Week 20: 17th May – 23rd May

Personal and Cultural Development

The Finnish summer has officially arrived and what a summer it is! Turku looks completely different. The first time I walked into town admiring the views, I was awe-struck by how something as simplistic as leaves on trees could fascinate me. My eyes were roaming all around me, I was barely looking where I was going, and of course I had to pause at times to take some photos so that I wouldn’t be relying on my memory to capture the beauty of nature that I was seeing. I couldn’t believe this was the same place that I had arrived at back in January when it was minus 30 degrees, now boasting a sweltering +30 degrees! As well as the temperature, the hours of daylight have also drastically changed. I am back to having almost no concept of time, like I did back in winter when we were lucky to have 2 hours of daylight. Now, there is at least 18 hours of daylight and night time isn’t even what I would call dark. Finland is full of extremes, but that has made my experience here so much more interesting.

On Saturday, I was taken on a surprise journey to enjoy my last weekend in Finland. We returned to Naantali, where we had gone in February to Moominworld. What a contrast that lay before me! I was fascinated by summer in Turku, but Naantali took my breath away!

<< Naantali,
February 2010                                              

It was totally different from the last time we were in Naantali. Then, it was covered in snow, and now I have a new appreciation for the small, pretty town. It was beautiful – sitting watching the water so tranquil, peaceful, calm and quiet was the perfect way to spend a lovely summer’s day.

<< Naantali,
May 2010 

This will be my last blog entry because I don’t have long left and the rest of my time will be spent tying up loose ends and saying goodbyes. All that remains is my final reflection on my Erasmus experience that will no doubt be full of positives about this life-changing time I’ve had here, the only sadness being caused by leaving some of the most amazing people I’ve ever met.

Week 19: 10th May – 16th May

Personal and Cultural Development

This week has been so eventful, and it hasn’t been spent in Finland. In fact, I have been travelling in Poland for six days, through Warsaw, Krakow, Auschwitz, Gdańsk, Hel and Sopot. Before leaving Turku, there were still no leaves on the trees, so when we arrived in Warsaw I was ecstatic to see all the greenery! I had forgotten what summer looked like and I’m appreciating the simple things in life much more now. In Warsaw, we visited the highest building in Poland, the culture tower, a present from Stalin, showing off impressive views. The city was surprisingly beautiful and romantic, despite everything being destroyed in the war. I expected it to seem full of pain and suffering but it has been rebuilt to create something of a honeymoon destination. The old town has been magnificently restored to look like it did before the war; it was so picturesque, it almost felt like a backdrop to a scene in a romantic movie. At times, it was hard to believe we were in Poland; it felt like Spain sitting outside on a terrace in the centre of the old town, eating good (cheap!) food, the boys drinking a litre of beer each, us girls drinking cocktails.

Krakow was another fascinating Polish city, full of churches – twenty-five to be exact just in the centre. I was in my element as usual, as I just adore the mystical feel churches bring to an area like that. During our stay in Krakow we took the opportunity to visit Auschwitz concentration camp; this was an experience that has been etched into my mind forever. It was a dull and rainy morning, weather that seemed fitting for the day that lay ahead, but nothing could have prepared me for what was to come. We were given a guided tour of Auschwitz and Birkenau, with detail on the reality that happened there. From this, I learnt a lot. If there was any doubt before about the level of human cruelty that existed there, seeing was believing. The truth of the past was horribly real right before my eyes. Before going to the concentration camp everybody was joking and laughing, but once there, all that was to be heard were the raindrops.

The tour began at the gates that prisoners walked through, above which was the phrase ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ (‘Work sets you free’), giving the victims false hope. Before the war, the camp buildings housed the Polish army, but now it is seen as probably the worst place that has existed in Europe. Slave labour was abused, with doctors selecting those fit for work immediately upon arrival to the camp. A snap decision was made on the level of physical fitness; 25% were deemed fit enough, the rest – the elderly, pregnant women, children, the sick and disabled – were led to the gas chambers. The gas chambers were constructed underground so that they were concealed. Victims being led there were promised a bath or admission to another camp. Dummy showers were even fixed to the ceiling to deceive them. After gassed, corpses were stripped of gold teeth, earrings, rings, etc.

