What was 2013 made of?

When the year started I was in Hamina. It's a small town in the South-East of Finland, near of the Russian boarder. My grandmother lives there, so we visited her. We have always spent New Year's Eve there, except for one year, when I was sick. It's a family tradition to be there. It was the first time when we celebrated New Year's without my grandfather, who had passed away some weeks earlier. :( 

Grandpa's grave

It was the second winter, when I was really interested in cross-country skiing. Mom and I went skiing almost every day. :) At first my goal was to ski 200 km during the winter, but it grew and grew all the time. My last goal was to ski 800 km, but I ended up skiing 30 km more. Well, we had a long winter with a lot of snow, so it explains some of this.

Snowwwww <3

During the first months I had to study for matriculation examinations. My goals were just suitable to reach, so I can be happy with the results. :) I was surprised to see such a good grade from Russian, though. I never thought I could do so well in the exam. :o While studying we had an event that we call as ''Penkkarit''. It's when the third year students celebrate the end of lessons and ''the studying period'' starting.  

Me with my pirate outfit. hahah.

In February and April I had to decide what to do after Upper Secondary School… I had no idea, so I just chose something. Next I had to study and prepare myself for the entrance exams. After the exams I thought I had no chance to get in, so I was very surprised to receive a letter saying I had been accepted as a student at HAMK Valkeakoski.

On June 1^st I graduated from Upper Secondary School. :) The weather didn’t seem that good in the morning, luckily, the day turned out to be sunny. At first we had a ceremony with school, and then we continued at my dad’s place in Iittala. It was a nice day, which I got to spend with my relatives. It’s a day that I won’t forget.

On my graduation day

June wasn’t that exciting. I had my birthday and we also celebrated Midsummer (we call it as ‘’Juhannus’’) in Ylämaa. It’s a tiny place and a part of a town called Lappeenranta, which is situated just at the Russian boarder. We have always spent Midsummer there, so we did it this year as well.

Last summer I was lucky enough to get a summer job. :) I worked at a farm kind of a place. There I packed strawberries into boxes of 5 kg and 500 g. It was tiring to stand all the time, but I didn’t complain. I was just so happy to get that job!  

During the summer vacation I spent a lot of time at my grandmother’s place, in Hämeenlinna. I visited my dad’s place rather often as well. I would have wanted to spend more time at our summer cottage, tho. I simply love to be at our tiny cottage!

I was hoping to travel during the vacation, but it didn’t work out as I wanted it to. I had three possible places to visit, where my foreign friends would have hosted me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t visit any of them due to different reasons. Maybe I’ll be luckier in 2014! At least I got to meet my lovely Polish friend in Lahti in September. :)

Lahti

On September 2^nd I started my studies at a university of applied sciences. I’m studying international business there. I have no idea if it’s right for me, tho – maybe I will know it one day. The beginning was very difficult for me, but soon I made some friends. :) What I like about my school is the multi-cultural environment. Now I have survived the fall semester. 

We still haven’t got any snow, which is so boring! I have been waiting for snow for such a long time already. I would love to start skiing again! Besides, snow makes everything look so much more beautiful! It’s so dark outside at the moment.

As you may have read from my previous posts, Christmas is my favourite celebration. :) I have always liked it more than my birthday. The whole package; lights, food, presents, candles, movies, TV shows, cards, stamps, etc. is what makes it so awesome. <3

During the whole year I wrote letters! :) It’s something that I do year after year. I’m not planning to stop this hobby anytime soon. <3

Overall, 2013 has been a year full of ups and downs. It went by so quickly, tho. Hopefully, next year will be as good as this one was! HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014!!

DEAR READERS, THANK YOU FOR 2013! I HOPE TO SEE YOU AGAIN IN 2014!