Gl�gi

I know I've written about gl�gi before...way back in 2011 apparently!
But I thought it needed a bit of an update!

Gl�gi (or as Wikipedia calls it: "mulled wine" but doesn't contain alcohol unless you add to it) is available in the fall for the Christmas season and is typically a burgundy colour (unless you get the light-coloured version in the gold/mustard yellow coloured container) and is served warm.
I'm one of those weird people that likes to drink it cold.
Thankfully, I have met 1 Finnish person who also enjoys it cold - and I'm not sure if it's out of lack of patience (or straight up laziness) to drink it cold - or because it's like a juice and really, when it comes down to it, you just want a drink!  (She's my Finnish teacher actually!)
It turns out her family and friends think she's strange too...

Right, so gl�gi is traditionally served warm and with almonds and raisins that you can stir in (spices are available too)...and I remember the first time I had gl�gi at a friend's home...I started to nibble on the raisins and almonds, as they were in a little dish in the center of the table - and my friend thought I was odd.  I couldn't figure out why she was looking at me strangely, until she dropped a spoon of raisins and almonds into her mug of steaming gl�gi...

For our Christmas dinner, I offered to heat up gl�gi and one of my guests said thanks but no thanks.  Which is totally fine with me - but he explained quickly that he was at a party a few years ago (a work Christmas party I think) and someone had the brilliant idea to heat the gl�gi in an electric water kettle (you know - to boil water for tea)...
Well, sign one that was a bad idea?  Everyone was pacing themselves and rushing to the bathroom to vomit.
Once it became very obvious that everyone was feeling under the weather, someone called the poison control center and they said that yep, everyone's poisoned but nobody's going to die.
"As long as everyone has vomited from drinking the heated gl�gi - that's a good sign.  Then you'll have diarrhea for a few days afterward," were the wise words of the poison control officer.
Great way to party!
Well, my husband and I were stunned and promised our guests we only planned to heat it on the stove in a pot - as per the only way we've seen it done...but the thought of gl�gi still made our friend's tummy do somersaults apparently.

After posting this on Facebook, a few people were surprised by the silliness of the idea - I mean, have you ever tried boiling anything other than water in a water kettle?
Someone suggested it was copper poisoning and someone else suggested a microwave if you're only heating a mug at a time.

So may this be a lesson to you - drink gl�gi cold or drink it warmed from the stove or microwave!
Have a great New Year!

A Visit With The Police

Ah, it's December...and that means for my family, residence permit application time.
It just sucks the life out of the holiday spirit for me personally - but ah well - it has to be done, it's only once a year and it's worth the paperwork and costs because we really enjoy living in Finland.

Actually, I was quite optimistic this year because we were told LAST year that we could (my husband and I) apply for our PERMANENT residence permits this time!
Meaning, we've lived here for four years and a bit - and then we'd never have to do it again...or at least not every year - something like that.

I woke up bright and early (okay - I'm lying - it's still dark at 7am) - threw my kid in his taxi and raced downtown by bus to make it to the police station for 8am last Tuesday.
I got there at 8:03am and was excited to be one of the first foreigners there because the line ups after 10am are ridiculous.  Sure they have lots of chairs to sit in and a water cooler...and I packed my knitting AND a book with me just in case...
But the door wouldn't freaking open!
I tried - I yanked and pulled and looked up with groggy eyes to see "8.00" and only that part...and couldn't figure out what the heck was going on.
The lady behind me had an electronic key to get in and pointed out that it was Tuesday.
Monday, Wednesday and Friday 8.00 is the opening time.
Tuesday and Thursday they open at 9.00.
What a cruel joke...honestly.

I lounge about at the post office getting some empty packages so I can send stuff overseas later on and still had twenty-five minutes to kill.  After a cup of tea and a piece of cake, I rush back to the police station.
I punched a button for services for foreigners and grabbed a chair and waited.
I waited for less than 2 minutes before my number "F00" popped up.  Honestly, I've never had a "00" number before!!!  Normally it's something more depressing like "F182" or "F59" and either way there's at least 10 people ahead of me.
The day was looking good.

