Week 21 + 1 29/05/11 onwards

It is strange how much I couldn’t remember about Northern Ireland when I thought about it Finland, now that I’m home it seems like I never left.  My and I were discussing the Isle of Man TT as soon as he picked me up from the bus depot.  The 21 weeks went so fast that it seems like only yesterday he dropped me off.  Riding in a car as a passenger does seem very strange after walking or getting the bus and driving is even stranger, especially when the drivers here are so bad compared to in Finland or maybe I should say the drivers in Finland are more considerate.  I also find it strange that everyone is speaking English and I knew most people who spoke English in Turku so I keep hearing bits on the language and looking to see if I know them.  There is a huge difference in the way people talk, back in Finland it was very quite on the streets and in stores however here it is almost the opposite with people talking all the time and very very quickly making it even more difficult to pick up what people are saying when we are speaking.  Having missed five months of life in Northern Ireland it is difficult to follow and conversations about current affairs or about what my friends did in April.  It’s a bizarre situation so not only am I telling my stories of life in Finland but they are telling me the goings on of Belfast or university or whatever they have been up to, it is very exciting hearing what others have been getting up to.  The returning week has been mostly meeting up with the friends and family I haven’t seen since Christmas and getting back into the habit of watching motorcycle racing.  It is strange watching television after not having one for so long and seeing the different adverts and shows.  But I think that I did not miss much when I went without a TV.  One think I did miss a lot when I was in Finland was my guitars and after five months of not playing my fingers need to be rebuilt to a standard to play again.  Nonetheless I it is super being back in Belfast with my family and now the next thing to do is to visit all the international friends I have made.

Week 21 22/05/11- 28/05/11

Week twenty-one, the last week in Turku.  It seems anyone who is left in Turku from the Erasmus exchange is leaving this weekend or at the start of next week.  I am no different ton Saturday I fly home from Helsinki.  I am more excited to see my family and my home than I am sad to leave all my great international friends.  I think this is because for most of them I will see them again at some point, especially when we all exchanged email addresses and offered each other a place to stay if or when we visit.  Having never been to many European countries I will be making use of this invite, and I hope they make use of theirs too.  This week I have packed in the mornings and spent as much time as I could with the wonderful people I have met.  With countless goodbye parties it is difficult not to get emotional about leaving however my eagerness to see my family has slowly grew over the last few weeks.  It has also been difficult to keep track of who is leaving and when and at the same time make plans to meet up with my friends back home.  But I felt it was more important to see the great Erasmus people before they left.  Looking back I think the people I have meet have made the last twenty-one weeks unforgettable.  I don’t think I will be able to tell my family stories of the places I have been without telling them about these magnificent people.  I feel ready to return home as twenty-one weeks is along time and now I can see the end coming closer I get more and more excited to be back in Northern Ireland.  It has become clear that I would not be able to travel home wearing my coat and jumper like I did when I arrived.  Even though I am not retuning two parts of shoes, one was ruined walking around Russia and the other did not survive the Finnish winter, my student overalls take up a lot of room in my suitcase. However I did mange to squeeze all my belongings into my before so I can now relax until my bus to Helsinki.

Week 20 15/05/11 – 22/05/11

Week Twenty! Seems like only yesterday I was battling the snow and the cold after arriving at Helsinki airport, crazy times.  This term has gone so fast it’s scary to think that I am now heading into my last year at Stranmillis in September.  As it is my last full week in Turku and Finland in general it was great to see the European capital of culture host a number of events throughout the week and on the weekend.  This included some members of the world championship winning ice hockey parading the trophy.  This was a very enjoyable event as the atmosphere was brilliant and the team’s captain was from Turku so the city was out in patriotic force to celebrate with their team’s captain.  This was also a great event that preceded a Euroculture event.  As I have mentioned before Turku is the European city of culture along with Tallinn Estonia for 2011.  However any form of celebration, with the exception of the opening has been a rare thing, so it was exciting to see the city put on a cultural show this weekend.  However this event was like VAPPU as the build up was more exciting than the actual event.  The event was good but it seemed to promise more than it delivered.  For sure the BMX bikers’ trick show and skateboard events were entertaining but short and it only took about twenty minutes to walk around the graffiti exhibitions.  There were a number of bands fro various countries, France and Austria for example.  It was a great event to enjoy the company of other exchange students and here about their travels in recent weeks.  As we will all be parting ways very soon this was highly significant to me as the people I have met on this exchange have made the last twenty weeks some of the best ever.  They are a significant part of my memories from Erasmus and have significantly impacted my life.  Not only do I feel my English has changed to be more understandable but they have helped me become more open to cultural differences.  

