Merry Christmas

A day among elves

On the very last school day of this autumn, 20th December, we had a theme day in our high school. Since Christmas was already close, we high school students dressed as christmassy characters. Naturally we had lots and lots of elves and of course Santa Claus himself! There were also Christmas trees, reindeer and even a cute pink pig. The ambiance was warm and cheery – we listened to Christmas carols during the classes which we had only in the morning.

The rest of the day ticked by playing the ham bingo, in which the winner got a big ham for the Christmas table, and watching a Christmassy movie at our auditorium.  It seemed to be surprisingly hard for some people to write down numbers from one to forty-nine, it really took a while! Anyway, the game has been favoured for many years now. The specialty of this year was that the ham was domestic and the quality had been invested in.

The students and the teachers were all in the Christmas mood and everybody were at least wearing a brownie’s cap. It was a very pleasant day!

Happy New Year to everyone!

Maiju 3A

 

                                         The winners of the best costume competition.

Class 2B had a special reason to feel good as they got a big packet full of candy from the US where their former class mates Elli and Laura are spending their exchange year.  They also Skyped one more former class mate, Annamari,  in Australia.  Finally Enrique, our exchange student from Mexico, showed them how Christmas is celebrated in his home country, so it was a very international lesson!

Happy holidays to everyone!  And very special greetings to Elli, Laura and Annamari to the other sides of the world!   

Graduation day and Independence day

On the 5th of December we celebrated both the Eve of the Finnish Independence Day and the graduation of Iida Viitaniemi. 

                                                             Iida gets the white cap.


                 

  

In the afternoon the whole school celebrated the Finnish Independence Day with different kinds of performances. Our celebration was a kind of dress rehearsal of the big event on the 6th of December when all the people in Hämeenkyrö were invited to come to our school to attend the festivities.

                                              Third year students bring the Finnish flags to the hall.

                                     Third year student Mikko J. giving the welcoming speech.

                          "The boys of the forest".  One of the best known Finnish poems by Aleksis Kivi                                      interpreted by the senior high school boys accompanied by Black Sabbath´s Paranoid.

 

                                        Finnish flute music by second year student Johanna U.

      Pro Patria War Memorial 1939-1945 was revealed on the 6th of December.  It includes the names of all the men from Hämeenkyrö who died in the WWII.  It is situated in the entrance hall of our school so that all young people of our town will see the names.


                            

A Trip to France

Our French group had a pleasant continuation to our autumn holiday: a five-day trip to France! This time the group was really small, 8 students from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades, and our teachers Leena Klemets and Taina Salonen. However, a small group like this guaranteed a very good team spirit and the easiness of staying together.

The feelings before the trip were quite expectant, and for some of us it was hard to realize even during the trip that we actually were in France.

- I didn't feel especially nervous in Finland, but when we landed in Paris, I was a little unsure about what would be ahead of us, thought 1st grade student Janne Suominen.

The preconceptions were unnecessary, because already the climate was a pleasant surprise: while in Finland it had started to snow, in France we had about +20 degrees during the warmest days. However, at the end of the week jackets really were needed.

We spent our nights in local families (one pair in one family) in the small city of Bretigny. This way we could be especially near to the French culture and language: in some families you couldn't get any help of the English language. At the very beginning, using and undestanding French felt really hard, but luckily at the end of the trip a lot of development could be noticed.

- It was really hard to try to speak and understand French on the first day. I felt that I forgot even the easiest and the most familiar words, not to mention the hard ones. Little by little I started to remember more and every day it was easier to understand French and to pronounce it and form sentences, said 1st grade student Suvi-Tuuli Mäkikauppila. In the very end it was more about your courage to use French than your actual ability to speak it. Via effort and mistakes agreement was always found.

We had only the mornings and the evenings to spend with the families because most days were full of interesting and versatile program: on three mornings we went to the local upper secondary school, Lycée Jean-Pierre Timbaut, where we had lessons for three hours in French. After the lessons we went to the centre of Paris by metros and local trains led by our top-quide. On the first day we visited Notre-Dame cathedral, the shopping avenue of Saint Michel, the Eiffel Tower, the shopping avenue Champs-Elysées and the Triumphal arch (Arc de Triomphe). The sights were just as gorgeous as we were expecting, and the large views from the Eiffel Tower vantage point were breathtaking.