I had done some research beforehand and wasn't sure what fees we were supposed to pay.
According to their site with prices listed for 2013:

Residence permit
Residence permit	156 �
Students, minors	116 �
Renewal of the residence permit card	76 �

Right - so looking at this - I got excited!
"HONEY! We're going to save money this year for us! We already have the residence permit cards...so they probably just take them back and change the expiry dates on it then send it back - because there's a "Renewal" fee...surely that's what it means?"

Husband was skeptical and of course as it turns out, rightfully so.

All of my Finnish friends - even one who is half Finnish and works in the other department of the police licensing office thought we'd be paying the Renewal fees and not the Residence Permit fees.

Well, guess what?

That wording is freaking awful.  

I went in and provided my ID and residence permit card and told the lady (whom I have never dealt with before) that I needed an appointment made (the internet appointment system was saying it was full or not available) for my family as we needed to renew our residence permits.

2 adults and 2 kids - yep.

She kindly printed off all of the paperwork we needed (my forms and the kids are the same, since my husband is the one with the contract) and informed me that we needed to bring with us:

• Recent photos of all of us (passport style)
• The paperwork filled out
• Husband's work contract
• Husband's pay slips (the last 3...why I don't know because the salary has a change with the new contract - which was clearly listed - but anyways)
• My paper work confirming the various benefits we get for our son. (Even though she said she can see most of it on the computer via Kela's system.)
• Our passports
• The kids
• Current residence permit cards
• The fee - as you have to pay when you drop off the applications.
• Also, my husband and I have to get fingerprinted (it's digital) but the kids don't have to because they're under the age of 6.

So I asked her what fee are we paying because it says online "Renewal of the Residence Permit Card".  She referred to her chart and said, "Oh that!!! No - that's if you lose your card or it gets so badly damaged you need a new one."

WHY DOESN'T IT SAY "REPLACEMENT" instead?!  I may have to make a suggestion and drop it off in their suggestion box if they have one...because that's so misleading in the English language - really.

Fine - so we're stuck paying 544� and then I remembered the possibility of a permanent residence permit for my husband and I.

"Oh one more question - because we've lived here for four years now, are we able to qualify for the permanent residence permits? This way we don't have to do this every year for my husband and I?"

"Yes you have lived here for that time - right...let me look...no.  Because you have to have 'A-Status' residence permit for four years...so NEXT year you can definitely apply for that and then you won't have to do this again.  Because when you first got here - you were 'B-Status' only.  So you've been B for one year then A for three." 

That's not what the officer told us last year...oh well.

When I got home and updated my Facebook status to reflect this disappointment in non-consistent information, an American friend said that was even technically wrong - because there's some point system involved.

B-status = � a point

A-Status = 1 point

You need 4 points (minimum 1 year of A-status) to qualify for the permanent residence permit status apparently.

Well, first we've ever heard of this points system but yes, it still works out that we have 3.5 points and need to wait until next year (anytime after August) to apply.

Thankfully our police station accepts bank card/credit card payments now (they did last year too) - because carrying around over 500� in cash is NOT my cup of tea.  Not that I am worried in the slightest about robbery or pick-pocketing - also something that doesn't happen here (it's more of a bicycle-stealing city - and even then, it's usually drunks trying to get home) and I hate carrying cash of any amount.

And Finland doesn't use bank cheques at all and haven't in over twenty years.

Needless to say, it'll be a fairly quiet and simple Christmas for us!
Happy Holidays from our family to yours and thanks for checking out my blog!!!
Learning About Finland

Another Bus Trip - Another Embarrassing Story.

