats with my host family!! :D
I also got my class ring in the mail. New Ulm seniors rock!!!
Christmas break started on Friday the 21st. The first days I hung out with friends. I got so many packages and cards from Finland, it was cool!!! I sent some to people also and gave friends cards and Finnish music in school. Also talked to people who are going to Hawaii and we are really excited about the trip. I bought a new phone and now I don’t have Virgin mobile anymore :D:D Our host brothers came home for the winter break. There were a lot more college students in New Ulm during the Holidays because they had their long break. We watched a couple of movies also and just relaxed before Christmas Day. In the evening on 24th we ate a nice dinner and got our Christmas pants which Mary Ann made herself.
In the morning on 25th we opened presents and there were lots. I got some very nice things and it was fun to experience Christmas in the U.S. In the evening we drove around the city and watched Christmas lights and decorations. One yard had a light display with a music synchronized show. We played Monopoly until 2am and in all the day was a fun family event. The next day we went to see National Treasure 2.
After Christmas we drove up to the cities and stayed there for the night. First thing that we visited was a sculpture garden in front of a modern museum of art. They have a very famous sculpture there which has a spoon and a cherry. It creates a nice image with Minneapolis skyline on its background. After the visit in the sculpture garden it was time to go into IKEA. We
explored the store and all the furniture there. After the cashier there was a Swedish gift store which had so many products that we could find from a normal store in Finland also. There were many brands including Abba, Felix, Kopparberg, Marabou, Daim etc. The list is huge!
We ate in a restaurant which had huge sandwiches and I couldn’t finish my dish :D Our hotel was really cool and we watched a movie in the night because the TV was so big :D:D
In the morning we headed for Minnesota Zoo. They have a huge Imax, aquarium, outside display, ‘’fake jungle’’, bird section, and some other fun things to do. Most of the animals are there even in the winter. We went into a dolphin- and a bird show and in the bird one an owl flew so close to my head that it’s wing flapped my head. We spent almost 6 hours in the Zoo and after the visit it was time to drive back home. When we came home it was time to hang out with friends again.
The days before New Year were just so cool and the time spent was in the most memorable section of this year’s things.