Other sights were for example the Castle of Versailles and Louvre art museum, where we could see the gorgeous glass pyramid and the original Mona Lisa-painting.   On the last day we had a tour in Montmarte, where we saw for example the church of Sacré Coeur, the square of artists and two cabarees, Lapin Agile and the more famous Moulin Rouge. We also visited the huge shopping mall, Lafayette, and some of us The Hard Rock cafe, too. Our versatile programme included something for everyone, and I think our expectations were fulfilled positively.

        Versailles’ rooms were really gorgeous and full of luxury!

            One part of the gorgeous garden of Versailles.

       In front of the glassy pyramid entrance of the Louvre art museum.

-  My favorite sight was the Eiffel Tower, I think. My expectations we fulfilled quite well, although I didn't expect Versailles and Louvre to be so enormous, says 1st grade student Annika Kaasalainen.

All in all our trip was a real success and full of unforgettable experiences. In addition of testing our language skills, our trip was a dive into the French culture, and French people received us in a really friendly way.

 

One evening we had an opportunity to test ordering our meal in French, and everyone managed great. 

          

- My feelings after the trip were magnificent. I feel our French group has become more united, thought 2nd grade student Juuso Kosola.

Even though we had five amazing days behind us, the trip was also quite heavy in places, so it was really rewarding to get back to Finland, especially after the problems with the airplane and the taxi. We came back home exteremly tired but happy.

- We had a great time in France, but it's always nice to return to Finland, says Suominen at the very end.

                  A bakery in Bretigny.

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In front of the “L’arc de Triomphe”.

                                                    The very famous “La tour Eiffel”!

Breathtaking views from the second floor of the Eiffel tower.  

 

The gorgeous and big Notre-Dame cathedral.  

                                               From our tour in Montmarte.

            There it was, the very famous Moulin Rouge! Unfortunately we couldn’t see it in the evening.

 

 The church of Sacré Coeur.

We also visited some shopping malls, like this gorgeous one called “Lafayette”.  

Written by Janette 3A

Sports day boosted with Halloween

Today we had a sports day.  Every grade was dressed in their own color: the first grade in green, the second in red and the seniors in blue. 

                                                    The first year winning team.

                                                             The third year team.

We started with a game called elephant ball, which is like playing soccer but instead of a football there is a huge gymnastic training ball on the pitch. The grades contended against each other and since the winner of the whole battle was the seniors, they had another match against our high school teachers, which the seniors naturally won.

Next we had a Halloween theme lunch; the ghosts’ fishsoup and the licorice foam of the dark night for dessert. Thanks to the cooks for the lovely and spooky lunch!

After the lunch break our day continued with floorball matches. The freshmen turned out to have the toughest team so they became the champions in floorball. 

Because it was also Halloween, we decided to combine these two events. Most students (and even teachers) were wearing different kinds of Halloween costumes; we had witches, vampires, wizards, zombies, ghosts, a troll and even two smurfs! 

 

Overall today was a great, fun Friday in FES!

Written by Maiju Aalto 3A

A Visit to Vapriikki's Exhibition Tampere 1918

On 18th September the students of an optional history course "The history of every-day life" and their teacher had an instructive visit in Vapriikki's exhibition Tampere 1918. The exhibition was about the civil war of Finland in 1918 and it concentrated on what happened in the Tampere area. It was very illustrative, including photographs, videos, items, maps and a lot more about the civil war. Furthermore we had a good guide Sallamari Kuusela from Vapriikki's staff who told us many interesting facts.

 

The purpose of the visit was to explore ordinary people living in the middle of the war. It was of course interesting but also shocking to find out what kind of life people had to live. I'm sure that everyone got a lot to think about afterwards. Here are some photographs taken in the exhibition.

 

 

 

A deep gap between rich citizens and poor laborers was one of the reasons of the civil war. In those two pictures on the wall the difference can be seen.

There were many reasons of the war. There were economical insecurity and political difficulties. Some of the red wanted to have a revolution like in Russia. The white feared that Finland could lose its independence. There was a lot of suspicion between people.  The politics didn't work and all that became a full conflict.

On both sides most soldiers fought in their own equipment. This is an example of the clothing of a red soldier.

In many cases people coincidentally ended up in their side. The choice was often because of their background, relatives, friends or social status. Even brothers could be on different sides. That's why the civil war was very cruel and caused tremendously hate and bitterness.

Even some children fought in the civil war on both sides. Those who didn't have to work for red or white army helped their families by searching for food, for instance. Many children had to hide during battles and they experienced a lot of fear, suffering and hunger.

 

This map is about the battles in Tampere. There were brutal fights and most women and children had to hide themselves in cellars or other places.