Today I had a knitting meet-up with the ladies from the university.  We try and meet about once a month and usually at someone's home - we bring snacks and have tea or coffee and it's great.
We kind of didn't really have anything planned for December - so a day or two ago - someone suggested a caf� and some of us were able to make it.
While waiting for my bus, as I missed the first one - and this one was late of course, I helped an elderly lady hop out of a tow truck that pulled over to drop her off.
She couldn't reach the 2nd step from the bottom - they're really narrow and more ladder-style than protruding outwards like stairs - so I reached out to hold her arm and she gave me her purse and shopping bag to hold on to.
Thankfully the ice has melted over the last few days and she was grateful for the hand.
There was another person at the bus stop and he must not have noticed the lady was having difficulty jumping out of the cabin of the tow truck.

Anyways, the bus finally arrives, the little old lady is gone and me and this guy get on the bus.
I sit near the middle - as the bus is almost empty - with the exception of a couple sitting near the back and am excited to go knitting (Old Lady points are tallying up!).
Suddenly, I notice that the other guy is faced towards me and smiles at me and begins to sign something to me.
I looked at him a bit funny and he did it again.
So I started signing back.
"My name's Dominique."
He signs something else and I'm thinking, "CRAP! Finnish sign language might be different than English!"
So I start to sign, "Sorry", and decided I'd go sit closer to try and practice my signing skills (which I haven't used in YEARS) and perhaps make a new friend...and find out how different Finnish and English sign language signals are!
I sat across from him but on the opposite side of the bus and notice that he hasn't looked at me but he's still signing.

DRUM ROLL PLEASE...

Yep.  He was signing to the couple in the back.  

Then he got up and went to go sit with them...thankfully, some people were getting on at the next stop and I just looked like someone who wanted to sit closer to the front door.

At least I still know how to say, "My name is D-O-M-I-N-I-Q-U-E."

Finland VS Canada - School Related

As I mentioned before, I'm doing a work-placement in a school that has grades 1-6 (children are aged 7-13 years old) and while I'll try to write about my daily experiences - I thought I'd try and make a list of things that are strikingly different than Canada (and probably a good chunk of the world).
This is totally based on my opinion and experiences with this particular school in Jyv�skyl�, Finland.  While many apply to all schools throughout Finland - smaller details like breaks for example - may differ than other schools in Finland.

