Hiking the Y and the First Football Game Ever

Posted by Sini

I've been so busy that I haven't even had time to write anything. Plus I have to admit I'm a really really lazy writer.

So the first two weeks of school have been awfully busy, quite overwhelming sometimes, but also a lot of fun! I really love BYU and I'm so glad to be here! But it's also hard. The greatest thing for me is to be surrounded by so many people who share my faith, principles and values. The regional conference and fireside last Sunday were amazing. I've never seen so many LDS members at one place—I couldn't believe my eyes! In the whole Finland there are around 4,000 members. So this seems like a dream sometimes.

On Saturday we went to hike the Y with our awesome Freshman Academy group, peer mentors, and our Book of Mormon teacher who is also our bishop (isn't that funny). I enjoyed it so much! We don't have mountains in Finland so they are something really special for me. And they are so beautiful. I like being outdoors, camping and hiking, so this hike was just a perfect start for Saturday.

Waking up so early on Saturday morning (we left at 8:30) wasn't my favorite thing though. But I've never hiked the Y before and I wanted to do it so badly so I didn't care about sleeping. And it was worth it, totally!

After the steep climb it felt so good to finally be there on top of the Y. I was the fifth one to reach the top! :) And what a view, it was unbelievable! I can't get enough of the mountains and the amazing views that you have once you climb up one. It's so breathtaking every time! Later we sang "High on the Mountain Top" (very surprising) and the bishop gave a short spiritual message. It was sweet to be up there with all my new friends and lovely roommates and our great bishop; it really feels like we're a big family.

Coming down was a lot easier and a lot faster, but I'd say not as much fun because you don't get the great, victorious feeling that you have when you reach the top. :)

All in all hiking the Y was a great experience! I loved it! And I'm definitely going to do that again some time!

My Saturday continued with the very first American football game of my life. We don't have football in Finland at all. And I think I couldn't have chosen a better game to start with. At first I didn't really understand what was going on in the game. I just cheered when everyone else was cheering. :) I don't know the rules, or I guess I have to say I didn't know the rules. Now I know, a little bit at least. I have never experienced anything like that before. We don't have university sports in Finland and not so many big sports events in general, and I don't think we even have such a big stadium. I almost lost my voice and got a little sunburned but that's part of it, I think. :)

I love being here and experiencing all these new, fun, and exciting things and the difficulties as well. There have been some hard times and bad days when I have thought that coming here was a huge mistake. But honestly I wouldn't want to be anywhere else than here at BYU!

Note: Like other posts on The First Year blog, this post was written in 2008 and discusses events (the regional conference and football game) that happened a year ago.