Week 19 08/05/11 – 15/05/11

So people are leaving and Turku is becoming empty and quiet.  It is quite sad to see so many people leave but then there are so many good memories which we shared.  It also allows for me to have connections through out Europe and the rest of the world as people on the exchange have travelled from all different areas of the global to study in Finland and I will see some of these great people again for sure. 

However I was also sick this week.  After nineteen weeks in Finland I catch the ‘flu two weeks before I return home.  It was terrible to be sick and alone because fighting through the busting headache to get a glass of water took a lot of strength.  It was a tough few days that I was glad to get behind me.  It was also the weekend of the Ice Hockey world cup and Finland reached the final.  I wish had been well enough to watch the match in the company of other students and the Finns as the final saw Finland play bitter rivals Sweden.  This rivalry is as old as the hills and it was made the country unite in an uproar when the Swedes were beaten 6-1.  This meant that the next week will be full of celebrations to look forward to.  However everything is heading towards my return to home at the end of the month.  It’s something which I am really looking forward to ever since VAAPU at the start of May as there is very left to do except email a few essays and hand in some administrative paperwork.  As a rest it makes adding cultural and personal development difficult to judge and add to this blog, especially when most of my time is now spent completing essays and meeting up to say goodbye to many people.  However it is a significant part of my time here, I have met these great people now we have to stay in touch and hopefully met again in the future.

Week 18 01/05/11 – 08/05/11

So this week everything ended.  My classes are totally finished, I got my placement hours handed in and all I have left is assignments.  Because of the timetable of the education system here in Finland it seems like I have not taken that many classes, however this is because the semester is split into two seconds, the first in January, February, March and the second is March through to May.  This has allowed me to pace my self through exams and assignments as the deadlines are not all at the end of May and the exams are not all at the end of the whole term.  I prefer this system due the ability to manage tasks better; however the placement not being allocated a specific timetable wasn’t to my favour.  Similarly the essays and assignments I need to write do not have a word count but a page limit, for example a 5 page essay.  This makes it difficult for me to see how critical I need to be of texts and how detailed they need to be, especially when there is no set guide line to what font or size of text is used and is this double lined spacing or one and a half lined spacing?  Usually sticking to the Times New Roman font size 12 with one and a half line spacing works best and is universally accepted for these tasks. 

As I have no classes this month it allows me to spend some quality time with the fantastic people I have met on Erasmus before we all part ways, especially since I am less likely to see some international students again.  Plus now that there zero snow and the days are so much longer we can all enjoy our surroundings.  It seems so different from the first few months and feels good not to have to put on your hat, coat, gloves and thermals use to go you side to empty the rubbish.  The spring and summer is enjoyed by the Finns as they could not do so in the long winter, in this respect I feel quite Finnish as I too am trying to enjoy the spring weather (I did manage to find Jarno Sarinen's grave the only Finnish motorcycle world champion). 

Week 17 26/04/11 – 02/04/11

So this week was a significant week for Finnish students as on the weekend it was VAPPU.  This is similar to the May Day bank holiday only I have never seen any get this excited about a bank holiday.  The whole week there were students discussing what was going to happen at VAPPU and how it is the best weekend on the Finnish calendar.  My expectations were very high, as were many other exchange students who were experiencing VAPPU for the first time.  As Friday came along we all put on our student overalls and went to the hill near the art museum to have a picnic, which is not the ‘wild party’ I had been hearing but was nonetheless very enjoyable to just relax with friends in the sun (yes the sun exists, I have seen it).  However I was informed the Saturday was ‘The Big Day’ when it really kicks off.  On Saturday what seemed like all of Turku showed up at the art museum for an address by a man in a cape, the student president or some form of student, after a procession of carrying the different factuality’s flags and a brass band on the back of a truck.  It was already much more eventful that the previous day which had felt like a huge let down after all the build up.  I could only understand a few words of the address but everyone else was cheering and waving their white hats.  These hats are given out when pupils graduate from high school and I felt left out that I did not have one.  Many of the more elderly population were there with their hats too; it was a day when everyone came together in celebration.  After the address everyone donned their hats and the champion was opened (not that an excuse for drinking was need for the Finns).