They were ordered to undress first and even told to remember the number of the hook where they had left their clothes – malevolent and cruel doesn’t even describe the false hope these people were given. We were told that screaming could be heard from the gas chambers, but within thirty minutes there was silence. This will become a hard-hitting, long-lasting memory for me, as we were taken to  the first gas chamber to be tested for mass killings that became used as part of daily routine. It is now a place of silence to respect those that lost their lives there. The worst realisation was that because that was the first chamber to be used, it was in fact the smallest, so to imagine not hundreds but thousands of people mass murdered in such a way, I can’t fathom it at all. To think that Auschwitz is the largest cemetery in the history of mankind with no graves, only ashes, is beyond my comprehension. Even worse, it was considered lucky for ashes even to remain, nothing was wasted, the ashes of burned bodies was used as fertiliser.

On top of this, personally the most shocking parts included seeing the actual living conditions people were put through, the photographs of the children tortured and killed there, and worst of all the human hair cut off shown in a huge pile in the museum. It was also heartbreaking to see the suitcases of the deceased, most of which had the hometown and date of birth of those they belonged to, some of which were children’s of two or three years old. The word Holocaust now has a deeper form of meaning and horrendous realism to me. All the pictures I took were in black and white, because I didn’t feel that colour would really portray the injustice and atmosphere radiating from the camp. I think everyone will take away some scar in their minds, and feel lucky for what we have today.

 

Despite the place of tragedy and torture that we had just seen, Poland offered an upbeat and courteous way of life back in Krakow and the remaining Polish towns we visited. It seems chivalry isn’t dead in Poland, since, for example in restaurants, menus are given first to ladies then to men. The train journeys from Warsaw to Krakow (3 ½ hours) and Krakow to Gdańsk (12 hours) allowed us to discover the landscape of the country. It reminded me very much of home, but, as Matti said, ‘it looks like the whole country is a big field,’ it is all flat with no mountains to be seen – beautiful nonetheless. Gdańsk actually turned out to be my favourite place, probably because it oozed charm and, of course, it dazzled me with water as it is at the North coast of Poland.

 

We were advised by the staff of our hostel to explore the old town of Gdańsk, take a ferry to the peninsula, another ferry from the peninsula to Sopot where there is a buzzing atmosphere with plenty of restaurants, etc., and a train back to Gdańsk. And that’s exactly what we did!

We went to the ticket office to buy ferry tickets and Matti dramatically declares to the ticket lady, ‘One way ticket to HELL!!!’ I turn to him, mortified, only to realise that that’s exactly what we were asking for, just not so dramatically! The peninsula we were going to is named Hel. When we made it there after the hilarity of the situation had passed, to call it Hel was a complete mismatch! It resembled paradise more than an image of hell. There was a great beach where we decided it would be appropriate to eat ice cream. Somehow, instead, we ended up with fresh fish – an unusual choice, but it has to be said, the fish meat was beautifully tender and succulent. The whole day was just fantastic, and ended the trip on a high.

Professional Development

Having spent most of the week in Poland, obviously not much happened in my professional life. Having said that, I did finish my school experience the day before I left, teaching three lessons on Monday: maths, history and ethics. I was actually sad that I was leaving, but excited about finishing my practice with an ethics lesson, as I had been so impressed with the subject since I found out about it and had been observing it in Finland. My lesson was on vegetarianism, and it actually turned out not to be the highlight of my final teaching day. Rather, it was the history lesson that I was dreading somewhat. History really isn’t my strong point and I had been given a specific lesson to teach on Roman Legions, something I knew nothing about. The activity that the lesson involved initially baffled me, so I tested it on Matti, Travis and Thomas before planning it. It required group work, deciding how to budget and organise the Roman Army to invade Britain. The boys completed the task, although they were confused by it too, giving me enough insight to enable me to understand how to use it in my lesson. In retrospect, I actually think testing it on my friends first allowed me to teach a better lesson, because I had dissected the knowledge and learning required for such a task. Needless-to-say, the 10/11 year old pupils seemed to understand and enjoy it better than the 21/22 year olds, two of which have had experience in the army!

