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.