After the address we paraded to a statue on the river bank.  I was surprised that the police had not closed the roads and that a large group of people could simply saunter down the roads on VAPPU.  At the statue the dentistry students cleaned the statue with a giant toothbrush and a song.  This was the most entertaining thing of the day, as everyone was clearly having a good time.  Afterwards there was another speech, in Finnish, English and Swedish.  It seemed that the student body wasn’t happy with the newly elected government and some clear political statements were spoken, not to mention the hat being thrown to the ground shortly after it was placed on the statue’s head.  Overall I felt the weekend did not live up to my expectations but it was enjoyable to spend more time with my exchange friends and see VAPPU.

Pictures: top At The Art Muesum

bottom: The Statue with the hat on it.

Week 16 18/04/11 – 25/04/11

This week I travelled into Russia first visiting Saint Petersburg and than heading on to Moscow.  After hearing a number of stories about how dangerous the cities were I was very cautious about my possessions but after spending a few days in the cities touring the various sites it was clear that the rumours and stories did not weigh up and in fact the two big cities are no more dangerous than any other big European city.  However I think that because Finland is so safe in comparison to many other countries I was more cautious when in a foreign land, especially one as big as Russia.  However it was an exciting time to go as the Russians were preparing for a number of state holidays and the armed forces where on parade on occasion.  I felt the level of patriotism was very high as the tours of the old emperors’ state homes and Tsars’ homes were clearly a significant part of the countries history.  The two cities were what I had tough they would be like, magnificently designed buildings amongst very communistic blocks of flats.  I was mostly surprised by the large number of Orthodox churches, especially when the country was communist for so long and communism regards atheism, or no religion, as the state religion (generally speaking).  As it was Easter weekend there were a number of churches actively taking part in very interesting and different services through out the city.  Compared to Finland Russia is very religious and it is clear by the number of Cathedrals in Moscow and St. Petersburg.  However as a holiday Finland only receive Good Friday and Easter Monday off school as opposed to the one and a half or two week holiday I have seen almost all schools use in the UK.

The Russian culture is very different and anything could happen, I saw cars being repaired in the middle of a four lane road junction!  Not to mention the love of vodka the Russians have, I’m sure if there is more alcohol in Russia or Finland (in relation to the population) but both have a strong love of the grape.  The traffic of vehicles and people is extremely high, but maybe this is because being born and raised in Belfast with a population of only half a million people, compared to the 10 million in Moscow.   

Pictures (after a slight absence from previous posts) from top: The Entrance to the Cold War Bunker.

St. Basil's Cathedral, Red Square.

One of the many parades in preparation for Victory Day.

The Aurora Battleship, used in the Bolshevik Revolution.

Week 15 11/04/11 – 17/04/11

Looking back at my exams in January I found it difficult to get accustomed to a new culture and lifestyle (and temperature) whilst revising for my exams.  It was no problem to take the exams here, in fact because of the time difference I preferred it, I did not have to get up for an exam at 9.30 am but instead 11.30 am which was much easier to do after a gradual start to the day.  It was impossible to take everything I needed to revise for the exams but making revision notes and taking over PowerPoints worked fine.  The hardest part was getting all my assignments done and handed in in hard copy before the college closed for Christmas, yet this meant I had more time to create revision notes, prepare for leaving and have more of a Christmas holiday, which I liked.

This week ended my placement.  The school placement was in Turku International School which, I feel, helped develop my skills of teaching EAL students.  However there is not a lot of differentiation in Finnish schools which I don not really like as some pupils could be pushed and achieve more however this does not happen which is unfortunate.  However my favourite thing about the Finnish school systems is that teachers are just left to teach.  When I think of the schools back in the UK, teachers are always scrutinized and made to do a lot of paper work.  There needs to be a balance between teachers’ work life and personal life.  Especially on School Based Work which seems that there is a lot of work outside the classroom with a large amount of lesson plans, resources, units of work, etc. however there is much less work on the students behalf.  There is still a need for lesson plans and resources however the curriculum is the unit of work for the year.  However the work for other classes and the school placement is still quite a lot.

