For this EOTO session, Emilia and I focused on American culture. A few weeks ago we kept a Finnish culture day where we cooked and talked about Finland, but this time I hosted the America day. We had chosen the menu in advance and agreed to have it at my place. I decided that mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, green beans and then chocolate chip cookies was about as American as it could get.
During the session we spoke only English to embrace the culture, and talked a lot about our experience in the states. I have lived there for 16 years before moving to Finland, so I had lots to share. I talked a lot
about my school life there since it is so different from the Finnish school system. For example, in the United States we prepare for a lot of extreme weather conditions with drills, because anything can happen. I shared my experience with an earthquake, a tornado, multiple hurricanes, etc. Emilia was definitely in awe at how drastic the weather is in the U.S. , and Maryland has pretty calm weather patterns compared to other states.
Emilia shared about her experiences while travelling in the United States as well. The first place she visited was Los Angeles, California with her family when she was 15. She even showed me some pictures from her trip! I have never been to LA, but I hear a lot about it from friends and I have come to realize that it is a popular tourist attraction for Finns. One thing she told me was about how they went during Halloween, which is taken seriously in the US, and she told me about her costume and how all of her siblings went trick or treating together as well.
Since it is Easter, we also talked about some differences between Finland and America. For example, in Finland, it is traditional to grow the Easter grass and share chocolate eggs and eat dinner with family. Whereas in the United States, there is always the traditional Easter egg hunt in the morning, and usually a family dinner in the evening. As a child, I always had easter egg hunts with the other children in my neighbourhood which was really fun! Emilia thought it was really interesting that we have those Easter egg hunts, because in Finland children often dress up and visit different houses. 
Unfortunately, we did not have an American flag, but we pretended there was one on the wall. I really liked our America day, because I got to share a lot of fun stories from my childhood, and Emilia got to share her experiences of travelling there from time totime. I am also glad we both like all types of food, because it made it fun and easy to cook some typical food found in the United States. I am looking forward to our last few EOTO sessions together!
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