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.

Week 12 21/03/11-27/03/11

On Monday I had another school visit only this time to a primary school that works along side a special needs school.  The two were not entirely integrated together but there have been plans to do this.  Having visited a SEN school back in November for a week I thought that having a special needs school work along side a primary school was good to develop awareness of what happens in SEN schools.  The classes where similar as they had a teacher and two or three assistants in the room, yet in this school many teachers were proficient in sign language which was a great aid to their teaching.  Many similar technologies are used here in Turku as are used back in Northern Ireland, for example using a microphone connected to pupil hearing aids.  The goal for these schools was to assist pupils to a stand as close as possible to regular schools.  However I think the assessment measures are better here as the teacher evaluates the pupil’s performance and gives exams of improved work to and outside agenises who wish to observe this.  Whereas pupils need to take a standardised test back in Northern Ireland which many not take into account the pupil’s skill or progress and I feel it does not reflect what and how the pupil has learnt, whereas a report from the teacher would be better.  In Finland the teacher has 100% trust by the powers that be to do what they will.  This makes reports and other documents hold so much more weight as opposed to that which occurs back in Northern Ireland.  If teacher got the same amount of trust and respect as they do in Finland it would radically reduce the work load of the teachers, for the better in my opinion. 

Another significant factor in Finnish education is that parents are in constant contact with the teachers about their child.  This support and reinforcement of learning is, in my opinion, the reason why Finnish schools achieve in international studies.  The pupils do not do more or less work than what is taught back in the UK (if anything they are given less tuition) but it is supported greatly, which is the significant difference and one which I would like to see in education back in Northern Ireland.

Week 11 14/03/11 – 21/03/11

Just when I thought spring was coming to Turku it starts snowing again.  It looks like there will be snow until the mid April.  Now it’s clear to see why Finland is so good at winter sports, from mid November to mid April there is snow.  In Northern Ireland we had two weeks of snow and the country couldn’t cope.

This week I had two guest speakers in a few of my lectures and the whole dynamic and atmosphere was different.  I know we have guest speakers at Stranmillis but here it is different as the Finnish lectures try to create an atmosphere that is friendly and relaxed but on occasion they often just create a boring lecture.  So when a different speaker takes a lesson and uses some active participation we get excited.  The active learning given here is used less frequently than back in Stranmillis and I feel that the students learning often suffers from this and getting motivated for these classes can be difficult.  This mean that there is more independent study involved however we need to observe information that we do not cover in class where as in Stranmillis we cover extra on what we have learnt and rarely id it something completely new.

The teaching placement here is radically different than back in Stranmillis.  We need to fit our lessons and observations around lectures, which is very difficult as every week classes are moved around, cancelled or added to my timetable.  This is probably the thing I dislike the most as the semester is split up into two terms of January and February then March and April although the official end date of the term is the 27^th of May, however in May there are very few classes and schools are moving to the end of their year.  The six or seven weeks intense placement at Stranmillis works better, I feel, because it is difficult to prepare lesson plans, resources and observations reports at the same time as writing an essay, a learning diary and any other independent study.

Week 10 7/03/11-13/03/11

This week was the start of Lent and as a result on Sunday everybody went sledging, it was sledging day in Finland and thousands go sledging.  Also on Shrove Tuesday, during a school visit, I experience a traditional meal.  There was a pea soup with minced meat, which tasted really good, but the main piece of food was a shrove bun or Laskiaispullat.  The shrove bun is the Finnish equivalent of our pancake on Shrove Tuesday.  The pastry had wiped cream and a raspberry jam spread in between it and it was very tasty. 

On Tuesday we had a school visit to a Finnish high school.  There was an opportunity to observe a few lessons and chat to the teachers.  The most striking thing I noticed was the equipment that the school had.  Every room had a data projector and at least two computers.  The school provides all the equipment which was phenomenal as the music department had electric drum kits, bass guitars, microphones, amplifiers and a number of other equipment.  But the technology department wowed me the most.  There was more equipment in that department than I have ever seen; gas and mig welders, ban saws, drilling equipment and other tools I have never seen before, all with automated vacuums to minimise dust.  When entering the computer programming suit (which included a computer guided laser cutter!) the teacher told us that they felt they needed more equipment as their current equipment was 4 years out of date.  It was the same throughout all the school departments, they all had a lot more equipment and a lot more sophisticated technology than any school I had visited in my entire life!  The school does benefit from the governments focus on good education and it would be great if Northern Ireland had even half of the amount of equipment.