• The school year is from August-beginning of June.
• They have an Autumn holiday in October and a Ski Holiday (equivalent to March break) in February.  These holidays vary in occurrence throughout Finland - so a school up North might not have the same holiday week as the schools in the South of Finland.
• Kids call all the staff/teachers by their first name.
• They start school at the age of 7 (grade 1) and in pre-school (ages 5-6) - they do learn things!
• Every morning, the class stands and greets the teacher with a respectful, "Hyv�� Huomenta!" (Good morning!)
• One teacher I worked with also shook each of her pupils' hands and thanked them for coming and wished them a good afternoon when their class was over.  I was amazed! What an excellent way to teach respect!! By giving it as well and equally to each individual student!
• Kids don't wear shoes inside - some have slippers or "indoor shoes" if they really want to - but for the most part, it's all soft (socks) feet.
• Unless they're doing wood/metal work...then they have to wear shoes!  Even in gym class there were bare-feet!
• They have a 25-minutes long recess break in the morning and between 5-15 minutes between classes.  It does help with preventing stress and fighting among the kids.
• There are ping-pong tables  in the hallways to encourage children to burn energy, play together and how to share in between classes.
• There aren't any labels for "Boys" or "Girls" bathrooms.  There are individual bathrooms lining up the hallways with just "WC" written at the top of the door and you just lock the door behind you - do your thing and leave (yes there's a sink and soap).  No urinals.  Staff use the same ones - as far as I know.
• Teachers have some say in their kids' schedules.  Sometimes school ends at 1pm, sometimes at 2pm or sometimes it's a long day and ends at 3pm.  Then again, it might start at 8 or it might start at 9.  This was very interesting for me because I could never figure out why the buses were so packed full of kids on certain days and at various times.
• There's no water fountains in the hallways.  Every classroom has a sink and kids either have their own cups or just drink straight from the tap.
• No vending machines - no chocolate bars, no chips, no pop...
• Lunch is provided and it's a hot meal (meat or fish with veggies, bread and butter, milk or water) for all the kids.
• With that said, I don't see children snacking at all.  They're generally in better shape physically and mentally than their North American counter-parts.
• By "Hot meal" - it's all filling and nutritious! No pizza, French fries, cookies or ice-cream... nope.
• Kids can refer to their text books during tests.  Sometimes it's noted they get points taken away, sometimes it's only for certain questions or information...depends on the teacher or class I guess!
• They do get homework - but not a lot.
• School supplies are provided - with the exception of backpacks and pencils...all the text books and note books are provided to kids (so a friend told me).
• I can't seem to find a single special needs child at all in the school.  I have been told from a friend (but not confirmed with one of my teachers I'm working with yet) - that this is a bit of an issue.  Mostly because of this segregation - "regular kids" don't know how to act or politely inquire what's going on with a "different child".  I'm confident there are some children in the classes I've been in so far that have ADHD...but I haven't seen anyone with an assistant, in a wheel chair or requiring an interpreter (hearing impaired) for examples.  
• In Canada, I grew up with kids who couldn't speak, were deaf or hard of hearing, were in wheel chairs and had assistants and even with Downs Syndrome.  This was great, in the sense that I was prepared to help those that need it in the future and I learned some sign language and forged friendships with children in a different position than myself.
  And since having a child who has been diagnosed 2 years ago with Autism - I find this really interesting too.  I know and am aware of a school in JKL that is just for kids like him - but at the same time, I feel bad he won't be going to a "regular school" like his little brother probably will.
• Religious studies is a subject taught in Finland.  Finland is primarily a Lutheran-based country with some Orthodox and other religions are here but in lower numbers (i.e. Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses etc.).
• No hats are allowed to be worn during the class or at lunch.  Only when leaving.
• Nobody chews gum during class either.
• Not allowed to throw snowballs.
• I haven't seen a teacher with an exposed tattoo...so I made sure to cover mine up the time I was there.  I don't know how much it would matter or bother the other staff or kids - but just in case - I made sure none of mine were showing.
• There's no dress code for teachers.  I was expecting to have to go re-vamp up my wardrobe with dress pants and skirts (despite the snow coming) and I asked the teacher in advance if there was a dress code...NOPE.  So I got to wear comfy jeans (I didn't wear ripped up ones or ones I'd wear to go help a friend move and get messy in), t-shirts or sweaters...whatever!
• In Canada (at least where I'm from), teachers had a casual Friday (got to wear jeans) if they chipped in a dollar or two towards the charity of the school's choice (usually a children's hospital for example).
• Same for ball caps on Fridays for kids too.  When I was in higher up elementary and junior high - there was a program that if we donated a dollar - we could wear ball caps on Fridays during class.  Then again - that was the 90's...times have changed!
• Use common sense - it's not a club or a bar.  The only teachers I saw wearing sweats were usually the gym teachers.
• Kids learn a 2nd language beginning in grade 3.  Each school has a variety of languages - it depends on who is trained and able to teach it to the children - but Swedish is mandatory at some point in their lives because it's Finland's 2nd national language and English seems to be pretty common too.
• Handicrafts are taught and you can do half a year of knitting/crocheting/sewing and then the next half - you'd switch over to wood/metal work.
• There aren't any private schools here.  That means no uniforms for every child, no crazy expensive school tuition fees that are the equivalent to a down-payment on a house/mortgage...none - nada.

*Unfortunately my work placement has to end early due to some other things that popped up - but I'm very grateful for the opportunity to be there and learn about their school system!  

Huge thanks to the staff, kids and school for hosting me!!*

Postage Increase

Finland is bumpin' up the prices to send mail (20 grams or less)...
And this sucks for those that still do write letters and post cards!! (Especially us Postcrossers!)

Here's the info from the Posti's site in English.

So I'll be stocking up on stamps right before the New Year...will you?