Interestingly, I met a girl from Holland on a train in Poland that I began a really intriguing conversation with about Steiner education – something I have studied and she had been educated in. It was just such a shame that we only discovered this common area of interest and began such an interesting conversation as the train journey came to an end!

That brings to an end my professional development here in Finland. I have gained so much that I havn't even thought to include in this blog, so I hope my final reflection upon my return to NI will capture the true essence of this experience.

Week 18: 3rd May – 9th May

Personal and Cultural Development

I have been waiting for this week for a very long time: it was time for my first ever professional massage – nervous doesn’t even comprehend how I felt, I didn’t know what to expect. The ‘nervousness’ turned into confusion upon arrival. Alex and I were directed to a ‘waiting room’ which consisted of just a waiting area with a curtain posing as a wall. We then went back to ask if we could use the spa facilities because that was part of the deal, and otherwise we would have been left waiting for an hour until our appointments with absolutely nothing to do. We were happy to be given keys to the spa, but walked in not prepared to see naked people everywhere. Swimming costumes were not allowed at open showers or in sauna. No robe or slippers were provided; they appeared to be for hotel guests only. Needless-to-say, I changed into my bikini and went on a search to find the Jacuzzi. It ended up it was amongst swimming pools, water slides, an outside pool, a bar, amusements and a Hesburger (Finland’s answer to McDonalds). Bizarre doesn’t even give it justice. The woman at the desk advised us that we could stay until 9pm (we were there from 3pm) and put a Hesburger bill on a tab under our key numbers and pay when we leave – but what on earth was a Hesburger doing in the middle of a health spa?! We felt that fruit or healthy snacks would have been more appropriate. Having said that, we ended up going for a Chinese after spending 3 hours at the spa!

While at the spa, we swam through automatic doors to the outside pool – which was cold. I don’t know why I was surprised by this considering we are in Finland! Finally, we got to the proper Jacuzzi which calmed my nerves before my treatment. I was going for an anti-stress neck massage that actually included the back, shoulders and head as well. I don’t know why I went for anti-stress since I’m not stressed at all – perhaps I felt like my body was stressed after all the travel and Erasmus activity over the past few months; being a student is a hard life, it takes its toll! Anyway, I went for the massage and of course I got the masseuse that spoke no English whatsoever, so that was an interesting experience! Initially when I went in I didn’t know whether I should talk or not, like that awkward moment in the hairdressers – do I start a conversation or not, and if so what do I talk about? But, in this instance, the language barrier solved that problem! The massage itself was a really weird experience; there were moments that were lovely and relaxing and others when I wondered why I was putting myself through this torture! Muscles were being poked and prodded at that I didn’t even know existed! I have some sort of knot in my shoulder that I knew would be some trouble but the pain was blinding. The masseuse seemed to know this and in response concentrated more on that area to the point where I just wanted it to end! There was a great moment where I thought it had ended but really she wanted me to turn over – the torment wasn’t over yet! Eventually it ended, leaving me feeling a mixture of relaxed and wondering what new muscles I was feeling in my back that I had never felt before. It was straight to sauna after that – proper Finnish style this time! What a relief it was, a great huge stone stove sauna then to cool down in the pool to finish.