Within many observations it struck me that pupils have a lot of freedom.  They talk to their classmates constantly as well as on occasion listen to their MP3 players and even answer their mobile phones!  Pupils would walk in and out of the class with ease and the teacher would not make any thing of this.  The relaxed setting and freedom of the pupils gives the impression that in a class which lasts 45 minutes not a lot of work gets completed, however Finland is third in the world for educational success so these methods must be working.

Picture: the Laskiaispullat

Week 9 28/02/11-6/03/11

On Monday there was a plethora of Finnish flags in the city.  Usually there are very few Finland flags but Monday was Kalevala Day.  It was a day which celebrates the completion of Kalevala, a Finnish poem from ancient oral tradition.  The material, comprises old Finnish ballads and lyrical songs depicting "the sons of Kalevala", and was first published in two editions in 1835 and in 1849.  It was good to see Finland flying their flag as last weekend I was in Stockholm with a few students and we commented on how Sweden flies their flag with pride.

This week I observed a class at Turku International School where I do my school placement.  The class was a games lesson.  For sport the Finnish schools provide the possibilities to as many sports as possible, so one term the pupils will do cross-country skiing and the next boys will learn ice hockey skills and girls will be taught some figure skating techniques.  It was fascinating when my assigned teacher told me that the schools provide all the equipment and winter sports have a lot of equipment and most of it is expensive.  Helmets, skies, ice skates, etc are all paid for by the school system.  The lesson took place on an ice rink under the school in an old nuclear bunker.  The teachers have a good relationship with the pupils and because of the status teachers have it means that the pupils respect the teacher, although there is still the odd occasion where pupils act out of turn, but it instantly stopped when the teacher said something to the pupil.  There is also a break of fifteen minutes between each lesson in which the pupils have a break or recess and it allows for the teacher to prepare for the next class.  The class I observed was grade 6 which is the equivalent to years 8/9 although they are still in the primary education stream due to their later starting age.

With one of my classes, Finnish schools in the light of international comparison, we created a presentation on our home countries school system compared to Finland’s.  The Nigerian system was rather striking at how religion, politics and the former British colonial powers had, and still does, influence the school system.  To attend a university in Nigeria you can take British A-levels to gain entry.  Other countries which were compared to the Finnish system was; Spain, USA, South Korea, China, Nigeria, Armenia, Russia and the UK.  I learnt that South Korea had the highest PISA result and how vastly different their school system is as there is very few holidays with a lot of independent study and a long school day 2 or 3 hours longer than our system.   

Picture: Stockholm, the Swedish seem more proud about their flag and nation than the Finns.

Week 8 21/02/11-28/02/11

Unfortunatly I was in Stockholm this weekend so my blog entry is a bit late (but more on Stockholm next week). 

The sun has arrived in Finland.  January and the start of February have been mostly overcast with short daylight hours.  However everything has changed over this week and some of last week.  It is so bright due to the sun being reflected by the snow.  Because of the geography of Finland it makes it easy to travel to neighbouring countries relatively cheaply.  Many students have travelled to either Sweden or Estonia with a few even travelling to Hungary because it is so cheap to do so.  Because Turku is a harbour town there are many ferries travelling to Sweden.  Because of the good relationship between the two counties many families travel for the holidays.  This week is the schools half term holiday and as a result Moominland became populated by the Moomins.  Based on a set of books by Swedish speaking Finn Tove Jansson, the characters became a popular children’s TV series and book series.  The Moomins are hugely popular with their images on mugs, bed sheets and many other products.

This week I finished my Finnish language course and we discussed the exam conditions.  In Finland you can take an exam up to three times.  However this is the only class in which I have an exam, every other class requires an assignment, usually an essay.  In one class we have discussed the methods of assessment in other countries.  In Finland assessment usually is an essay of approximately eight pages in length and not so many exams.  However one student in my class who comes from Turkey explained that it is not uncommon to have oral exams, especially in philosophy classes.  This was also true of Serbia however the Finnish tutor only explained the only oral exam in Finland is a singing exam.  Another interesting about the Serbian education system is that Religious Studies was only made a subject in 2003/4 as more of an information class on the Orthodox Church rather than any spiritual development or world religions being taught.