Mun Ty�harjoitus (tai Ty�harjoitelu..aka My Work Practice)

Today (Dec. 2) was my first day working in an elementary school.
So during my studies I will have to have 6 weeks of "ty�harjoitus" - which means getting myself a position in my field (which I don't actually have - since I have a variety of experiences but I don't carry a diploma or certificate)...I had originally opted for a baking position...then I thought of early hours...and in the darkness of December?  Too hard.
It's being split into two three-week periods...we'll do the next round in the spring and probably at a different location.
So I decided to go with teaching English and being an assistant to the teachers.
I'll post this once a week or every so often - but I'll try and write a bit everyday!!
I'm scheduled to work with the same teacher and group of kids for two days in a row.

Day 1:  Grade 5 - 20 kids - 2 teachers and me

Within five minutes of the kids' sitting down, there's some announcements - that can't be taken too seriously as the volume is so low and nobody is listening to them.
Then I hear some music - I know it's in a Shrek movie - it's instrumental and the kids are asked to be quiet. I KNOW it's not the national anthem....but the kids are instantly silent.
The teacher greets the children with a "Hyv� Huomenta!" (Good morning)
And the kids respond with respect.
One girl is late and she knocks before entering, goes to the teacher to apologize for her tardiness then sits down.
One boy is late - and doesn't apologize and right off the bat - I realize he's the "trouble maker".  There's one in every class isn't there?  (Not that I like giving labels - but since I can't write their names - no matter how common they may be! - I'll have to stick with various nick names.)
Well, after 45 minutes of chit chat - which included a blurb about where I'm from - the kids have recess for 25 minutes!
I'm pretty sure I had 15 minutes as a kid...then again - this is Finland.
I asked the teacher while we were outside on supervision duty if having so many breaks and shorter classes reduces fighting and she said yes - because it burns more energy when they're not studying or focusing on being taught something.
"But of course we have the occasional fist fight...but it doesn't happen often!"

Well, once the happy chiming of the bells go off - the kids file back inside and one kid has snow all over his face.
At first I think, "snow ball - wow, we're not allowed throwing them in school in Canada!" (At least when I was a kid...circa 1990-something...HELLO DINOSAURS!)
Turns out you're not allowed throwing snowballs here either.
The kids are in class and the teacher questions what happened among the boys.
Well, turns out that Trouble-Maker kid - might also have a case of the "Anger Management Issues" too.  We'll call him "Angry Birds" (so appropriate as Finland is the country that brings you those green pigs and red/yellow/blue/green birds).
Angry Birds tries to justify his reasoning for kicking another kid in the eye - which is swelling a bit, red but not purple or black....and the teacher asked me if I understood what's going on.
Unfortunately, Kids Kicking Another Kid in The Face 101, was not part of my lessons... - but I faked it and I think I understood some anyways.
The smallest kid in the class - who has interesting English vocabulary (keep reading!)- confirms that Angry Birds was at fault and while he's protesting the truth of witnesses - the teacher looks at me again and says, "This is the special kid who you ask him a simple question and all he does is BLAH BLAH BLAH!"
It was soooo hard to keep a straight face - because she said this in English and the kids have studied some!
Then the kids had some more energy burning sessions and got to play dodge ball...and Angry Birds was mega mad that he got tagged out easily (even though they had some weird system where you could get back in the game if your opponent got someone tagged out)....
I went to the city library attached to the school - which was gorgeous - and I caught the boys being a bit rowdy and asked them to be quiet.
So - Little One points at his best bud and whispers loudly to me, "Hi!  He's STUPID....so stupid...He's a MO-RWON!" (moron)
I told him that wasn't very nice and to keep quiet in the library - and he looks at me then runs off...quietly.

The whole class had a biology test this afternoon and while they were asked to sort their desks apart from their groups and into nice, neat rows....they were allowed to use their text books.
A friend who is a teacher said she docked points if a text book was used...but I don't know if that was the case today.

