Week 4 - Professional

This week in Finland, I had properly started to work in my placement. When I arrived there, the staff were very friendly and welcoming to me. They gathered the children into a circle where I introduced myself to the children, and they introduced themselves to me in English. The children were learning the days of the week in English and so they then picked what day it was, and stuck it onto the wall. I noticed that the children knew the months of the year in English too, along with different types of weather. However, the children seemed to be shy to speak English around me so I tried my best to encourage them. I saw a box of toy animals on the shelves and so I would have picked up some of these animals and said their names in English. The children then repeated what I said, and as soon as one or two children were doing this, the others wanted to join in. I hope that this will encourage the children to speak English freely around me, as I find it difficult to communicate with them due to the language barrier. Often, I speak some of my limited Finnish to the children, and they are very courteous to me. However, I find that with my limited Finnish, and their limited English, it is difficult to have a proper conversation with the children. I have also notices that in my placement the children are very independent, and they rarely seem to argue or disagree on anything. The children are very good at sharing and they know how to take it in turns. I am unsure if this is because these children are a few years older than the age I am used to working with, or if it is because the children are encouraged to share from a young age. I have also noticed that at mealtimes the children always eat what they are given, and they never complain about the food that is being served to them. They are asked if they are, “a little hungry or very hungry” and so they get their portions accordingly. If a child says that they are, “very hungry” they seem to get very large portions, but they eat it all. This may be because the children get breakfast at 8am and then lunch at around 11am. They do not get a snack in-between and quite often, they have been playing outside for a long period of time.  After dinner, the children do not get a sweet treat; however they do have chewing gum or a mint. The children are old enough to understand that they cannot swallow the chewing gum, and it is good for their teeth. The children would eat again at around 1pm, and this would usually be some fruit and cereal, with milk. I thought that this was very different from any other placements I have been in, because usually the children would have lunch at midday, and then a sweet treat afterwards. Even though I have only been in this placement for a short period of time, I feel that this will be a great learning experience for me to experience the workplace in a different culture, and it will also give me a unique opportunity to understand what it is like to work in a setting where there is language barrier between the children and I.

Week 3 -Lapland (Cultural)

This week in Finland we travelled to Levi, Lapland. The bus journey took a long, exhausting and sleepless 17 hour journey, but as soon as we arrived, I knew it was worth it. We stopped off at Santa's village where we met Santa (The real one!) and had some breakfast. The temperature was a cold - 8 when we were there, although I was prepared for worse.

When we arrived in Levi, the first thing I noticed was that everyone seemed to ski everywhere. There was even a ski bus which was free for people. There were also a lot of ski and snow boarding slopes for all levels. The next day, we went on a snowmobiling safari. We rented the snowmobiles in pairs and took it in turns to drive. We drove to a reindeer farm where we were able to feed the reindeer's, and learn a little about them. The next day we went on a husky safari where we were able to see some real Finnish culture. In Lapland, they often have husky races that can last a few days. I found that the husky’s were very difficult to control and they would keep running all day if you let them! Our sleigh had several near crashes and I even fell of once or twice! Then after the husky’s we went snowshoeing where we were able to rent the shoes from intersport.
We went along the winter hiking trail beside mount Levi which was very scenic and beautiful. We also met a few walkers along the way. Later on that night we went to a Chinese ice sculpture park where we were able to see some beautiful and very talented artists. This seemed to be a mixture between Chinese culture, in the Finnish ice and it was a wonderful experience to see the talent that was presented there. The next day, I went horse riding through a Finnish forest, where I was truly able to experience the peaceful and beautiful scenery in Lapland. The horse riding lasted several hours and truly was an experience of a lifetime. The next day, we got up early and packed to go home from Lapland. The bus left at 11.30am and along the journey home we stopped off at the famous Finnish snow castle. This snow castle was similar to the ice sculpture park as it also had figures sculpted in snow and ice, but these figures were mainly directly linked to Finland, for example, there were a lot of moomin sculptures. Throughout my trip to Lapland, I feel that my knowledge of Finnish culture had expanded greatly, and that I ad learnt many things about Finnish people and their cultures that I was unaware of previously. This trip was a once in a lifetime experience for me and I only wish that I could go back again! I encourage anyone who has this opportunity to grab it with both hands, as this experience will change your opinion of Finnish people and cultures in a positive manner. I feel that this experience has changed me in a personal manner, and made me a lot more open minded.