Week 7 14/02/11-20/02/11

This week a few students and my self attended and ice hockey match between Turku and Helsinki.  Ice hockey is a huge sport in Finland and there is always a strong rivalry between Finland and Sweden during international games, such as the Olympics.  The Team from Turku (TPS) were the league champions in 2010 however this year they are not so good.  The North American leagues, the NHL and AHL, know Finland produces great ice hockey players and send scouts to bring their best players to their teams.  Turku has suffered from this; going from league champions to being bottoming of the league in one season.  Being a fan of ice hockey I noticed that the game is more tactical here whereas in the UK league is a lot more physical (and violent).

Turku is a city which is much more multicultural than most other Finnish cities.  There are a lot of Swedish influences (all the street names are in Finnish and Swedish) and there is a high English speaking population.  This week there was an English speaking comedy show.  There were performers from the USA, UK, Australia and even a Finnish act.  There were a lot of Finnish and Scandinavian references in their jokes, which, although I have only been here for seven weeks, which I understood.  I was surprised by the amount of native English speakers in Turku.  It was also nice to see the Finns opening up and even bantering with the comics, which was the last thing I would expect from Finnish people as they are usually very quite and reserved.

This week I started a new class.  There are classes ending at the end of February and others starting in March, it is almost like the semester is divided into two halves.  This allows for the focus to be on one or two classes for two months and not five or six classes over 5 months.  The new class is Evaluating the Effectiveness of Education.  The class is in a rather small room but it allows for greater discussion amongst students and a very relaxed atmosphere.  Many lecturers wear slippers in the faculty which seems bizarre but it makes the attending class a lot more enjoyable.  There is not a lot of pressure placed on the students and everything is taken at a steady pace.

Week 6 07/02/11-13/02/11

As I spend more time in Finland I notice that I become more decisive.  I have realised that if I want to do something, for example to play ice hockey, then I must decide to go or miss out on the activity.  This has lead to me becoming more organised when preparing for my studies.  As every week classes change place, time and day I know I need to be on top of that or else I will miss a class and need to catch up.  When preparing for my teaching placement this has shown to be beneficial as I need to get in contact with the teachers or my subject and arrange a meeting to discuss observations.  Unlike School Based Work at Stranmillis there are a number of teacher training schools and so it is very difficult arrange a time when an other student isn’t teaching or I have no class, or even when the teacher is not giving feedback or meeting other students, for me to meet and observe a teacher.  This has helped develop my own independence.  As a home student back in Northern Ireland there where many tasks which were done for me.  However I now need to do them or they won’t get done.  Being an Erasmus student is defiantly a leap out side of my comfort zone, not only the foreign language and country but living on my own for such a long time.  However after the first couple of weeks I got into a routine and met people who live in my apartment complex and settled in. 

The students in Finland, both exchange and regular students, have a strong group spirit.  Students in Finland, instead of having a t-shirt or jumper with their University on it, have as set of overalls.  Each faculty or subject area have a different colour, black for medicine, white for teacher education and a blue for exchange students.  This creates a comradeship between you and your fellow students.  When worn the overalls are typed round the waste exposing the faculty on the back.  The overalls get decorated with a number of patches showing what parties or events the students have attended.  Every student owns a pair of overalls and you almost fell left out for not having a set.

Picture: Exchange students and me at Moominworld.

Week 5 31/01/11 – 07/02/11

This week was very special as I was able to meet a huge Finnish icon.  Father Christmas is Finnish, according to the Finns, and he lives in Lapland and not the North Pole.  As this week I travelled (with 90 other exchange students) to Lapland I noticed that there is a huge distance between villages and towns when in the country.  On the way up I learn more about the Finns from the ESN organisers.  Helena, who was originally from Lapland, explained that the remote life in the country is a highly desirable goal for many Finns.  She also explained that you are able to travel 70kms to meet with someone and they will almost always be home when you arrive.  70kms would not be that great a distance to travel just to meet up with someone or to get to work or school.  Because of the long distances folks travel and long working hours Finns will enjoy their weekend by going to their cottages.  She explained that there is also a sixth sense amongst the rural community, she told us that the family would know if someone was coming to visit even if they had not arranged to met.

After walking at night in search of the Northern Lights, on the bus back to Turku, Helena told us that there are bears, wolves and wolverines in the country and that meeting one of these animals wouldn’t be a good thing.  She told us that when she was in high school there was a bear in the town centre and she couldn’t make it to her school on time.

