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