On a more cultural note, the spring has arrived.  After the longest winter season I have ever experienced (the snow arrived in November and is finally starting to go away), I have been treated to double figures in positive degrees Celsius.  However after the long dark winter everyone comes out to enjoy the weather and the town centre is very busy and crowded, but there is also a market now and a change to see things I never thought I would miss, like green grass and road markings.

Week 14 4/04/11 – 10/04/11

This week on the placement course, School Experience, I had to present to my peers what I had learnt from and about the school placement over the last few weeks.  The two placements are so different that it was difficult to mention everything inside of fifteen minutes and give background information about Northern Ireland’s school systems for the other exchange students as well.  The little cultural different make so much different between the two countries.  For example; children are used to going to and from school on their own in the dark where as back home it is not the best thing to do as it is more dangerous.  Finland is a very safe country; the only thing that may happen is that you get your bicycle stolen, but this very rare.  As Finland is so quiet and safe it makes other countries I have visited, like Sweden, a bit wild although it is still a very safe country.  However the rest of the presentation focused on the differences between my main subject, Religious Studies.  Here in Finland it is more like religious instruction as pupils are split up into members of Orthodoxy, Lutheran Church, Islam and ethics.  The ethics classes are for pupils who are not part of a church or do not have anyone from their own religion to instruct them.  Parents are allowed to request that their child is instructed in their religion.  This provides difficulties for the schools as they may have to send the pupils to other schools for religious instruction.  The Ethics lessons are much more like the RE classes in Northern Ireland as they cover a wide variety of religions and ethical questions.  However there is not a focus to develop the pupils’ spirituality as there is in the NI curriculum.  However a lot of the subject content is similar.  As my time on the school placement has comet to an end I think that staying in Turku International School has helped develop my communication into a less ‘East-Belfastian’ dialect which pupils who have English as an additional language can understand.  I aimed to develop my skills of working with EAL pupils as there is an increase of pupils with EAL in Northern Ireland over the last few years.

Week 13 28/03/11 – 3/04/11

This week was rather intense as the work load has increased over the last few weeks and finding time to go to my school to observe lessons has been more difficult.  The school is approximately 30 minutes away from the university and this makes observations and teaching lessons very hectic as we still have lectures to attend at university.  However there is a lot to be learnt during the observations and it also allows time for me to get to know the pupils before teaching them, especially as Turku International School has a very diverse student population.  Yet having a separate teaching practice is much more efficient, I feel, as opposed to having to work hours around classes.

In Finland there are no uniforms and teachers can wear what they please.  As a student teacher not wearing a shirt and tie seems strange and I get the feeling that I am not a figure of authority in casual clothes.  However this might be the reason why pupils have such a good relationship with their teachers.  This also contributes to the relaxed atmosphere in the classroom, yet I feel that the older pupils use this as a fashion parade.  I would have liked no uniforms when I was a pupil but now I am not sure.

Language is a large part of Finnish culture as the nation is bi-lingual and the International obviously has a large number of pupils with varying language skills.  In Northern Ireland there is a very small minority of ethic groups, as the population is almost exclusively white and ‘Christian’, meaning that there are not a lot of methods to develop pupils’ native language, whereas Finland encourages this.  This also meant that I had to change my dialect slightly so certain words could be understood more clearly by the international students.  This has been quite noticeable for me and at times very difficult to change how I speak, but it was necessary and this is something which we have discussed in Stranmillis but it is not an issue there as we all have similar dialects. 

The busy timetable makes it difficult to do many traditional Finnish activities (like cross-country skiing, although there is a lot less snow now), however this weekend a group of us exchange students went to go ice swimming.  After sitting in a sauna in temperatures of approximately 80 degrees Celsius we dived into the frozen Baltic Sea.  It was a sensational feeling and after you feel refreshed.  The sauna is something that is very sparse in Northern Ireland as only a few leisure centres whereas every apartment complex seems to have one.