Trip to Germany

Five girls from our senior high school and one girl from ninth grade German readers and two teachers made a trip to Germany in April 7^th -11^th.  I was also one of the girls who travelled to Germany.  F.E. Sillanpää´s senior high school has a partner school in Torgau and we were heading there. Our trip lasted only five days, but in those five days we saw a lot and experienced even more. We were staying in host families, which made the trip even more exciting. I´m going to tell you about our trip so that you can also experience a piece of that what we did.

                                           We, the Finns, by the river Elbe in Torgau

Monday Monday was the day when we left. Our bus left at nine o´clock in the morning from Tampere to Helsinki. Me, Sanni, Anna, Roosa, Karoliina, Petunia and our two teacher,s Terhi and Johanna, met at the bus station, bought the tickets and jumped into the bus. We were all very excited, but also very nervous about how can we speak German. Many flipped through their German dictionaries, revised useful words and went throw their luggage in their mind. Do I have the passport, money, camera…

Our airplane left at about two o´clock so after the security things we had a little time to eat something or just walk around the airport. The flight was very short and before we even noticed we were in Berlin. We had a little time in Berlin so we took our luggage into storage and took a subway to Unter den Linden street where we saw the Brandenburg Tor. The weather was amazing and the Brandenburg Tor was enormous and very impressive. But after seeing that we noticed we had to go back and pick up our luggage and head to Torgau. We arrived in Torgau a little after eight in the evening and were quite exhausted. But it was amazing to meet our host families who were waiting for us in the station. We were divided up and everyone left the station with their own host families.

                                                               The Brandenburg Tor


Tuesday
We met in school in Torgau. We were happy to see each other because it was nice to speak some Finnish after speaking German with host families. Everyone told about their host families and it was really clear that everyone had a nice family and was excited about that. There was a small tour around the school and after that we had some breakfast in school. We Finns talked together about how things were so different there than in Finland. For example the breakfast included only white bread and some honey, Nutella or marmalade. That was quite new for us.

We also visited the school´s little Zoo and ate some lunch in school. Then we left for a little tour in Torgau. We saw for example Torgau`s castle Hartenfels and church St. Marin. Torgau was a really beautiful and old city, which had a lot of beautiful buildings. It was also very green and springlike in Germany. Nature was very beautiful, because flowers and apple trees were blooming. After walking around Torgau we spent the evening in our host families.

Wednesday On Wednesday we visited Leipzig. First we went to Leipzig Zoo and after that we just walked around the city and had a bit time to shop in there. Leipzig Zoo was amazing. It was huge and there were a lot of different kinds of exotic animals. Leipzig itself was a very beautiful city and we had an opportunity to visit a couple of churches there. The churches were both very ornamental and massive. After Leipzig we returned to Torgau to our host families. The rest of the evening we spent in our host families.

Thursday We visited again another town. This time it was Dresden. The weather was a bit rainy and cold and windy, but the town was very beautiful despite the weather. Dresden was destroyed almost completely during the war, but it was rebuilt and looks very beautiful nowadays. When we arrived in Dresden first we visited this building which was like a Parliament house. We listened there to some kind of session. Unfortunately we Finns didn´t understand a lot, so it was a bit boring for us, but still an experience, too. After that we had some time to walk around the Dresden and take some pictures and just adore everything.
In the evening we all went bowling and had some dinner together. That was our last evening in Germany.

Friday It was time to pack our luggage and say goodbyes to Germany and the host families. We left Torgau behind us and hoped that we will return there some day. Before we had to go to the airport we had a little time in Berlin. Perfect time for a sightseeing tour. We drove around Berlin and saw the most important sights, for example Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin Wall and Berlin cathedral.
After that we had to say the last goodbyes to our German friends and leave for the airport. We arrived in rainy Finland with cameras full of pictures, German words spinning in our heads, luggage full of souvenirs and head stuffed with amazing experiences and memories. 

                                                                  Checkpoint Charlie

Written by Miranda 1B  

A day for real-life princes and princesses

The second graders of the F. E. Sillanpää senior high school danced their prom last Friday, at Valentine’s Day. The prom for second graders is an old habit in Finland, and it usually takes place in February when the third graders have ended their school journey. That’s why the prom is called “Wanhojen tanssit”, in English “Prom for the old ones”.  “Wanhojen tanssit” is generally known for girls’ glamorous outfits, boys’ handsome looks and well-practiced dances.

The second graders’ day started at ten o’clock am, but of course most of the girls had woken up very early in the morning. Hairdos, make-ups and dresses had to be perfect. At the beginning of the day the second graders arrived at the school gym, which was beautifully decorated by the first graders. They toasted for the long-expected party, and then it was time to dance. The last graders of the junior high school and the first graders of the senior high school were there to watch the dances. The Old ones danced four dances, from which “Cicapo” with the junior high school students. There was also a surprise number, a dance that the Old ones had made themselves. Everything went very well, and after the dances in the high school the Old ones traveled to Kyröskoski primary school to perform some dances in there, too. They also danced there with the last grade pupils of the primary school. After that the job was done, and the Old ones had a little break before the Evening party at the high school. Some of the Old ones still had to head for other primary schools or nursing homes to share the joy of dancing to the students and the old persons.

