More about Finland

Hello Grade 6.

Today we left Kauhava and we are now in Lapua for one night. Tomorrow we are leaving for Seinajoki. $5 to the first student who can pronounce Seinajoki correctly.

During my stay in Kauhava my host took me to visit his glider. A glider is a plane that is towed off the ground and into the air with another plane. Once you are 500 metres in the air, the glider is disconnected from the other plane and it can now fly on its own. We took many pictures of the glider. It looked very new even though it was 30 years old. One of the reasons it looked so good is because my host had refurbished it. He had purchased it from a pilot who had crashed it in the forest. He said that when he bought it, the left wing was almost destroyed. Now a days we takes about 20 trips a year in his glider. His trips are usually 8 hours long and he travels about 500 kilometres and back which is roughly a day trip to Moose Jaw if you travel through Regina.

Naturally I wanted to sit in the glider so my hosts suited me up with a parachute and in I went. What do you think? Do I look like a good pilot? Perhaps I should retire as a glider pilot as opposed to a test pilot at a hammock factory!

Of course I have been visiting more schools. We visited a Grade 7 to 9 school and a highschool in Kauhava. We arrived at lunch time. All students in Finland receive a free hot lunch. This sounds great but today was porridge day. We better thank Mrs. Boulet for her good cooking!

After lunch we toured the school. Students as young as grade 1 do home economics and industrial arts in Finland. That means that they learn about sewing, craft making, cooking, mechanics, and building. Students in Canada usually don´t learn about these things until highschool. We toured the classrooms where students were learning these things. They sure were doing some interesting projects. We also visited an art class. Here is a student´s picture of a famous Finnish cartoon character called Moomin. He is like the Finland Mickey Mouse.

As we left the school it was interesting to take a picture of the parking lot. Students in Finland are allowed to drive scooters, Smart Cars, and even TRACTORS to school at age 15 without a license! Don't tell the Grade 8's!

Today we visited the church in Lapua. This church has the largest pipe organ in Finland with over 6 000 pipes. Here you can hear what this organ sounds like.


Well I better be off for now. We have a supper and presentation tonight. Last night we ate reindeer stew. My hosts assured me that it wasn't Rudolph! By the way, everyone keeps asking me where Santa Claus lives. This is a trick question becuase we think that the North Pole is in northern Canada but it is actually in northern Finland. They are testing me!


Keep reading the blog!

Hi Grade 6! Sorry for not posting for awhile but we have really been very busy. As promised above is a picture of the inside of a Grade 5 student's desk from Finland. I hope your lockers are not looking like this!

We are now in the city of Vaasa for the last evening. We have done many wonderful things while we have been here. I even adopted a seal as you can see in the picture below. I plan on hiding him in my suitcase for the return home. Just kidding of course. This picture comes from a museum that we visited about the wildlife that live in this region. While in Vaasa I have been staying with some very nice people. They have a 1969 Volvo that is just great. We ride in it everyday. Here are a few pictures of the car.

Lastly, Finland is known for its many clubs and societies. There seems to be a club or society for everything. There is even a club for people who like to swim in ice water and then run into the sauna! I think that I may join this club because we will be doing this tomorrow.

For now though I decided to join the Vaasa Walking Society. Here I am walking 10 km with the other society members. After we enjoyed coffee and a pastry.

Well, I better be off for today. Tomorrow we are moving to the city of Kauhava. More later!

Oh..but wait....congratulations on our classroom poster contest winner! I knew that someone would be lucky. Your posters were some of the best that I have seen.

Hello From Finland

I hope that you are enjoying your first few days of school after the Easter break. I thought of you today as I toured a Grade 5 classroom in the city of Vaasa. Students in Grade 5 in Finland are actually the same age as students in Grade 6 in Canada. Consider yourself lucky that most of you now have desks without buckets. All the desks in this classroom had buckets where the students keep their things. I opened up one of the desks and took a picture of what was inside. Do you think it was clean and organized or messy? I will post the picture soon so that you will know the answer. Right now my camera is having trouble connecting to the computer.

