I woke up Friday morning to the sound of Marja reminding me to make pulla for the Rauma Day that Riikka organizes for all FUSYE and regular summer exchange students. With my sister Camilla, we managed to churn out four batches of freshly baked, delightfully cinnamon-y pullas!
For Rauma Day, there was an option to enjoy a boat ride to the lighthouse off the coast of Rauma, but I chose to forgo the boat trip, and instead, met the other two FUSYE scholars Kimberly and Fabian, as they got off! Accompanying Kimberly was her host family, including her adorable 4-year-old brother Lassi. I had been reading about Lassi on her blog (kimtruongfinland.blogspot.com) and I was looking forward to meeting him in person for the first time, as he seemed not only effervescent and adorable, but also compassionate and kind-hearted! Besides Kimberly and Fabian, I also met Meredith, who is a regular Finland summer exchange student.
From there, Marja and I drove back home to pick up Camilla so that we could all have lunch together at the Theater Restaurant in Old Rauma. There was a burger and salad buffet, and the special only available during Friday lunches was a traditional Rauma meal from the 18th-19th centuries.
After the lunch, we all walked to the center of Old Rauma to meet Riikka, who was acting as our unofficial "tour guide" of Rauma. She took us around many places I had already been to, but it was exciting to walk around with other people who had never seen my town before and were thus experiencing Rauma for the first time. It was also so wonderful to catch up with Kimberly and Fabian, who each had distinct stories to share from there time in Finland.
The second part of Rauma day was the "Lettu Festival," which translates to the Finnish pancake festival! Finnish pancakes are extremely similar to crepes, and you usually eat them with rasberry+strawberry jam, cinnamon, sugar, and occasionally ice cream. Because I was bringing pullas, Marja, Camilla, and I drove back to our house with Kimberly and Fabian to pick up the pulla batches. At the same time, they got to see my doggie, Vikke! While he was barking furiously at the beginning, Vikke quickly warmed up to the two.
"Lettu Festival" was held at Riikka and Fabian's house, so the other exchange students and I played Finnish board and card games while consuming pullas and pancakes.
Overall, Rauma Day was an amazing way to reconnect with some friends that I had not seen in nearly a month! In some ways, I am happy that the FUSYE scholars live so far away from one another, for it prevents us from clumping together and encourages us to find new and different adventures and truly immerse ourselves into the Finnish culture. Without native English speakers around me, I am prompted to practice my basic Finnish with people I see every day.
No comments:
Post a Comment