The Evening party began at 6 o’clock pm at the high school. The Old ones took relatives and families with them to watch the dances, and there were a lot of viewers. First the Old ones and the relatives enjoyed good refreshments and relaxing music, which was played by the first grade music group students Kalle Koivisto and Olli Luomajärvi. At 6.30 it was time to move on to the gym to watch dance performances. First the speakers Helena Saarinen and Teemu Märri introduced the dance pairs for the audience, and then it was time to dance. The Old ones performed 11 dances and their own dance number. In the evening the family members and relatives also had a chance to dance the “Cicapo” with the Old ones. After these practiced dances it was time for photographing and free dancing while the first grade music group members played beautiful music.

When all dancing had ended, the Old ones headed for a restaurant to celebrate the memorable night. After good eating they left to continue the successful evening together. All in all,  “Wanhojen tanssit” was a day to remember.

Written by Sanni 1B 

Photos by Mari 3B and Annamari 2B

The school leaving party

Today, on 13^th of February, it was time to say goodbye to our senior high school´s third graders. It is every year`s tradition that the third graders organize this show and leave the school behind massively. 

This year the third graders had again organized a big party for their last school day before the final exams and graduation. This year`s theme was The Lord of the Rings, so I wasn´t really surprised when I came to school and saw everywhere elves, hobbits and orcs. I thought that the topic was an awesome idea and really looked forward to seeing the show.

The thing I was not so excited about was the mess that waited in school.  The third graders had made an awful mess in our school hall way. It is a tradition, so it was not really any surprise. So, why was not I so happy about this? Well that´s because we, the first graders had to clean the mess up after the show. However, I realized it was not so big a thing after all. I mean, we, first graders with a little bit help from the second grader´s, cleaned it pretty fast and it was not so awful a thing after all. Well that’s about it, I should probably tell something about the show and the rest of the day. You are probably more interested in that. Well I will start with the show.

All the students of our school, including the middle school pupils, were sitting in our school hall and waiting for the third graders. The hall was of course decorated according to the topic, for example there were Mordor and Shire. Then the lights went down and Gandalf (a third grader who was dressed like Gandalf) stepped inside and walked in front of us and welcomed us to the show. Then the rest of the third graders came inside and then they started to dance. 

 

After that started the teachers’ humiliation, the whole day was full of the teachers’ humiliation, but anyway let`s carry on. So the third graders had made some funny tasks for the senior high school teachers. For example the biology teacher had to mime animals and the English teacher was looking for hidden mobile phones while the Swedish teacher was jumping on them. Yes, sounds pretty crazy.

There were a lot of different kinds of tasks for other teachers too, for example cooking healthy snacks, rapping and recognizing students. All the other teachers except for our Swedish teacher Taina ended up in Mordor. Taina, on the other hand, was frolicking in Shire. This was the senior high school’s third graders’ decision. 

At the end of the show we saw some third graders´ baby pictures. That was a good ending for the amazing show.

Well, after the show, the first graders went to clean and the third graders went touring our school and throwing some sweets for the students. A tradition again, if you are wondering why.

Then all the senior high school students went to the auditorium to see a video made by the third graders. I think the video was hilarious and it must have taken a lot of time to make it. So it was really awesome that we had an opportunity to see that video. The video was full of teachers´ humiliation, with the third graders dressed like them, but it was also the third graders’ way to say thank you and a way to remember their past years in this school. The video really summed up all the years they spent in this school and it was funny to see how well the third graders performed high school teachers in that video.   

The day ended really wonderfully. The third graders were going to go a little ride with their truck around our little village. They were also going to primary schools throwing candy for the little ones. So the third graders left the building looking very happy and I just want to wish them good luck for the future and thank them for this day. 

Written by Miranda 1B

A Christmassy Day

It is finally Christmas holiday. High school students celebrated this holiday and Christmas itself on Friday 20^th of December. The student body had again arranged some things for students to do. We had an opportunity to dress in some costumes, of course in that kind of costumes which are related to Christmas. Then we had a bingo and the prizes were a Christmas ham, which was the first prize, two movie tickets and some chocolate Santa Clauses. All the high school students were playing bingo excitedly and hoping to win. But we can´t all win, but these students got some luck with them or was it even skill. Peetu Levänen won the ham, Annika Kaasalainen the movie tickets and Eetu Ihalainen won the big chocolate Santa Claus. Oh, and by the way the little chocolate Santa Claus was given to our teacher Asko Mielonen. So I assume that the winners were really happy of their prizes and we can move to the other prizes.

I mean the best costume prizes. There weren’t so much people who wore a costume so the competition was not tough, but still someone did and the prizes were given to two persons. The prizes were movie tickets again and the winners of this competition were Johanna Mäntylä and Eemil Linna, who were both wearing Santa Claus costumes. After the competition it was time for a movie.

We were in our school’s auditorium, so I don´t mean watching a movie from a small television. No, we have this big screen in our auditorium so it was like watching a movie in a real movie theater.
The movie was also a little bit Christmassy because it was Tim Burton´s movie Nightmare before Christmas. It was an animation, but I don´t think it mattered, because it was still a good movie and Tim Burton´s animated movies aren´t always that kind of kids´ movies, so it is a good movie for adults, too. I don´t think that all the students liked the movie, because you either like Tim Burton´s movies or you don´t, that’s my opinion. I certainly think that the movie split opinions, but the movie was still a great end for this day. The Christmassy day was a great idea and finished this year’s schoolwork perfectly and gave a nice start for this holiday. Now the high school students can finally forget work and school stuff and just relax and recharge their batteries. So, Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year for all !

Written by Miranda 1B    

Graduation Day in December

                                                         First year students performing.

 

Second year students serving.

 

The graduates of the day.