Opisto...  What is opisto?  In Finnish, opisto means nothing more than school.

To us Americans, though, it is an opportunity to spend a year in Finland, mingling with the Finnish culture, learning how to stomach the Finnish food, learning how to tie up our tongue with the Finnish language, learning how to get along with others even though we are not able to understand a word the other person says, and learning how stay out of everyone's hair.

The Reisjärvi Opisto is one of three Opistos sponsered by the SRK in Finland. The other two are found in Jämsä and Rauna.  Reisjärvi is the best, though!

At opisto, we go to classes(like music, gym, international studies, religion), learn Finn, and spend two weeks at a time with our fellow Finnish and American students, sipping coffee, playing games (and jokes), and occassionally, when we can understand each other, swapping stories.
This is a picture of our school, on a good summer day...  Obviously it looks a little different from the ground...