Week 1: 5th January – 10th January

Personal and Cultural Development

Before leaving for Finland I had an idea that I would meet some really interesting people while away, and I have not been disappointed! Before I even made it to Helsinki in order to get to Turku, I had a flight transfer from London, where I met Harry. Harry is from Canada but now lives in Finland because he met a girl while on his exchange there. He plans to move to Greenland to work for the government, but hasn’t told his girl yet! Meeting people like this is a big thing for me in terms of personal development, because it reminds me that the world is my oyster and opportunities are there to be taken.

My first night in Turku was spent in a traditional Finnish house belonging to Emmi’s parents. I met Emmi when she was on ERASMUS at Stranmillis and she invited me to stay. It has become immediately obvious to me that the

stereotype of Finnish people as reserved and introverted people is not entirely true. They are more willing to help than I expected! Seeing Emmi’s home and meeting her parents was, personally and culturally, very exciting for me. The winter wonderland where Emmi lives >>>>
Already I have had the experience of traditional Finnish home life and food, and I count myself very lucky for that. Finnish homes are quite small and kept very clean, partly because everybody removes their shoes/boots and coats, scarves, etc. on entering, and partly because the Finns take great pride in their homes. It is the norm to remove outer garments upon entering most buildings, where there are plenty of pegs and stands to leave them. Outside it is -20°C, but indoors it is more like +20°C, since the houses are built to cope with the cold weather, particularly with triple-glazed windows. My apartment is the same, which I am very thankful for!

I would consider myself relatively politically uneducated (probably by choice), but Finnish politics struck me as interesting. As part of an orientation course, there was a crash course in Finnish culture, from which I learnt that the government here is run by a Prime Minister and a President (a female President too – the Finnish really do like to be unique!). There also is a sense of gender equality, something that is being used to bridge the economic gap, especially in terms of economic income in international comparison. The Finns also seem to have a peculiar sense of humour, one which (I think) is rather similar to the Irish. It is also quite interesting that the Finnish language has no future tense, something that fuels the negative stereotype of Finnish pessimism.

What is the difference between Finnish weddings and funerals? At funerals there is one person not drinking. << Finnish humour

Professional Development

Professionally, I have found it interesting to learn that the teaching profession here is very highly regarded, with teachers gaining the same amount of respect as doctors. Prior to this though, students can only gain teacher status and qualify as a teacher following completion of a Masters course. Most Finnish students apply straight away to study Masters after school, spending five years on average in university. In contrast to the UK, students do not pay fees to go to university here. Instead, when they graduate and begin work, they pay much higher taxes (40%). It is difficult to say at this stage which system I think is better! However, it seems more appealing to go into the world of work relatively debt-free, as opposed to the twenty or thirty thousand pounds of I debt I will have when I graduate!

This week I have found out general information about studying here and how the Faculty of Education works. It is different from Stranmillis in terms of modules and teaching practice. Here, there are two teaching periods in the second semester; the first is from 11th January to 7th March in which I will hopefully complete three modules, and the second from 8th March to 23rd May in which I will complete a further two modules. Teaching practice (or ‘school experience’) is spread throughout the two teaching periods, on negotiation with the school. There are schools specifically for teacher training here, so the pupils are very familiar with student teachers. The grading system differs quite dramatically from that at home. It is not leagued in Finland, so there is no comparison made against other students; it is simply based on the individual work you produce.

<<<< The University of Turku.

It will be interesting to see how all of this will impact upon my studying here and the comparisons I can make between this system and the university system back home. This remains to be seen and will be reported on in the weeks to come.