Professional Development

The professional highlight this week was a demonstration (or an experiment, rather) for the same module that I’ve had the four hour seminars for. I was a participant in an experiment with eye-tracking technology; something I never even knew existed. The class was given in a small lab that contained, at first glance, a normal computer with a video camera placed above it. It was explained, however, that this ‘computer’ was, in fact, the eye-tracker that looked like a normal computer monitor but had infrared camera running along the bottom. First, I was put through a calibration exercise in which the infrared cameras tracked the pupils of my eyes. I was required to look at a red ball with a black dot in the centre. The ball would move and I would have to follow it with my eyes, without moving my head, similar to the test done at the opticians. The rest of the experiment was recorded on camera. I had to look at two pictures for ten seconds each and answer observational questions about them. The eye-tracker detected where I looked in the pictures, in what order, and for how long. It was interesting to see everybody else’s reactions as well as my own observation and attention to detail. It seems I have a bit of an artist’s eye apparently, because I took at the entire picture, including the background, rather than just focusing on the details in the foreground. The video and data was played back to show how and where my eyes were tracked and the fixations I had (the bigger the dots, the longer the fixation).

The next experiment involved reading scientific texts under different situations, for example a stressful time limit, or a purpose that solely requires memorisation. I learnt that this is new in educational research, but has been used for quite some time in the marketing field for creating advertisements and web pages. The main purpose of the current research in education is in reading and reading comprehension. It can be particularly productive in use with children with learning disabilities to show improvement (for example, with smaller fixations) and give positive feedback. It can also be used to investigate pupils’ reactions to situational and motivational factors in reading or learning in general. It is anticipated that the future use of eye-tracking in education will include guidance on how to make textbooks, such as designing the layout of pictures and text to gain the most efficient reading and learning. All in all, this was one of the most interesting classes I’ve ever been to, and has once more increased my motivation to write about the topics and issues that have arisen in this module.

Week 17: 26th April – 2nd May

Personal and Cultural Development

It was fantastic to be in Turku this week, not only to have a rest from travelling, but also to celebrate Vappu weekend! Vappu is a lively party weekend for students and high school graduates, but this doesn’t mean that everybody can’t be involved. Traditionally, everybody that has graduated from high school in Finland wears their white graduation cap on both the eve and the first of May. There was a huge build up to Vappu, as it is the biggest celebration of the year in Turku, and it managed to live up to all expectations, even weather-wise! We began the celebrations by going to my faculty at Educarium to drink some complimentary punch, listen to some great music by a live band, and enjoy the weather. Then, it was time for the big event beside Kauppatori (the market square) on the hill of Turku. Everybody gathered here – people of all ages, young and old – to join in the tradition commencing the wear of the white caps after 6pm. The city was absolutely buzzing full of people, and it was wonderful to see all the Finnish graduates wearing their own individual white caps with pride. The age could be seen on some of the older people’s hats since they can never be washed! I also joined in the event by wearing my student overalls (that can also never be washed!), that many of my friends were signing since it is sadly coming near the end of ERASMUS for many of us.

 

The Vappu fun continued on May Day with a picnic on Vartiovuorenmäki, a big park in Turku. It was a double celebratory weekend in fact, because TPS, Turku’s ice hockey team, won the championship.


 The other great event of the week was a French dinner held by my roommate Anaïs – we had delicious saucisson et croquet-monsieur, as well as French toast (pain perdu) upon my request! I must say, the French really do live up to their reputation of great food. :)

Professional Development

I reported last week on my improved ability to think critically and reflect, and this week has seen even more progress. Since many of the courses are coming to an end, final preparations and tasks are being completed, among which was a presentation this week on my school experience. I reflected on how I had perceived the Finnish education system before experiencing it in practice; my view was idealistic from an outsider’s perspective. As one of my classmates put it, it seems like teaching paradise, since there are no inspections, no rankings, and no fees. I also reflected upon my initial surprise of Finland’s performance in PISA; achieving top scores despite having the latest starting age in schooling, and the least hours spent in school. However, after spending some time in schools myself, I can see why Finland achieves such results and holds such a high reputation in the education field. Some of the positive points that I have taken from my experiences include the breaks given after every 45 minute class that improve motivation and concentration, the opportunity for pupils to voice their opinion and, most importantly, feel they are valued, the flexible approach to teaching that is realistic to the profession, language learning, and the emphasis on research, skills and values that are productive for lifelong learning. The methodologies I have observed I feel I can take with me wherever I go to teach, so in that respect, the school experience course here in Turku has been invaluable to me.