Scouts on the road

One summer we had a scout camp in Switzerland. We went there by bus. It was a long, long journey so we stopped at a gas station in Germany. We got out of the bus and we were given a litte snack: crispbread with Nutella, because we were in Germany. I remeber this so well because it was so weird and it must have looked weird; a big group of scouts, sitting in front of the gas station, eating crispbread with Nutella. But it was fun and it tasted good.

Image: 'Nutella'

 

Time of our lives

Youth is an exciting time. Youth is the time when you are trying to figure out “who I am” and “what I’m going to do in the future.” Youth is also the time when you have the right to be a little stupid and reckless because when you grow up you have to act like a grown up.

Teens are often testing their limits. They might start drinking or using drugs. They hang out with their friends “all day, all night”. Teens will do almost anything because they want to feel free. And this is because of “baby boomers” and I don’t mean that negatively. Baby boomers were the forerunners. They followed the idea that they had the freedom to come and go. Peace, love, free sex and flower power were their ideology. That has really helped us millennials. We can be whoever we want to be and dress up the way we want to. And thanks to the internet we can express ourselves more easily than ever. That also helps us find people who are similar to us and share our experiences with them.

When we compare teenage cultures in different countries, there aren’t so many differences. Teens in Singapore and teens in Finland spend their free time by going to movies or shopping or meeting their friends. Taste of music is also pretty much the same. the Internet has a lot to do with that. We get lots of information and influences about other cultures. And that is good because it unites youngsters all over the world.

I haven’t actually realized what kind of opportunities we youngsters have. We are the ones who choose what we are going to do for the rest of our lives and what kind of people we are going to be. Nobody else is going to make that decision for us. So many choices, so many opportunities. Good that it isn’t the end of the world if we make mistakes and good that we are not alone. We have parents and friends who support us. And even though everybody always complains how teens are nothing but trouble, we are going to be good people.

The place I'll always remember

My grandfather built our summer cottage in 1965. Afterwards a few changes have been made there, such as adding more rooms. My father has told me a lot about that time when there was no electricity. Because there was no fridge the food was put under ground. To me it sounds weird.

I have spent all my summers in our summer cottage so it has become really important to me. It's nice that after a busy year the whole family gathers together during the summer holiday.

I have lots of memories from there. Once I and my brother swam almost two hours nonstop. It was a lot of fun. Classic Finnish games have always been a big part of our summer. Games like mölkky and croquet have been entertained us while we have waited that sauna is ready.

I have learned many new things there. Like once after the rain, mom warned me that the rock was very slippery. So of course I had to try if it was true. I shouldn't have done that. I slipped and that really hurt. So I learned that after rain rock really is slippery. And mom is always right.

After all these years I'm still waiting impatiently when we are going to our summer cottage. That place belongs to my summer. Without it (and mosquitoes) you can't get the real summer feeling.

Vocabulary

Intangible

adj.
= difficult to uderstand,
   unable to be touched

 the moonlight made things seem intangible

Impoverish
verb
= make someone poor
 the wars had impoverished him

adj.
 an impoverished language

Privileged

adj.
= having special rights
 in the 19th century only a privileged few had the vote

Awareness

noun
= knowledge of a situation
 we need to raise public awareness of the issue

Mean

verb
 they were meant for each other

adj.
= offensive
 He gets mean when he doesn't get his way

= average
 suburban kids are uniquely mean

Diet

 = a limitation on the amount a person eats for losing weight 
 no pie for me, I'm on a diet

= lower in fat, sugar, calories, etc. than the regular product
 an example of diet is soda with zero calories

Disease

= illness, sickness
 my friend has a heart disease
  

My English learning story

I had my first contact with English when I was in the third grade. I was very excited because I was going to learn a new language. I didn't know much about English. Of course I had listened to English music, but I hadn't understood what the words meant. At the very first lesson, we learned colors in English. I remember how I mixed up green and gray. They sounded so similar to me!

After a few years of studying English, I started to write with my pen pal in Greece. We wrote about our schools and our families and friends. I was surprised how easy it was to write in English and how well I understood what my pen pal wrote. At that moment it felt like there was nothing I couldn't do.

Music became even more important to me now when I started to understand the lyrics. Actually music was the one thing that motivated me to learn more and more English. Listening to music is a fun and good way to learn English. At least for me.

In the future I'm still going to develop my English skills. I have planned to travel abroad so that I can really use my skills and learn even more.

And that is the funniest part, English learning never ends.

Image: 'Homage to Babsi'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15729248@N00/4898344