Week 12 - Professional

This week I have been in my placement for only two days. I am nearly finished all my hours in placement, and I want to keep going there for as many weeks as possible, so I am trying to spread out my few remaining days. On Thursday of this week, the children and I visited Turku castle. The children were very excited about this visit and they were thrilled at getting a day out. They thoroughly enjoyed the castle, and climbing all the stairs! The children had a lot of fun there, as there were many rooms for them to hide in and jump out to scare their friends! I found it very strange that my setting did not need the parents’ permission to take the children on an outing from the setting. The parents also did not have to pay any extra money for this trip because it is all included in the price of the day-care. I personally thought that the children were given a lot more independence when they went on this visit compared with the settings of home, because the children were given the freedom to wander around the rooms and explore the different artifacts that the castle had to offer. It was very interesting for me to see this because even though the children were free to explore the rooms and artifacts without a tour, they were very obedient to the teachers and they showed them a lot of respect. On Friday when I was in placement, we took the children for a walk in the Finnish forest beside the placement. This was very beautiful as spring is coming, and the weather was good. We came to a clearing in the forest, and again the children were free to roam around the forest and to explore the different types of plants and animals. The children are given a lot more independence and freedom here in Finland, compared with home and it makes me think that perhaps we should give the children more respect and independence at home. The children seem to appreciate the independence they are given, and then they in turn show respect to the adults in their setting. I feel like this will change my own practice when I return to Northern Ireland as I feel that I will give the children there more independence in these settings.

Week 11 - Personal

This week has been quite busy for me. I have been in placement for 3 days, and I have been exhausted after Norway. I have slept alot and I also had a Finnish exam on Tuesday, which I passed! Unfortunately on Friday, my laptop broke, and wouldn't turn back on so I feel like I cannot keep in contact with anyone. It is very expensive for me to use my mobile here, and I have to pay to use the computers in the Kauppatori (town centre) so I have been relying on friends and the computer labs in the University. This has been quite frustrating for me because usually the computer labs are closed when I get there and so I have to borrow a computer from a friend, but then I cannot use it for too long. On Saturday a few friends and I decided that we wanted to try and do the sauna and then the ice swimming afterwards, before all the ice melts. We went to a place called Uittamo, which is about 10 minutes from the centre of Turku. The sauna cost 4 Euros to use, and you could stay for as long as you wanted. My friends and I watched as people came from the sauna and ran to the water. There were a few holes cut out of the frozen sea, where people were jumping into. When I saw this I felt nervous, and I was unsure if I could do it or not. Anyway, we decided that we would try this, and so we went into the sauna for 20 minutes, which was a mixed sauna. When we felt that we couldn't stand the heat any longer, we ran to the water and immediately jumped into it. When I jumped into the water, my immediate reaction was to get back out again! The water was freezing and it completely shocked me. I got straight out of the water and went back to the sauna again. We repeated this about 5 or 6 times, and each time we did this we could stay in the water for longer. This was the first time I had ever done this and I would thoroughly recommend everyone to try this. There were people of all ages and sizes, and after this, my skin felt so smooth and I felt so refreshed! I think I will definitely be doing this again in the near future, and my only regret is that I didn't try it sooner!

