Week 19 - Professional

This week in Turku has been my last full week in Turku, and so I have had to finish my placement. I have completed 235 hours in placement, and I have enjoyed almost every moment of this. At the beginning of my placement it was difficult to me to find my place, as the children and the adults were quite shy to speak English to me, or to involve me in their play. However, as time went by, I felt like I was a member of staff in this placement, and the parents, children and staff were very friendly and welcoming towards me. Throughout my experience in the Finnish Eskari, I have noted many differences with this placement, compared with placements in Northern Ireland. The first, most obvious difference is that the children in this pre-school were aged 6 and 7, whereas in Northern Ireland, the children are aged 3 and 4 in a pre-school. Another major difference for me was that in the Eskari, the children learn to speak another language (English).  To learn this language, the children would normally have morning circle time, where they would speak about the date, the type of weather, what day it was, the season and the months of the year. I think that this is really great that the children are encouraged to speak and learn another language, because in Northern Ireland, the children do not learn another language in pre-school or even primary school. Throughout this time, I realise how important it is for children to learn another language when they are so young, because they learn so quickly. Some children in this placement even spoke 3 languages fluently! This has changed my original view on children learning languages, and now I think it is very important. Leaving this Eskari was difficult for me because I feel that I have learnt so much there, in such a short space of time. I am certain that I will never forget the time I spent in this Eskari, and I hope that one day the Finnish I learnt there will be put to good use!

Week 18 - Personal

This week in Turku the Finnish people are still celebrating the ice hockey win from their country. They have put on a big concert, that is free for everyone, and the cup was brought to Turku. The Finnish people were in a positive mood all week, and people were looking forward to this concert and exhibition of the cup. Also some of the Finnish players were in Turku with the cup so people were excited about that. For me, it was also exciting as I shared this day with my friends, and it was good to see a glimpse of Finnish culture, and discuss it with my friends. This is also a sad week for me because a lot of my friends here have finished their studying and are leaving this week, or next, as am I. This whole experience on Erasmus has been a life changing experience for me and I am sorry that it has been so short. I feel that I have made some lifelong friends, and I intend to keep in touch with many people. Before I came on Erasmus, I never had any friends who weren’t from Northern Ireland, but now I have friends from all over the world! It was a great experience for me, and I feel that this experience has made me more open-minded. I had the opportunity to ask people from other countries about their cultures, and even stereotypes of their countries. It has made me realise that people are people, and you can make friends with anyone, from any country if you have the right attitude. This Erasmus experience has shown me that I can go to another country alone, and I can take myself out of my comfort zone, because everyone who is on Erasmus is in a similar situation to me, and so everyone wants to experience new cultures, and make new friends. I understand now that I am very lucky to have been chosen for Erasmus, and so I should not take anything for granted. I would strongly recommend the Erasmus experience for anyone and everyone. I can honestly say that I have never had an experience like this before in my life, and I will be deeply saddened to leave this experience behind.

Week 17 - Cultural

This week in Turku has been an exciting week for Finnish people. There has been ice hockey on for the last few weeks and this week Finland made it into the final against Sweden. This is a momentous occasion because the last time Finland won the gold medal in the world championships was in 1995. This is especially competitive because it is against Sweden, and Finland and Sweden seem to be very competitive against each other. The final was played, and the centre of Turku was full of people, watching the final of this match in all the bars that showed the match. Some friends and I also went to watch the match. The atmosphere at the beginning of the game seemed quite tense, and obviously Finnish people take this game seriously. As the game began, the people would cheer and scream loudly once they showed Finnish fans, but any Swedish fans that they saw would get booed. In the first 20 minutes of the game, neither team had scored and the tension seemed to increase. However, as the game went on it became clear that Finland was going to win. In the final ten minutes of the game, the bar was noisy and Finnish people were celebrating as the score was 3 – 1 to Finland. However, in these final minutes, Finland managed to score another 3 times. The Finnish people were ecstatic and they were screaming, cheering and celebrating. Then, as soon as the match was over, Finnish people were chanting and singing. They seemed so joyful. When we left the bar, there were cars driving around with the Finnish flags, and people cheering out the windows of the cars to passer-by’s. When we got to the square in the centre of Turku, the square was full of people dancing, cheering, drinking and singing. For me, this was refreshing to see, because usually Finnish people are so serious and quiet. This reminded me of a big celebration we would have back at home, and some Finnish people compared it to winning the world cup of football. This showed me another side to Finnish people, where everyone was happy and carefree. It was great to see this from Finnish people, and I hope it will not be the last time!

Week 16 - Professional

This week in Turku I have been at my placement. My placement days are nearly over, but I have become quite attached to this particular setting and so I do not want to leave. I only have a few remaining days and so I have spread them out so that I am doing only one day a week, mainly on a Tuesday or Wednesday. I really love this placement now, it was so difficult for me at the beginning of this term, because the children speak only Finnish, and it was difficult for me to communicate with them as I spoke no Finnish. However, as the time passed in this setting, the children became more accustomed to be and relaxed around me. They were very shy about speaking their English to me at the beginning, and this led me to believe that they did not know any English. However, the children became more used to me, as so they began to teach me Finnish. As I was learning Finnish, I was also teaching the children the English words for these items. The children also spoke to me in Finnish sometimes, and I could understand a little of what they were saying. The children and the adults in this setting have been very patient with me whilst teaching me Finnish, and they have helped me enormously by using hand gestures and body language whilst trying to explain or describe something to me. For me, this has been a great experience because in any of the other settings I have been in at home, the children and the adults all speak English fluently. It has been a really great and interesting experience for me to learn to communicate with the children, and even teach them with a language barrier. I understand that I have needed to learn some Finnish, and with the help of the children and adults in this setting I have managed to do this. I am glad that I was placed in this particular setting because it gave me the opportunity to meet these people, and made it easier to understand their culture, and the Finnish language. Also from being in this placement, I can understand how quickly children do learn languages, and I feel that this will influence my teachings at home, because in Northern Ireland we don’t start to learn another language until we are 12 years old.