The Finnish people in Levi, Lapland did seem more open and approachable than those from the cities.  I think because of the large amount of tourists in the village the residents are more welcoming.  This is the same with the Sami people who are native to Lapland, who have a colourful attire.

Whilst inside the Arctic Circle I tried a reindeer sandwich, it is difficult to describe, it was rather tough to bite through and did not have much taste.  I heard of reindeer pizza, elk and even bear meat however I never got to try them. 

Picture: Me with a Reindeer at Santa's Village

Week 4 24/01/11 – 30/01/11

Cannot believe it’s been nearly a month since arriving.  Although I am still meeting lots of very interesting people, I’ve noticed that Finns are a lot more withdrawn and reserved.  They keep themselves to themselves.  However that said they are very helpful and will always do their best to aid you in any problems, whether it is asking for directions or asking what you are buying in the supermarket.  Finnish people are generally relaxed and this is reflected within my classes.  They create a welcoming, relaxed atmosphere in class, yet they do know the importance of education and a strong respect of the lecturer is shown.  The timetable for classes is still strange to me.  No two weeks are the same, with classes changing time and room from week to week.  Many classes end in March while others only start in March, so every week I need to check when my classes are.  This has made me become more organised.

All the Finnish people I have met seem to be involved in some sort of winter sport, like ice hockey, and being fit and healthy is emphasised in schools too.  Many schools do not have after school clubs but most students are involved in skiing and hockey outside of school. 

There is also national law with requires parents to be involved in teacher meetings (where they get time off work to attend) and homework supervision.  I think if this was implemented back home education will be given a greater importance and then the results of pupils work could improve.  Also there is not a focus on differentiation but instead pupils who are less able will be given more support to improve.  This means that there is very little difference in pupils’ results (only those who did not put in the effort will not achieve).

The country has an interesting was of insuring people recycle.  Shops will add 20 or 40 cents on top of the price of bottled drinks.  When you recycle the bottle at a bottle bank you will receive the 20 or 40 cents back.  This ensures people will recycle (as they will get their money back) and not just throw their waste away.

Picture: Walking in the snow can be challenging.

Week 3 17/01/11 – 23/01/11

Personal and Cultural

The temperature increased into plus degrees this week.  Although this meant that I could go outside with out my thermals it did have its problems.  The snow would melt in the day and re-freeze at night making it dangerous to walk on.  It requires a lot of concentration (and a little bit of luck) to not slip.  The city does have employees to put stones, like grit, on the ice for grip, but I am still not 100% confident.  However the weekend was very foggy.  On a day trip to Naantali there was an every fog over the frozen sea.  Naantali is a very scenic town and in the afternoon the fog cleared and we saw some fantastic views. The weekend was complete until I took part in cross-country skiing, a sport/past time which every Finnish good at, even the children were better than us exchange students.  It is very different from downhill skiing as it is a greater work out for your arms and legs.  Nonetheless it was a great experience.

Professional

First week of classes started this week starting with a language course, Finnish for Foreigners Survival Course.  The language is so different from English.  I found it very difficult to learn a new language when I have never had to learn a new language before.  Other classes this week included and introduction to Finnish schools in comparison of international schools.  This class is very interesting, even though we have only basic information at the moment.  Children start school at aged seven here as historically families from rural areas would need to send their children up to 200kms to get to school.  It would be unsafe and somewhat irresponsible to send children at four or five to a school 200kms way.  School years are also shorter, approximately 190 days as historically families needed to work together to collect the harvest in rural areas.  Schooling is compulsory until the age of 16, much like the UK and similarly there are opportunities to gain higher education for degree level and vocational qualifications as well.

My school experience classes which regard to teaching placement takes place in the teacher training school.  It was quite strange walking to the school and looking for the class but we were later told that education is public and anyone is allowed to observe the school’s practices.  This seemed shocking as back home there are so many child protection means we need to adhere to.

Photographs: (top) Cross-country skiing (a rare photo of me not falling in the snow),

(bottom) Naantali with the fog over the frozen sea.