The afternoon was laid back and I had handicrafts with some older girls (the school is grades 1-6...so 7 years old to 13 years old) and unfortunately I finished all the yarn I had on me with the hat I was working on.
So I helped about when asked and started to make a gingerbread lady felt toy.
Then the power went out.
In all the four years I've lived here - never had a power outage.  This lasted 15-20 minutes...I thought this happened in the countryside!!!!
Oh and the handicraft teacher kind of looked like Ellen DeGeneres...I felt like dancing whenever I looked at her...but maybe that'd scare the crap out of her.

Day 2
We had art class and were given a huge sheet of thick paper and some paints and told to paint  around the edges towards the center but leave a blank spot in the center.
Then kids started drawing random things - so I joined in.
Turned out the point was to draw something involved with the time of day.
I tried drawing my dog, a cupcake and random words...then I  penciled in "LOVE" in the center, on a diagonal - and wrote in black pen words that went with "love" and all around the center word.  After, I erased Love and the inked words formed the shape of the word.
Well, Angry Birds thought I was AMAZING...and earned more cool points.

It was another teacher's birthday and he brought in donuts...and someone brought in a traditional Finnish mocha cake in the staff lounge/lunch room...usually chocolate looking, a tad dry and with chocolate frosting and sprinkles...
An older male teacher walks in - and this is what kills me...Finns know the MOST RANDOM things in English.
I get up to fill my water bottle and he bends at the pelvis, sticks his hands out in a "come-hither" way and starts to thrust himself towards the mocha cake and says,
"Come to Daddy...oh yeah baby...come to Daddy..."

This was to a cake...and I had to bite my tongue HARD (as I was just going past his back when he started doing his little dance and chant) so I didn't burst out laughing at him...seeing as I was the only native English speaker in the room...

Day 3
I had one period of English first thing in the morning with a substitute of the teacher who is my supervisor (technically) and turns out to be her son as well - and he had no idea about where I was from or why I was even in the school.
During that class, they were prepping for an up-coming test and one kid that sits alone in the front (probably because he's the trouble-maker) wanted to ask me a question and the teacher sub said, "Ask her."
Well, the kid had a fit and thought he said, "A**hole".
So of course, he's screeching in Finnish and suddenly screams, "A**hole!"  The teacher sub firmly tells him to sit down, settle down and to ask me a question if he had one.  (He didn't.)
Few minutes later, we're about to play Snakes and Ladders in English in their text books - and kid in the front (we'll call him "Mr. Extensive Vocabulary") stands up, flexes his muscles and screams:
"F**k the b**ch!"
I was so stunned at this random burst that my eyes nearly fell out of my head and the teacher looked at me and was equally stunned too.  He got a firm lecture and had to apologize to the teacher (it wasn't directed to me).
But yes, by the time I got home, I had a good chuckle - not that I approve of kids swearing - because I don't!  But it was SO random...and of all things to know in a 2nd language?!
After telling hubby about this - he wondered out loud, "I wonder where he learned that from?"
Seeing as their tests were about fruit, animals and where they are from - I doubt Mr. Extensive Vocabulary learned it in class!
Then again - the radios do not censor swear words in English music they play...so it's another possibility he learned it from there...or a movie.
One girl was super sweet and gave me a paper fan...and sang me a song in Finnish.  She even sat with me at lunch time...and didn't hold a grudge - despite me kicking her butt in Snakes and Ladders twice.  And she understood my Finnglish.

Then I'm with a different teacher - a fairly popular one from the looks of the kids' faces whenever he walked by and the cheerful "MOI! Hei!" from all the star-struck/swooning girls of various ages...
Anyhow, it's also a different grade - grade 3.  It's the first year that they start to learn English as a second language too!
I introduced myself with the typical: "My name is Dominique and I'm a Canadian.  I've lived in Finland for 4 years.  I have two boys and two dogs" - in Finnish AND English...so they could hear what words are similar in both languages and which weren't.
Then the questions came.  I mean - the grade 5's didn't ask me anything.

• "How old are you?" (this was asked at least twice)
• "Do you like cats/grapes/apples?"  - the grapes and apples is on their test soon...
• "Do you know Sidney Crosby?"

