My Study Abroad in Finland: Week 16, 30.04.11 – 06.05.11 (Cultural Blog)

I mentioned at the end of last week’s blog that I had helped the children in my placement make ‘Vappu’ hats. This was in preparation for VAPPU on 1^st May. Therefore I was able to experience some of the Finnish culture over the weekend. It seems Vappu (May Day) was traditionally ‘Worker’s Day’ and it has been an official flag-raising day since 1978 – ‘The Day of Finnish Work’.

Naturally, I was keen to experience this celebration so I went along to the town on the eve of Vappu where I met with other students (including Alex and Andrea from last year’s exchange). We relaxed in the park and then headed to the Art Museum in the town centre; where an official-looking gentleman was giving a speech to the crowds that had gathered. In today’s society the celebration of Vappu is mainly for secondary school graduates (past and present) to celebrate by bringing out their white caps. After this speech the students put their caps on and continued to be merry with sparkling beverages (traditionally mead “sima”).

Following this, the crowds walked behind a carnival-like parade towards the Aura River where the statue ‘Lilja’ was situated. It is a tradition, I am told (and have now witnessed), that the dentistry students clean the statue Lilja with an enormous toothbrush. The students pretended to clean the statue followed by a politician’s speech, which was spoken in Finnish, Swedish and English. From what I could grasp of the speech it seemed that the general public were not overly thrilled by what the man had to say. Apparently, there has been a recent election of government politicians and people believe that the new parliament is not going to move forward with equality but go back to some traditional old way. However as the speech means less to me, I was happy to experience the Finnish culture as it turned out to be a massive celebration.

On Vappu day I went to a park in Turku for a picnic with other students. This was still a major celebration for the Finn’s, attending with their white caps and alcoholic drinks. It was quite a different experience to see so many Finn’s out enjoying themselves, although I found that they do like to drink a great deal! It was nice to see that even though alcohol was involved, there were no drunken fights and everyone was celebrating in harmony.

Prior to Vappu I had heard it was a massive celebration and that I must experience it while in Finland. However I was somewhat disappointed, as with all the talking about it I must have had high expectations which were not met. To end though, it was a lovely experience and another one to add to my memories of Finland and Erasmus.

Professional Note: This week was my last in placement and I was sad to leave. I taught the children about ‘nature’ with a PowerPoint presentation and ‘nature trail’ as my final lesson. This was enjoyed by all and a great way to end my time with the children. To conclude my time there I visited the International School with the Pre-school children. It was interesting to see how on the opening morning they go straight to a desk and undertake two lessons with the teacher. I look forward to observing the full routines when I visit the school next week again.

Overall I have enjoyed placement immensely – the teachers, children and environment as a whole were great and I will miss it. As a thank you and farewell gift I gave the setting a ‘Twister’ game for the children (which they were delighted with) and some Irish Linen tea towels so as to leave them with some memories of Northern Ireland. The teachers were kind and gave me famous ‘Fazer’ chocolate and Salmiakki with a beautiful Finnish ‘Marimekko’ candle holder.