10 Things I miss about Home, in no particular order! (excluding people)

1. My house
I love my house! I have lived there all my life , except for obviously this year. It is situated 15minutes out of the city of Launceston, which is approximately the size of Tampere. It is surrounded by a large amount of paddocks and garden which is all owned by ,my family. It is a sandstone, two storey house, with 2 bathrooms and 4 bedrooms. We also own a 2 storey, double garage, where the top level is a rumpas room, like an extra living room for my brother, sister and I. I don’t mind living out of the city because I enjoy the peace and quiet of the Australian bush.

2. My school
I can’t believe I actually miss my school, but it is the truth. I attend a private Catholic school in the city of Launceston. It starts at 8.40am and finishes at 3.30pm. We have 6 classes a day, each lasting for 55 minutes and 2 breaks, a 20 minute recess and a 40 minute lunch break. We do not have breaks in between classes unlike here at Lukio. I miss all different aspects about my school, especially the uniform, because I hate having to decide what to wear in the morning. I also miss being able to understand everything which is being taught in a classroom and working hard because I feel like my brain is turning into jelly with lack of learning. I find the school system in Australia and Finland very different from each other, especially my school because it is a private school. My school is also very large, it’s the largest populated school in Tasmania, with approximately 1200 students and 80 teachers. But the main aspect I miss about my school is the school events such as the swimming carnival, athletics carnivals, rowing regattas and the school ball which is similar to the old dance here, but even bigger!

3. Food
>From whatever country you’re from and you go on exchange you are always
going to miss the food from your home country! I suppose more than anything I miss my Mum’s cooking because she is a great cook! There is also a lot more variety of food in Australia, than Finland because we are such a multi-cultural nation. Certain types of food I miss the most are roast lambs and chickens with vegetables, especially pumpkin! Cadbury chocolate, even though Fazer is very good! Fresh white bakery bread because I am not a huge fan of rye bread. We have rye bread in Australia too, but it is no where near as common as in Finland. There are a million more foods I could name, but it take up pages of writing!

4. Rowing
I have been rowing for over 4 years and I consider it to be one of the best sports ever! ( Finnish baseball is up there too, great sport!) I train 5 times a week, 3 of these trainings are on school mornings. This means I have to wake up at 5am, to be at the rowing sheds at 5.30am, then I row with other girls in my boat or sometimes in a single boat for about 20 kilometres. Then on weekends I train both Saturday and Sunday for 2 hours.
Some mornings, if the water is rough, our coach will make us do weights and fitness instead. I row for 8 months of the year, from August, until April of the next year. Then in January from April we have regattas which consist of many different races against other schools from all over the state of Tasmania. The regattas are so much fun and very competitive, but is it normally a very successful day for my school!

5. Being angry
When you are an exchange student you generally always have to be this nice, co-operative, friendly and polite person all the time, because otherwise you will end up having problems with host families and never make any friends.
So I miss being able to argue with my sister and getting crabby, knowing that people will just accept it for who I am. But I find that, here in Finland I’m not feeling angry or crabby very often anyway because I am having way too much fun!!!!

6. Australian Football League (AFL)
The Australian football season has just started back home and I wish I could watch it here. It is very different from any other type of football and is only played in Australia. It is the most popular played and watched sport inn all of Australia and my team is the best team in the league this year so far, which is quite a shock because for the last few years they haven’t been playing very well. As well as missing watching footy on the television, I also miss going to the school games and cheering for my school’s team. I spend many weekends doing this because there is always loads of people there, which makes a great atmosphere and it’s a great game to watch!

7. Having Lazy Days
At home, if I have nothing else to do, I will spend the day doing absolutely nothing, most likely spending the entire day in my pjs, just watching movies. I can’t really do that here because it’s disrespecting and no-body wants an exchange who sits around all day, lazing about and also because it feels like I am wasting a day of my exchange. I only have one year here, so I must live everyday to the fullest1

8. My dog
I wasn’t allowed to name people, but no-one said anything about pets! I love my dog to bits, he is so beautiful! His name is Ceb and he is a two and a half year old Burmese Mountain Dog crossed with a black labrador. My family has had him since he was a tiny puppy, so he is treated by everyone as a part of the family and is spoilt rotten!

9. The Beach
I have spent nearly every holiday at the beach for as long as I can remember, especially the summer holiday! Australian beaches, I consider are some of the best in the world and beaches play a major role of Australian life. In the summer I camp at the beach for a month with family and friends in a caravan which is situated by Bridport beachside. So I am about 3 metres from the actual beach. That one month is probably the best month of my whole year. Everyday is spent swimming, sun-baking, water-skiing, doing all the beach associated things. Then every night there will be a beach part y or bonfire which we will attend. So every year my whole family and most of my friends look forward to Bridport.

10. Reading the paper and magazines
At home I take this for granted. I can casually read any paper or magazine, understanding every word which is written, but here in Finland I am lucky to understand what the article is about, so instead I will just look at the pictures. At least I can use the internet to read my local newspaper from back home and keep updated with the news of the world.

All these things I miss, but I know I can live without them for this year and I will see, taste, read and do in less than 8 months. I always know I am going back home, but when I leave Finland I have no idea when I will be returning, hopefully someday! So then I will miss everything about Finland, especially the people like my friends and host families. I will be homesick wherever I live, in Austrlia or Finland because they are both considered by me to be home.

Jessica Dunn