Veni, Vidi, Vici,

Greetings! This is the moment you’ve all been waiting for since the beginning of the school year, it’s the one the only McKenna Middlebrook. Yes, this is the probably most anticipated moment of this blog, as all the other students are doing their tests, I will be giving the retelling of the time FES came and conquered St. Petersburg, Russia.

The story starts in the early morning of January, 12th, 2016, well 7:30 so not that early, but early enough for me. The trip started at FES on a bus, as most trips do, so we departed at 7:30 for the train station in Lahti the bus ride was full of tired students, so it was rather quiet besides the off comments here and there. When we arrived at Lahti though around 10:00 in the morning, and the train was leaving around 10:30, as the train arrived, nerves between arose, well for me at least. The train ride was quick, everyone was talking about the few days to come, the adventures we could have! Then we came to the Russian border, where the real challenge was going to occur getting into Russia. Tensions on the train rose, the normal chatter ended as the Russian officials boarded the train, as everyone brought out their brown Finnish passports, most undistinguished from each other but my, navy blue American passport with the golden seal of the bald eagle, it stuck out like a sore thumb. As the Russian authority looked at the passports giving a small glance, but when it came my time, the woman checking my passport looked me, looked back at my passport, looked back at me and it seemed like it lasted hours though it was just a matter of a few seconds, after the final look she stamped my visa and gave me back my passport, the worst part is over. As the Russians left our cabin, the tensions defused and everyone resumed their chatter, the trip had really started then. After that we were weren’t very far from St. Petersburg. Once we arrived in St. Petersburg we boarded another bus, and saw some sights as we drove to our hostel. We soon arrived at the hostel, and all went into our rooms to drop off our bags and we were able to unwind after sitting in trains/buses all day. Soon though many of us got restless and wanted to see the big city! We soon got our opportunity, as we all left for a massive mall that was just a few blocks away from our hostel. We have been told this mall was huge, but we’ve all seen malls before, and personally thinking it was a bit of hyperbole. This mall was MASSIVE! It was four stories tall, it was hundreds of meters of long and had an amazing amount of stores, eat and a grocery store! We spent a few hours there, and many people with bags in hand. The night ended with many people hanging out in a few rooms, that’s really how of the nights ended, actually.

The second day started again, on the early side, we had to leave the hostel around 10:30, the day consisted of actual sightseeing in and off the bus, the first couple of hours was spent listening to the tour guide about the famous landmarks around the city, after the bus tour with and a few stops we went to the world famous Hermitage Museum, which again, is a huge museum that would take a person eight years to see every single piece of art, which is comprised of over six different buildings, making it one of the largest in Russia. Words can’t really describe how beautiful this museum is, rooms made gilded in gold, chandeliers made out real crystals, rooms full of paintings dating back to the late 1700’s and not to mention the Ancient Egyptian artifacts they have! We spent a few hours at the museum before heading back to the hostel before the evening's activities, which was a hockey match between SKA St. Petersburg vs. Slovan Bratislava, in a thrilling 3-2 victory for SKA! Where SKA had a comfortable 2-0 lead in the second period but squandered it, by the third making it 2-2, and by the last few minutes the fans were on the edge of their seats, and with SKA scoring their third goal in the final seconds of the match to the leave the fans rejoiced!

The third day was the final full day in the city, again another early start, this time 10:00, where we went to another museum but this time it was a museum about Russia, but made it up into miniatures, it was made so you could see all the different parts of Russia, starting in the east with St. Petersburg, down to the Black Sea, up through Moscow and into Siberia! This was a fascinating museum, because it was one of the most in depth museums I have ever been to, because all the details that have been put into every single piece of that museum. It was extremely, extremely fascinating. Again after that, we saw more of the city of the parts we didn’t see in the past two days, but again we went back to the hostel for an afternoon to ourselves, which was nice because you really never get enough rest while on a trip, so just being able to lay down for an hour, it gives you that extra energy for the night to come! What happened that night, you say? Well, we had an evening of dining and seeing some traditional Russian dances, at the Palace of Grand Duke Nikolai, which was interesting for me because I participated in one of those Russian dances, thanks to some perfect placement. Then the final day was actually early, we had to leave at 9:00! We went to another mall, for a while, and after that brief shopping trip we went back to the train station where we had to wait for our train and it was a bittersweet moment because we’re all tired and want to go home, but St. Petersburg is such a beautiful and wonderful city, so it was sad to leave! As we got back onto the train and go to the Finnish border, everyone was a lot calmer, because we’ve all been through this, plus the people checking our passports were Finnish so most everyone was a lot calmer. Again, the train ride was super quick even though it lasted almost four hours, and we arrived back in Lahti around five o’clock in the evening, and got back to FES around eight or eight thirty in the evening.