 

This photograph is about the 12 000 red prisoners in Tampere after the war. About a thousand of them were executed after hearing their judgments. Only a few were set free and the rest were taken to prison camps.

The results of the civil war were sad. A huge number of people, red and white, had been killed. Thousands of children became orphans and many homes were destroyed. There was bitterness between people for a long time. Even today there is a lot of discussion about the civil war. It took many, many years to Finland get over the trauma.

The visit in Vapriikki was very interesting and everybody learned a lot. In my opinion it is important to know the past for that we can make a better future.

Written by

Elena Alakomi 2b

Interviewing exchange students

This year our school has two lovely exchange students: Audrée-Anne Germain from Canada and Enrique Penagos Moreno from Mexico. Both of them are going to stay here in Finland for a year. Audrée-Anne and Enrique have already learned many phrases and expressions in Finnish even though Finnish is known as a very difficult language to learn. Here are some questions I asked them.

                                            Enrique, Katri and Audrée-Anne

1.       What did you know about Finland before you came here?

Audrée-Anne: -I had read many books about Finland, so I knew some things about Finnish culture, climate etc. For example, I had heard some stereotypes of the Finns; everyone has always a poker face here and people are reserved and cold. But I’ve noticed that it’s not true! What I didn’t know is what kind of clothes people wear here. Neither did I know any traditional Finnish dishes.

Enrique: -I knew it’s very cold in Finland! I’d heard that Finnish people are quite silent and that Finnish is a very difficult language.

     2.       Why did you decide to spend your exchange year in Finland?

 Audrée-Anne: -Well, I love challenges! Finland is quite similar to my own country so I decided to come here.

Enrique: -I like Finland! I got to choose from Thailand, Finland and Brazil, so I chose Finland!

3.       What are the best things here in Finland?

Audrée-Anne: -I think the best thing is that you get to choose which subjects you want to study the most and later on you can still change them if you want to! We don’t have that opportunity in Canada.

Enrique: -I love makkara (=sausage)! And I love our football team, Apassit! I also like to go to our school’s gym and play floorball with my friends.

4.       What do you think about sauna?

Audrée-Anne: -It’s so hot in sauna! But it’s a lot of fun. You can talk, relax and just chill out. I almost fell asleep the last time I was in sauna!

 Enrique: -It’s very hot in sauna! It’s quite difficult to breathe there but it’s also very relaxing.

5.       What are the main differences between Finland and your own country?

Audrée-Anne: -There are lots of differences. For example the school system is different in Canada. We have only three school periods but here in Finland we have five. In my own country we study the same subjects all year long and you cannot change your schedule. In Canada we have a school bus but here in Finland you can come to school by a public bus. And well, almost everyone in Finland has a blond hair!

Enrique: -It’s hot in Mexico but here in Finland it’s very cold! Finland is much more expensive than Mexico. And here I can come to school by bike but in Mexico I always go to school by car.

6.       Do you like Finnish food? What’s your favourite one?

Audrée-Anne: -I have to admit that I hate mustamakkara (=Finnish black sausage), hernekeitto (=Finnish pea soup) and salmiakki (=salty liquorice)! But I love meatballs, porridge and Finnish rye bread. All kinds of breads taste good here. And leipäjuusto (=Finnish squeaky cheese) is also very tasty!

Enrique: -I only like makkara (=sausage). Finnish pea soup both smells and tastes awful!

7.       What do you think about our school (lessons, pupils, teachers etc.)?

Audrée-Anne: -Lessons are very different here. In Canada lessons are only 45 minutes long and you have to be quiet the whole time. Here you can talk and discuss much more. All the pupils and teachers are friendly and funny!

Enrique: -Lessons are very difficult, because I don’t really understand the language. Teachers and pupils are very kind and friendly here. The school system is completely different in Mexico. The school starts at 7 o’clock and the lessons are 50 minutes long. In Mexico we have also siesta in the middle of the day.

8.       What do you think is the weirdest thing in Finland (or in Hämeenkyrö)?

Audrée-Anne: -Baseball! Everything is so different comparing to Canada and people are taller here.

Enrique: Sports like baseball, floorball and ice hockey. People also look different here. Almost everyone has blond hair, blue eyes and a light skin colour, but in Mexico everyone has a black hair, brown eyes and a tanned skin! People are also shy and very tall here!

9.       What does Finnish sound to you?

Audrée-Anne: -Finnish sounds like Japanese or Chinese! The language is completely different because you have these weird letters Ä and Ö.

Enrique: -It sounds quite weird! The pronunciation is very different comparing to English and Spanish.

                                       


Written by Katri 1B