Our German guests

Last week 6th October to 10th October some German students visited our high school. They came from Germany from Torgau, where we have our friendship school. The German students stayed that week in host families. Most of the senior high school German readers and some of the junior high school German readers the were hosts. We senior high school German readers had a similar trip to Germany last spring and we also stayed there in host families. Now it was the Germans' turn to travel and speak a new language and our time to be the hosts. It was also our time to use our language skills in both German and English and maybe learn some more and also teach some Finnish for the Germans.

               On Monday we left for Helsinki to fetch the Germans from the airport. After that we made a little sightseeing tour in Helsinki. We visited for example the Sibelius monument, Helsinki Cathedral, Helsinki´s market hall, the port and the Temppeliaukio church. After sightseeing we headed back to Hämeenkyrö and the Germans were divided in their own host families.

On Tuesday morning our school's headmaster gave a little welcoming speech and showed our school to the Germans. After that we had a little coffee moment in our school canteen. The Germans weren´t so excited about salty liquorice but Finnish chocolate they liked. Then we Finns had a normal school day, but the Germans made a little sightseeing tour in Hämeenkyrö. They visited inter alia Maisemakahvila, Timi´s pine and Mannanmäki.   

On Wednesday we were in the school for just a couple of lessons and then we left for Tampere. It was a bit rainy weather, but that didn´t disturb us much. We went to Tampere´s art museum to watch the Moominvalley. There we saw some Tove Jansson´s drawings and Moomin books and the miniature of the Moominhouse. After the museum we visited Tampere´s library Metso quickly and then we headed to the center. Then we visited the factory Finlayson area and we went there in the museum too. The rest of the day we had some free time in Tampere and the Germans could for example do some shopping there.

On Thursday the Germans were just in our school and visited different lessons. Thursday was their last day in Finland, so we had a little social evening in Särkijärvi. We ate there and the Germans had an opportunity to try the sauna and swimming. Those who didn´t come to the sauna, played some ball games outside. We had a very nice evening there. The Germans were excited to try the sauna and thought it was nice. The swimming they liked too, even though they thought that the water was very cold.

On Friday morning we needed to say goodbye to our German guests.  But before our guests left for the airport we took a group picture in front of the F.E Sillanpää statue. Then there was some hugging and thanking and then they had to leave back for Germany. I hope our guests had a nice week here and that they could someday travel back to Finland to see even more.





written by Miranda 2B

Greetings from Kaunas

One of our special courses in FES is a geography course no. 15 in which we deal with travelling. The course also includes a trip to somewhere nearby, this time to Kaunas, Lithuania. I think it was a good choice because no one had been there before (expect for the teacher and her husband), and it was an amazingly cheap place to visit! At least I was quite excited already before the trip because of the shoes I was going to buy there… 

 So, now I’m going to tell you via pictures about what we saw and experienced in Kaunas. But first I would like to tell you about our experiences and feelings when arriving to Kaunas. Well, after surviving the flight by Ryanair we stumbled upon the language barrier and also the angry behaviour of some Lithuanians. After this I noticed that we Finns are actually really friendly in spite of our different fame. 

The sights we visited: some monuments, the Ninth gate (a former concentration camp), the Devil museum (the only one in the world!), the zoological museum, Resurrection and another church and two shopping malls, Akropolis and Mega (Mega only briefly). 

  

             Kaunas city, the main shopping street called “Laisves aleja” and our hotel called “Kaunas city hotel”. 

  

                                     The longest (1,6km) pedestrian street in Eastern Europe!

 

                               The old town of Kaunas reminded me quite a lot of that in Tallinn. 

 

        There was a huge, about a 10-meter-high aquarium at the Mega shopping mall! You could also see  

                                                       little sharks there, it was quite amazing!

 .                “Our hotel room”, we were joking. But in reality, it was so shocking to see how cruel people 

               have been to each other –and still are. This was in the Ninth gate (a former concentration camp).

       And when the evening came, we were playing young and wild souls in the streets of the Kaunas city! Unfortunately we couldn’t ease our “homesickness” by watching the World Championship ice hockey, because they didn’t let the interested ones watch it in the restaurants.. It seemed the Lithuanians preferred watching fashion shows or Elvis…  and on the other hand, aren’t the pubs usually the places where you watch sports?

                                 Views from the bridge of love in Kaunas in the evening. Gorgeous!

               We were entertained by  young street dancers in the streets of Kaunas! This little boy in the picture  

                                                 wanted to join the dance, too ;)

                                 There we were, on the roof of the Resurrection church, at the vantage point! 

                                        …and saw the best and the largest views of the whole of Kaunas. 

      We also met a sweet old Russian man who had been in Siberia for a really long time, about 40 years! He just kept talking to us even though we could only understand a few words in Russian. He also showed us his great skis made of bear or some other animal skin. And absolutely wanted a picture of him with his great skis! 

                                          The best students, as our guide said in the very beginning!:)

Great and large shopping malls, small and sweet boutiques, delicious ice cream, lots of amber and shoes, and even more beautiful views and new tastes and experiences! Emphasis on the word “ice cream”.

So, overall we had a really successful trip in Kaunas, the mood was great and at least I had really fun and an exciting time! And this is the saldo of the 4 days: cheeks aching from smiling, feet aching from walking, lighter wallets but heavier baggage and memory full of unforgettable memories (and shoes and ice cream…)! 

…but finally Finland with its thousands of lakes was calling us again. But, I really would like to get back to Kaunas, who will come with me? 

Written by Janette Välimäki, 2B