Week 10 - Cultural

This week when I have been in Finland, I decided to travel to Norway with a few friends. We flew from Tampere airport, to Oslo airport. When we arrived in Oslo we decided to rent a car and to drive to the Fjords in the west of Norway. We were unsure of where to go to rent a car, or how much this would cost, but the people in Norway were very friendly and helpful. We were told that we needed a bus to another airport to rent a car, and we were directed where to go. When we were on the bus, the driver was friendly and he informed us when we needed to get off the bus. When we had rented the car, we drove the whole of the first night towards the Fjords. It was very exhausting, and we had to stop many times for directions. However, the Norwegian people spoke very good English and they were always very helpful and friendly to us. There was even a woman in a shop that printed out the ferry times for us along with a map so that we could find our way! This was a big difference to me from Finland, because even though Finnish people are friendly and helpful, they seem very shy and they are insecure of speaking English around people. Therefore at first glance Finnish people may seem to be impolite or unfriendly towards foreigners. After we found the Fjords, we were in awe of their beauty. The second night we were there, we had nowhere booked to stay, so we had asked a few people who were in the town next to the Fjords. Unfortunately as it was not tourist season, all the hotels were closed, except one. This hotel was only open for this night, because some people had booked it out. One lady who owned a coffee shop told us this, and she even offered to ring the owner to try and get us a room. She told us that there was a room available and we should go to the hotel to speak to the owner. We went there and the owner told us he could offer us a room (this hotel was a four star hotel) for only 1000 kroner, which worked out at about 25 Euros each. We got the room so cheap because the owner told us that the nearest hotel that was open was another four hours driving away. I was stunned at this generosity and I couldn't help but compare this with a Finnish person. Personally, I feel that if I was in Finland, I don't think this would have happened, because Finnish people seem to be very sensible and precise. Perhaps in Finland we would have gotten the room a little cheaper, if at all, but not much. The whole time I was in Norway, I was unintentionally comparing the Finnish and the Norwegian people. Generally, the Norwegian people were very friendly, helpful, polite and compassionate to us whilst we were travelling. However I felt that Finnish people may seem less friendly and impolite as they do not like to speak alot of English, and this may make people think they are rude. However, as I have been in Finland for 10 weeks now, I understand that Finnish people may feel insecure about speaking English, so I know that they are not being rude and they are just shy.

Week 9 - Cultural

This week I spent a lot of time in my placement. On Thursday, it was St Patrick’s Day, and when I mentioned this to the staff in my placement, they were unsure of the meaning, and had never celebrated this day before. Therefore we agreed that I would teach the children all about the significance of the day, and take an activity with them. St Patrick’s Day is not a public holiday in Finland, and so very few people are aware that this day exists. On Thursday, whilst I was in my placement, I explained the significance of the day to the children and we agreed to make paper maché snakes, to reflect the myth that St Patrick took all the snakes out of Ireland. The children were thrilled with this idea, and so we began to make the snakes. When I showed the children a shamrock, there was only one child who had seen this before, and so I also had to explain the relationship between the shamrock, and Saint Patrick's Day. I was very surprised when the children and the staff were unaware of this day, because I know that St Patrick’s Day is widely celebrated in America and many other countries around the globe. This week I also visited Turku castle. Turku Castle is the largest surviving medieval building in Finland, and one of the largest surviving medieval castles in Scandinavia. It stands as a national monument, on the banks of the Aura River, as it has done since the 14th century. The castle contains many antique monuments and items, such as old military uniforms or antique coins. There are even some surviving items from the castle itself, such as old clothes, swords, coins and tools. This was very interesting to go and look at because there were a lot of ancient artifacts, and the castle also had a museum attached to it where there were even more artifacts, such as furniture, weapons and personal items from people of that time. This week really introduced me to the history of Turku, and I hope that in the near future I can go to other cultural events, in order to find out some more about the history of Turku.

Week 8 - Personal

This week has been a good week for me. I have been in my placement a lot and I feel like I am learning a lot of Finnish and the children are a lot more aware of me. The children are a lot more responsive to me when I speak, and they are very encouraging when I attempt to speak Finnish! They are helping me to learn Finnish, and I feel that this is very interesting as I feel like the roles have been reversed, where I am the student, and the children are my teachers. The children also make more of an effort to include me in their play, and they are making an effort to speak and learn English with me. For example if I was sitting at a table, the children would bring their games to me, so as to include me. The first time that the children did this, I was pleasantly surprised but immediately interacted with them. I feel like I have progressed a lot personally since arriving in Finland. I feel that before I arrived in Finland I was quite narrow minded about the Finnish language. I felt that I didn’t need to learn a lot of Finnish because everyone would speak English. I now understand the importance of making an effort to speak someone’s native language with them, and the effort is appreciated. I also find it interesting to see how I can interact with the children with the language barrier, however now I am finding it a lot easier as the children know me better. I can now understand that I am not the only one with the language barrier, and that the children also have a language barrier with me. However, the children and I are making an equal effort to interact with each other, and teach each other about our language. I feel that this experience will influence me in my future placements. I feel that perhaps there is too much emphasises on what is said in a setting, rather than a person’s body language or their actions. I feel like I know these children and their personalities because of our interaction through play. Therefore, I feel that I am also learning through play, and not just the children.