What else can I tell you? Well I guess I can tell you that I have been eating a lot of fish. The fish here is very good. It is very fresh as the ocean is near. Most of the fish we eat is white fish or slamon but yesterday I tried baltic herring and it was raw! Hey...remember those ugly fish that I caught? Do you remmeber the burbot? They catch them here. However, instead of eating the meat, the Finns eat the liver and the eggs of the fish. It is a special meal here. Someone please tell Mr. Wingerter about this!

There is still some snow here. I think that is it colder here than at home. The last things I packed in my suitcase were a toque and mitts as well as a pair of shorts. So far the toque andmitts have been used everyday. The shorts have not enjoyed Finland at all as they are still at the bottom of my suitcase.

Well that is all for now. I will post pictures when I can.

Work hard and keep watching the blog.

A Week in Finland

Well I have officially been away for a week.

The weather in Finland has been a little colder than home. It has basically snowed every day. Then the sun comes out and melts the snow.

We have went on many great tours in Finland. We first stayed in Kokkola. They call it a town but it actually has 40 000 people. In Kokkola we visited a company that builds kyaks. We also visited a factory that builts boat engines. Building boats provides many jobs in the town of Kokkola.

Then we moved to Pietasaari. This is a town of 20 000 people. I stayed with a family with two sons. One of the sons was 11 years old and in grade 4. You are in grade 6 and you are 11 years old. This shows you how our schools in Canada and Finland are different. The mother of the family was a teacher so we talked about how our schools are different. In Finland students must learn English, Finnish, and Swedish. Some students learn more languages than that. Can you imagine learning more that just English in school! The family gave me comic books written in both Finnish and Swedish to show you what these two languages look like.

In Pietasaari we also toured two places that make yahts. Some of these yahts cost 90 000 000 euros which would be a lot more money in Canada. I went inside some of these boats and took many pictures.

Today was an interesting day. Today we went down to the cold water that is still covered with ice. The Finnish people go swimming in the cold water and then they run into the sauna. I think you know what a sauna is but if you do not, it is a place where you sit and there is steam that will keep you warm. We swam in the cold water and ran to the sauna 5 times. After the first time, it felt much better. This is something that the Finnish people do. It was interesting and fun. I would do it again. Would you?

In both places, I have also been busy doing many presentations on what life is like in Canada. During these presentations I met a teacher from Finland who will be coming to Prince Albert after I come back. I wonder if we can convince her to visit our classroom?

Tomorrow I am moving to Vaasa. I will miss the town of Pietarsaari but I am sure we will also meet many wonderful people in Vaasa.

You will soon be back at school from Easter break. Work hard for Mr. Garner. I know that you will have fun together. Keep watching the blog.

Mrs. Fonstad

First Day in Finland

Today was our first day in Finland. We enjoyed a typical European breakfast in our hotel...bread, sandwich meat, and cheese. Then we went on a tour of a school where students would learn about science and math when they finish highschool.

We then took a tour of the town of Kokkola. The town has 35 000 people but there are hardly any traffic or people wandering about. The houses in the old part of the town are made of wood and many have backyards for a garden.

We learned many interesting things about Finland today. Like Canada, Finland has two official languages. The languages are Swedish and Finnish. However, many people speak English as well.

Finland is one of the largest European countries and it is getting larger every year. How can this be? Finland is growing 8mm every year. The harbour which used to be located in the town market is now located 5 km away. During the ice age, Finland was covered by ice. The ice was very heavy. Now that the ice is gone and the land does not have the heavy weight on top of it, Finland is rising causing more land to appear each year.

Well that is all for today.

The Night Before the Flight

Well, it is the night before my flight. My bags are packed and I am ready to go.

Tomorrow I fly out of the Saskatoon airport at 1 p.m. I won't actually arrive in Kokkola, Finland until 9:30 local time on April 14th.

There is an 8 hour time difference between here and Finland. Take the time that it is in Prince Albert and count 8 hours ahead. That will be the time in Finland.

Next time I write, I will be in Finland!

Happy Easter and I hope you are enjoying your Easter break!

Mrs. Fonstad