How is it, that a bunch of 9-10 year olds know who Sidney Crosby is, but any other die-hard ice-hockey fan (Finnish men usually) - have no idea who I'm talking about?!

Well, this blogger got even more awesome points and respect when I told them I'm actually from the same city(ish) as Sid the Kid.  And that no, I don't know him personally, but a friend saw him and has a photo with him from the airport in Texas.

This class had a TONNE of energy - which was great...but the teacher confided it was hard to find ways to get them to concentrate some times because they are everywhere.
Which was later confirmed by the other handicraft teacher (not the one who looks like Ellen) and I was mega impressed because she had 3 or 4 different craft stations on the go for this 1 class.
Even in music class, the music teacher gave up on yelling to get their attention - and just used a microphone in the music room.  I don't blame her at all.

They also teach religious studies in Finland.  Yep - even in elementary school.
The day's lesson was fairly basic.  They don't do it from the Bible, as far as I know (I haven't seen one yet) but from a school text book called "T�hti 3" (Star grade 3).  It had some colourful pictures, some text and seemed to be fairly basic in terms of lessons.
It was all about Joseph and Mary giving birth to baby Jesus and that the Angel Gabriel told them to name their baby Jesus.
They have notebooks with half lined paper, half blank - and they had to write a few sentences and then draw pictures imitating the book.
The religious studies teacher was an older man and when I told him we don't study religion in Canada during our basic school years (unless you go to a Church of some sort, study independently or choose to study in university) - he said he's sure Finland will go the same way in the future.
He didn't necessarily agree with the idea of teaching religion in school and I can only assume (as this was  quick conversation) that it's because there are so many different religions in the world.  But it's part of the curriculum and his job - so he does it.
He told me as well, that they do have Jehovah Witness students, and they have their own teacher - interesting!  I'm not sure if it's another teacher that happens to be a JW too or they have a member of that religion visit the school to educate the kids.
They don't do morning prayers either - like some schools in the USA used to (maybe some still do - but I wouldn't know).
Finland is primarily Lutheran based.

Day 4

I was with a grade two class - a group of less than 12 kids (I think some were sick) and they had math class. They're about 8 years old and learning fractions and already know their division (up to 12), multiplication tables (up to 12), addition and subtraction.

Because today (Dec. 5) is the day before the Finnish Independence Day (Dec. 6, 1917) - the whole school went outside and had a few scouts carry torches in, raise the Finnish flag, sing songs, wave flags and then we went back inside.

So today was quite relaxed since tomorrow is a holiday in Finland - and I helped mostly with the arts and crafts for our group.  They coloured flags, folded them and glued them to strands of yarn and I got to pin them up on the board...

Here's the dumb moment I had (there's always at least 1...):

Mr. Cute teacher says, "Hey Dominique - looking good!"

Well, I was surprised - I didn't even have a shower this morning! HA!
I say thanks then realize he's giving me a thumbs up and looking behind me...

At the garlands of Finnish flags I just finished pinning up.

Go me.

I also had two periods of gym/sports with kids and the most popular game is Tag.  But it's not just "TAG - you're OUT!"

Noo....it's once you get tagged, you have to freeze into a random position and someone has to "free you" by imitating your pose!

Then it was basketball with the grade 1 kids - and since the amount of kids were odd - I got to help with dribbling exercises and such.  One of those exercises had me teamed up with a girl who wasn't overly sporty...she missed the ball a couple of times when I passed it to her - and it kind of smacked her in the face.

She laughed.  Hey! I'm not complaining!!

The grade 3's had the same activities but a bit more running around, a proper game and harder basketball drills...it was fun!

I was complimented on my stop and pass...I didn't have the heart to tell him that in order to grow up in the North End properly - one must know how to handle a basketball...even if it's only basic stuff!

Next week I'm with new teachers every two days..one who just got back from a long time sick-leave...and hopefully had some sort of warning that a Canadian was coming over for a bit.

Time to enjoy the weekend!  I'll try and compile a massive list of major differences between Finnish schools and North American ones...soon...