Week 7 - Professional

This week in Turku I have been spending a lot of time at my placement. This week my placement took the children swimming together as a class. I found this interesting at the children are only 6 or 7 years old, and so I thought that this was a young age to go swimming. I also thought it was interesting that the children went as a class, during school time to the swimming lessons. When the children were finished swimming in the pool, they would come out and shower naked altogether! I was astonished at this when I saw this because it is very different at home. Once the children had showered, they would then go into the sauna naked altogether. This was surprising for me because I had never seen this before. The children at home would never go to the sauna, and it would be very unlikely that if they did, they would go alone. The children here are given a lot of respect and independence, whereas I feel that at home, the children are almost being observed by at least one adult. It is significant to note these differences, as I feel that the Finnish children here expect their independence, and that they can be quite self sufficient. Everyday that the children went swimming, they always showered, then went to the sauna, showered again and then dressed themselves. All the children here could dress themselves with no help from any of the teachers or assistants. Once the children were dressed, they would then go and get a magazine or a book, and read it sensibly until it was time to go. I feel that this showed some maturity and sense on the part of the children, and I felt that it was interesting when I compared it to home. It makes me think that perhaps if the children at home were given more respect and independence then they may be grateful for this, and act responsibly. Once the adults in the setting had finished swimming with the children, they would also shower naked, and they were comfortable with this. This also astonished me, because I had never seen this in any of the other settings I had been in. The people here in Finland seem to be very comfortable with their bodies, and they feel that it is completely normal to sauna naked.  This was very surprising to me as in Northern Ireland, nobody really goes to the sauna, and if they do, they do not go naked!

Week 6 - Personal

This week, I have been extremely busy. I have been working in placement, but this week has been winter holiday week in Finland, so the pre-school has been off. Instead, I have been working in the day care area of the setting. This has been very demanding and exhausting for me! The children are used to me now, and so they speak to me often, in Finnish! I think this is very interesting, as we can still communicate well and I can understand what they are saying, without understanding their language. The children are also helping to teach me Finnish, for example, I would point at an object and say it in English, and then they would tell me the Finnish version of the word. This week, I also went to Moomin world. Moomin world is a version of the cartoon called, “the Moomins”. This is very well known in Finland, and many children love the Moomins. Moominland was in Naantali, which is a small town just outside of Turku. When we arrived there, the views were breathtakingly beautiful. The sea was completely frozen, and so people were skiing and ice skating on the ocean. It was also a very sunny day, so I think it made people seem happier! My friends and I went around Moominland, and we also went ice skating on the ocean! It was a great experience for me, as I had never had the opportunity to do this before. A few days after Moominland, and few friends and I decided to go sledging. It was on an island beside Turku but we found the right place without any problems. When we got there, we saw people we knew so we could borrow their sledges. I had never been sledging before so it was a new experience for me. However, the first time I went down the hill, I knew I loved it! It was such great fun, and I met some new friends there too! Everyone was so friendly, and we had a good laugh whilst sledging because we fell off a few times (of course!). Throughout this last week in Finland, I have met so many people, and I have really enjoyed myself. I feel so comfortable here, and I have met some really great people, I almost feel I don’t want to come home! I am really enjoying my time here in Finland, and feel so grateful to have this opportunity.