Week 15 - Cultural

This week in Finland has marked the beginning of Vappu. Vappu occurs over May Day bank holiday and it is a big celebration in Finland. Originally it was celebrated as international Labour Day in Finland and it has transpired into a week of celebrations throughout Finland. Generally, Vappu is celebrated on the eve of Vappu which was a Saturday this year. The whole week, all the bars and clubs held free concerts and drinks promotions for people who wanted to celebrate the Vappu celebrations early. Even during the day there was music and bands playing in the kauppatori (market square) to lift people’s spirits. The weather was great all week too which helped also. On Saturday, is it traditional for people to have a picnic, and drink silmaa which is a fruit flavoured traditional Finnish drink (non-alcoholic). Throughout the week we would see people wearing different costumes and colourful wigs to celebrate Vappu. On Saturday, it is traditional for all the students to gather together and clean one of the statues in the kauppatori with a giant toothbrush. This is like a game because the statue moves locations every year and the students must find it. Also, during the evening on Saturday, at 6pm all of Turku gathers together to put on the special graduation caps (that you can only get once you graduate from high school in Finland). The mayor of Turku gave a speech at the top of the hill in the kauppatori, and afterwards everyone put on their graduation caps. I had never seen so many people in Turku and the streets were filled with people who were celebrating and drinking champagne. Compared with home, this is very unusual because we don’t have a celebration like this for May Day bank holiday. Here in Turku, the entire city comes together in celebration and I feel that this is something special to witness. Everyone is happy and celebrating. After this occasion, the celebrations continued late into the night where the people went to the bars or clubs, to continue celebrating Vappu, and almost every bar had some kind of concert and promotions on inside. I am glad that I was able to witness this celebration in Finland, as I have never had a celebration like this in Northern Ireland, and it was good to see the Finnish people in a different light, rather than just as serious, almost robotic people.

Week 14 - Personal

I have been in Finland for 14 weeks now and this means that I have only 4 or 5 weeks left in Finland. The time has really gone so fast and I can't believe that it is nearly over. I have met so many new friends here, and I hope that we will continue to be friends even though we will be going back to our home countries in a month. The weather is changing rapidly here also. The days are a lot longer, and the weather is hot and sunny. When I see Finland in this climate, it is almost like a different country than the one that I arrived in. This is making it seem even more difficult for me to leave here. I feel like Finland is now my home and I am comfortable here with all my friends. This week, some friends and I visited Ruissalo, which is a seaside area just outside of Turku. This is a beautiful area of Turku and it is very peaceful and tranquil. As I am nearly finished my placement, I have a lot of free time to spend with my friends so we can explore Turku a lot more, and go to areas that we have not yet been in. Also next week is Vappu week, and I have heard so much about this special day in Finland that I am really looking forward to it. Some Finnish people have said that it is the best day of the year to be in Finland. Also, with the warmer weather and longer days here in Finland all the Finnish people seem to be a lot happier, and friendlier towards other people. For example, whenever I first arrived here the Finns seemed to be quite enclosed in themselves, and rarely spoke. However, now the bus is always full of chatter, and Finnish people are constantly smiling and speaking to you, even if they don’t know you! For me, this is quite refreshing to see as it seems like Finnish people are becoming more humane, and not just acting like robots! I look forward to experiencing Vappu and the Finnish culture of this week, and I hope to enjoy it as my time left here is very short.

Week 13 - Cultural

This week I have been travelling a lot. I have attended the ESN event called the Sea Battle where all the students from Scandinavia went on a boat together from Helsinki, to Tallinn, and then to Stockholm afterwards. There were students from Finland, Norway, Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. For me, this was an amazing opportunity to experiences cultures from all over the world, as many of the students on this trip were exchange students. The first day, we went to visit Stockholm after travelling all night on the boat. When we arrived in Stockholm it was beautiful weather and the people were very friendly and open to us. We went to visit the palace and several monuments in Stockholm. The currency in Stockholm is the krona (plural “kronor”) and one euro equalled 10 kroner. We spent a total of 9 hours in Stockholm, and for me it was not enough. The city has a lot to offer, and many different cultural events like free concerts and exhibitions. The day after Stockholm, we went to Tallinn in Estonia. Tallinn was also a beautiful city with two parts, the old town and the new town. In the old town, many people were dressed in old outfits, and were giving people medieval coins as souvenirs. They also had people who had stalls on the streets who made traditional Estonian nuts and fruits. They made this food using traditional tools and barrels and this was very interesting to watch. When we arrived back to Finland after the sea battle, the next day i went to St Petersburg in Russia. This trip was interesting to me as we visited different children's homes and centres there. St Petersburg was a beautiful city, but you had to be very careful with your belongings there as there were many pickpockets about. Many of the people in Russia did not speak English and so it was difficult to engage and communicate with them. Also in Russia, it is rude to blow your nose in public, or for a woman to cross her legs whilst on public transport. This was interesting to learn because for me these are normal everyday things and I would not find them rude at all. St Petersburg was a very beautiful city, and it was very different from any other city that I have been in. It is interesting for me to see the differences between all these cities, and I thoroughly enjoyed this experience.