After the third full day, January 15th, in St. Petersburg, you see a lot of things and can take many things with you, you get to see the world in a different light. If you ever have the chance to go to see St. Petersburg, I would highly recommend it, because it’s such an amazing city. So yeah, that was FES in St. Petersburg, I hope you enjoyed it! (Because I know I did)

-McKenna Middlebrook.

Sport tournaments

FOOTBALL

The football team of our girls took part in a football tournament in Nokia on 5th October.  The girls played 3 games and before the first game, the football field was icy and slippery. The weather was like in the winter! 

Some game situations. The only game which we won was against  Rauma. We won 7-1. Heljä scored one goal, Elina scored one goal and Lotta scored five goals. 

We did not win the tournament, but we had fun! Maybe we can go next year again, and then we will win! Everybody played very well, even though we had only 7 players.

Players: Aliisa, Elina, Heljä, Indra, Krista, Riikka and Lotta.
Coach: Tanja



                                                         FLOORBALL

On 23rd October our floorball team played some games in Ikaalinen.  We played three games and we won two of them, but the two other teams won two games, too. The other two teams scored more goals than our team so our ranking was third in the tournament. But we weren`t the last, because Ikata didn´t win any games. And Kristian brought our mascot, it was the FES-caterpillar. Everybody played very well! 

Written by Lotta 1B
Pictures by Tanja

The welcoming party

On 28^th of August we had the welcoming party called nahkiaiset for the first graders. In order to get the status of a real F. E. Sillanpää high school student, they had to do a bunch of very important tasks such as adore the mighty second-year students, dance and taste some very suspicious drink. No backpacks were allowed: all their stuff had to be carried in a cardboard box. Also they had to bring a rope, a rock, a vegetable and some other things that we second graders had decided that they would need on that day. As a bribe to us they had to bring chocolate. Of course there had to be some kind of “barriers” to them too: most of the doors were not allowed to them, there were only two toilets they could use, their lockers were banned and they had to crawl on the staircase.

Traditionally boys are dressed as girls and vice versa and that was the case this year too. The girls were badass rappers with tattoos, caps and too big jeans. The boys had a much nicer look: high heels, makeup, long blond hair and pink, pink, pink. Overall they looked quite beautiful with their appearance which was inspired by Nicki Minaj and Paris Hilton.

When the school day started the first-year students were commanded to the gym hall. There the dance were taught to them and they had to hand off the chocolate and the vegetables. The vegetables were later used to make the drink. 

After the dance lesson we guided the first graders in to a small “stall”. There were a few stalls, and those were the only places where they could spend their breaks and free periods. Of course next to the stalls there was a poem attached to the wall. The poem was a praise about the second-year students: how great, smart and supreme they are. And of course every time they wanted to hear the beautiful poem, a first-year student had to worship them and read the poem.

On the last period it was their time to shine: first they got to perform the great dance they had learned in the morning. After that it was time to taste the poison, as I would call it. There were many yucks and ews but luckily no one threw up. Then came the part where they needed the rope: an “agility track” whilst their legs where tied together with their pair. At the end of the track they had to dance again but this time there was a tough jury. When the jury decided that they had danced enough (and well enough), they had the chance to watch the rest of the first graders overcame the track.

After all that, there was only one thing that needed to be done. We needed to choose the Rumin Nahka 2015 (ugliest first grader). We had a dancing competition (I hope that they didn’t start to hate dancing even though we made them dance so much) from where we choose the winners. It was a though competition but after semi-finals and final we had our “royal couple”.

All things considered I would say that our first graders survived the day very well. It was a lot of fun, at least for us second graders, but I hope that our newbies enjoyed it as well. Welcome to FES first graders! 

Written by Sara 2B

Graduation day

On 30th May it was time for the third year students to graduate. The day was full of joy but, on the other hand, it was a bit sad to say goodbye.  Anyway, the students got their white caps and diplomas and, of course, plenty of roses.  Among the guest were also 20 persons who graduated 50 years ago.

                                      The white caps are still waiting for their owners.

                                           Welcoming words by Sanni, 2B.

           
                  The graduates of 1965 are given their roses by the graduates of 2015.




               One of the old graduates speaking to the new ones.

            The director of education in Hämeenkyrö is giving her speech to the graduates.

School orchestra.

School band.

The handing out of the caps, diplomas and roses.

                                                              Time to put the caps on.

The final performance of the graduate girls.

https://youtu.be/jirdO-jiE9E

Digital tests are coming

All schools were ordered to start preparing themselves for digital testing this spring.  That's why our language lab was provided with the necessary connections a couple of weeks ago. The first year English students from class 1A were selected to be the first ones to test the new arrangements on 25th May and so they completed a part of their third course test online. Everything worked well in this occasion and the students were mostly satisfied with the experience even though the tables provided for the computer were a bit small because they still have all the language lab listening equipment attached to them, too.