Week 2 10/01/11 – 16/01/11

Personal and Cultural

Turku is the 2011 European capital of culture this year and had its official opening on Saturday.  However I was experiencing a different type of culture, the cottage weekend.  Most Finns own or rent a cottage to go to on weekends or over seasonal holidays.  This was about 30km from Turku near a frozen Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic Sea, but there was nothing but trees and snow for miles around and it seemed so isolated.  It was really quiet and was a great opportunity to meet new Erasmus students, from; Russia, Spain, Germany, France, the Czech Republic and countless others.  The Erasmus Student Network (ESN) in Turku organises many trips from exchange students and there is a great community of Erasmus students forming.

One thing I have noticed is the amount of cyclist on the footpaths.  There are so many of them, the skinny tyres must help cut through the snow.  It can be difficult to get out of their way, but we are all combating the snow.

Professional

I had my first school visit and it was great.  The school is one of nine or ten teacher training schools which belongs the University.  It is also one of the International schools where have of the school is in English and many classes are bilingual.  There is a growing number of immigrant families in Turku and Turku International School has had a growth in students from different nationalities.  It is also very interesting that the school would choose the students which they want to be placed there, so they will chose the ones most suitable.  Also teachers need to educated to a Master’s degree to teach, a Bachelor is not good enough.  Teachers are given a lot of respect and trust, and as a result there is very little paper work (for example no reports or records), if a teacher says this is what happened then this is what happened.  There is a relaxed atmosphere and teachers wear casual clothes for teaching and pupils do not have a uniform.  Interesting in Religious Education pupils are taught by members of their religion, so a Muslim is taught by a Muslim and so on.  This has made the school arrange a timetable which allows all the students of a particular faith to be educated together and many students come from surrounding schools for these lessons.  This is also part of Finnish law.  There is a student welfare team which gives support to pupils with lower abilities which allows for pupils to receive more tuition to get better grades, however stronger pupils do not receive as much support.  The student welfare team includes student councillors, physiatrists and guidance councillors; there is a lot of effort placed into the welfare of the student.  

Photo: The cottage and its surrounds.

Week 1. 03/01/11-09/01/11

Personal and Cultural

I expected it to be cold when I arrived, but I was shocked by the temperature after arriving in Helsinki -17^oC.  I didn’t expect to meet another exchange student on my flight.  My only expectation of the Finnish people was that they drive well in bad whether conditions (from the success as Rally drivers) and they would drink, a lot.  However after a lecture on Finnish society and culture, I’m even more curious.  Most of the people I have met haven’t been Finnish so I still don’t know if the stereotypes are true.  The Finnish people are very friendly and helpful and they would go out of their way to help.  Nearly all the Finns speak English as well as Swedish.  The only problem with the language is that my English is much lazier and so I have started to slow down my speech and to take out my slang and regional phrases and words.

I wasn’t sure how I might cope with being outside my comfort zone but to be honest there has been so much to take in and to do that I haven’t had time to think about what I was doing I was just doing it, with the help of my Erasmus tutor of course.  There is so much that I have needed to do, so I would do it and somehow find time to revise for my exams. 

The price of food and a bus ticket seems to be extortionate however once I got a student bus card it made travelling around the city and to the university less of a strain on my bank account. 

Professional

Having had no classes yet only orientation lectures I can already see that punctuality is very important (the students studying in the Faculty of Education have been told to be on time for our school visit, not even a few minutes late) and that all the lecturers are very friendly and easy to approach.  After visiting the library I found it confusing as to why you need to request books online, but it is because they keep their books underground.  It’s strange that a university library would not present their books for their students to browse.  One of my favourite things about the University of Turku is that it’s free to print (unless you print silly amounts of pages), must be all the trees.  The strangest educational system I have discovered is in Russia.  One of the exchange students is from Russia, studying telecommunications, and is in the third year of his studies and is only 18!!!  It seems that if you are good enough at your subject (in this case mathematics and ICT) you can choose to spend half as long in high school and go to university at a younger age.  Everyone was shocked when we heard this.

 

Education even at degree level is free in Finland as the strong Students’ Unions have been successful in fighting against proposed tuition fees, after taking to my tutor I found out that the government pays students to study, clearly education is highly valued tin Finland.  It seems strange to be moving from one part of the world where thousands of students are demonstrating against a further increase to one where the government can’t implement any fees.  However the structure and course organization of the university will be seen soon and commented upon in later weeks.

Photographs (top): The Lutheran Cathedral, Finland's oldest building.

(bottom): This car won't be going anywhere for a long time.