We would like to introduce you to Annika Toivari from Sastamala, Finland. We met Annika at Dulles International Airport at 8:30pm on July 31, 2023. She would be staying with us for only a very very short two weeks returning home on August 14, 2023. When she encountered customs at Dulles she got a “great” welcome to the US from them. They took her aside in a small room with no windows and began to ask her a lot of questions. Why are you travelling to the US? Are you alone? Where are you going? How long will you be staying? Who paid your airfare? I suspect they may have been concerned with sex trafficing. When she told them the Lions Club was paying her airfare they asked who that was. It brings real meaning to the saying, Lions are the best kept secret.
Annika had many “firsts” on her first trip to the USA. I have a whole list I will share with you now: An agricultural fair, a corndog, peanuts in a shell, crunchy style peanutbutter, PBJ sandwich, grits, scrapple, sauerkraut, root beer (tastes like mouthwash), Star Bursts, Fresh corn on the cob right out of the husk (they only have frozen corn on the cob in Finland), Chicken wings in a restaurant, Jello, Glazed cinnamon rolls, Scrambled eggs with cream cheese, Cheese sticks, Hummingbirds, Costco, Walmart, Marshalls, Johnnies roadside vegetable stand (they don’t have those in Finland), Lions Club meetings, Watching a TV western(Gunsmoke), Drive-thru bank window. When I teased her about something I told her I was “just pulling your leg” – she looked at me funny. She LOVED shopping and I told her that her money was "burning a hole in her pocket" – another look…
Before we knew it was Monday August 14th; the day she returns home. Her flight was scheduled out at 8:35pm so we did have one more full day. After trying to get everything back in her suitcase and saying good-bye to the cat and dog we were off to the airport. Again, knowing she had a late flight we stopped for one last American Meal. She ordered macaroni & cheese with buffalo chicken strips. Much to her surprise the meal was “rather spicy”. We got her a glass of milk to tame the fire in her mouth. Saying good-bye is always the hardest part of the exchange. She came in to our home as a student exchange guest from Finland and during her time she found a way to steal our hearts. Funny about these exchanges, it always seems to happen this way. We now have 8 daughters spread around the world. Annika knows that she is always welcome in our home and we hope that someday she will visit again.
Over the next two weeks we went a lot of places and met a lot of people. We went to Blackwater Falls State Park, Seneca Rocks, Spruce Knob, Tri-county Fair, Johnnies roadside veggie stand, Story Time, Lions meetings, Washington, DC, Luray Caverns, Skyline Drive, hike to Eagle Rock, tour of Capon Springs & Farms resort, a homecomming church service followed by a 5 star country buffet at the firehall. We did have a couple of home-days so we could get things done and to just relax a bit.
Annika Toivari
Nation Anthem of Findland
To silence the music you must mute your computer speaker or just let it play through to the end