A day for the princes and princesses

The second graders danced their prom on the 13^th of February. A prom for the second graders is an old tradition and it is usually organised in February after the third period when the  third graders have ended their school year and the second graders are the oldest at school. The prom is called “Wanhojen tanssit” in English “Prom for the old ones”.

   The second graders' day started at 10 o’clock but the girls had woken up really early to do their hair and makeup. Everything was beautiful. The girls looked like princesses and the boys were so handsome in their suits and tuxedoes. You could feel the excitement in the school before the prom began.

   At 10 o’clock the  9^th graders from the junior high and the 1^st graders from the senior high were in the gym hall which the 1^st graders had decorated  the day before. The prom was ready to begin. Everything was beautiful. The 2^nd graders' dances were awesome and they danced really well, the dresses and the decoration were so amazing that it didn’t feel like it was our gym hall.

   After the 2^nd graders had danced in our school they went to the primary school in Kyröskoski and danced the same dances there. There was also a party in the evening.

Written by Johanna 1B

Interview with our Japanese exchange student Tomoka

I was very happy to interview our lovely exchange student Tomoka Okita who is from Japan. Here are some of her thoughts about her exchange year. 

Why did you decide to come to Finland?

I was interested in a society where women and men are equal. In Japan, there is a big gap in society between women and men. For example, men get better salary. Also the school system was something I wanted to learn about because Finland is always one of the top countries in PISA-tests. Finland is famous in Japan for its architecture, nature and brands like Marimekko and Moomin and I wanted to see those things.

Now that you have seen the education system, what do you think about it?

I really like the Finnish education system. There are several things, which make it so great. Everyone can receive the same education, which is important. The equipment that you have here, like in the art class, is wonderful. Hallways, toilets are always clean, you get free warm meal every day, the building looks nice. One of the most important things is that the teachers are professionals in the subjects they teach. It isn’t always like that. And those teachers who teach foreign languages do so much more than teach only the grammar. They teach the culture too. For me it’s also nice that almost every teacher can speak English. I also like that students are somehow “free”, you don’t have so strict rules. Also no second school after the normal school day, as we have in Japan.

What do you think especially about F. E. Sillanpää Upper Secondary school?

 It’s a nice environment for exchange students. And as I said, the teachers here are great. I also like the building of F. E. SIllanpää high school. Oh, and I like “tupa” where students can hang out without the teachers.

How about the students here?

Every student can speak English. And everyone is so nice! Especially I like 1B because it’s cheerful and chatty.  They throw some great parties too.  

What do you think about Finnish people in general?

The first impression for me was that Finns are very shy but now that I have been here, I can say they are not. Finnish people are very open-minded and honest. All Finns are also very logical, like when they explain things to me in English. They usually make it very easy for me to understand. One thing that is completely different in Japan is that I have to put an effort in making a relationship with everyone. In Finland if I don’t like someone, I don’t need to be with them, and it’s okay. No bigger drama. In Japan if I don’t like someone that can become a big problem. Finnish people are also very wise and I like that they don’t always show that to everyone.

Which are the best things about Finland?

Parties! For me parties are a place where I can meet new people because everyone is so chatty and open-minded there. Nature is the second best thing. In Tokyo there is always so hectic that is so nice to be in a country, where is quiet and calm. I also like sauna, snow and the fact that Finland is a safe country. I don’t really have to worry about getting robbed.

 

Is there something that you really don’t like in Finland?

Busses are not on time. 

What are your favorite foods in Finland?

Salmon, chocolate (especially Fazer’s), Karelian pasty, coffee, sausage, salty liquorice, Christmas dishes (the Christmas ham is the best!), ice cream, hot wings, vegetable sushi (It’s different here than in Japan and I really like it!), gravlax, cloudberry jam, mead, cinnamon roll and the food that my host mum makes. I don’t really know are these all Finnish dishes but these I have tasted the first time in Finland. I would also like to point out that Munkkila is the best bakery!

Did you know a lot about Finland before you came here?

Not a lot. I knew that Moomin and Santa Claus are from Finland. I knew about 500 words in Finnish before I came here. When AFS decided that I would come to Finland, I started to search information about Finland. For example, I sought information about the equal society. But almost everything that I have learned about Finland, I have learned by living here and experiencing this Finnish lifestyle, not from books.

You are leaving soon, what are your thoughts about that?

I will miss all my friends the most. And the great education system. I don’t want to go back to Japan! I have had so many great adventures here, so many wonderful memories. I feel so sad that I have to leave but at the same time I’m happy to go back to home and see my family and friends. Although I already know that in a few years I will come back, I just wouldn’t want to leave. Because I love Finland.  

Written by Sara 1B