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
