DIARY TO OULU

• Travel:

Journey to Oulu: My travel was good.

Journey from Oulu: My travel was good too.

First impressions: That Finland is very cold.

Landscape and climate: All landscape is white, and the climate is very cold.

Houses(similarities/diferences)? The houses are similar in the sofa, TV, etc, but they are different in the floor, the temperature, the sauna.

Best part of your weekend: The best part for me, was to go to see the ice castle, ski, and be with the family.

Worst part of your weenkend: The change of temperature, out very cold, and inside very hot.

Food and drink: I like moose, but I don't like the sweet.

• Daily routine:

School day (similarities/differencies)? The school is different in size, schedules, windows, etc.

Best part of your trip: The best part was the family that welcomed me, the people, the climate, all.

Worst part of your trip: The worst part for me was that the trip was very short.

Your final impressions: Than the people of Finland are very friendly.

Lucía Hernández Jiménez, Murcia, Spain

The friends we meet on the path of life make the trip worthwhile.

A walk through the sleeping city of Oulu in the middle of the night wasn’t probably the best idea but we were on a mission. We, me and my friend Nina, were on our way to meet our Polish visitors that had just arrived in Finland. The air was crispy due the after-hour freeze and it had started snowing gently a couple minutes ago. Our destination was the local Holiday Inn- hotel where the meeting was supposed to take place. We had never met the people who were going to live with us for the following four days but I guess that’s part of the magic and excitement that lingered in the air on that walk. Our steps were light yet quick on the heavy snow and we felt warm under our quilted jackets as we hurried towards the hotel. After a while that felt like an instant we were standing in front of the meeting place. We shared a quick glance of assurance and then walked in. Inside there were two young girls with huge pieces of luggage. And my only thought was: “We’re going to need a cab.”

The conversation started slowly in Nina’s city apartment later and both of the girls, named Iga and Martyna, revealed to be lively and chipper girls. We talked and chatted and talked until the clock started to show its nasty side and we decided to get some sleep for tomorrow’s big event: shopping (and sightseeing)! Unfortunately the price range in Finland is very high so our friends found everything a bit pricy. That wasn’t a barrier to have some fun though. We tried some Finnish sweets, Greek food, shoes, clothes etc. Later my mom’s boyfriend Tapio came to pick us up and we headed to Kiiminki to show our homes and families. Martyna went with Nina and Iga with me. When my family finally met Iga my mom took an instant liking to her and talked to her as much as possible. Iga introduced me some of her hometown on the internet and I learned quite a lot. (Did you know that Szczecin isn’t actually located ashore the Baltic Sea?) We listened to some music, played games, sang Sing Star, talked, baked and of course took some saunas, just had a great time.

We also visited Rovaniemi and Kemi, both cities with very Finnish tourist attractions: the city of Santa Claus and Kemi’s snow castle. That certainly was something different although I’d have never guessed how corrupted the idea of Father Christmas has become. The snow castle was magnificent though and everyone seemed amazed about the wonders they can do with ice. Our school seemed to be quite a surprise for them too. In Finland there isn’t a lot of noise during the classes and teachers try to make the lessons as interesting as possible. And the free school meal also was something to enjoy about. Unfortunately I got sick and had to rest for one day but luckily Nina looked after Iga for me.

But everything good comes to an end at some point. The time of goodbyes came way too quick and way too early in the morning. We drove our friends to the airport and waited with them until their teachers got there. There were no tears because of the knowledge that we’ll meet again, hopefully soon. Iga had brought me many souvenirs’ from Poland so my family gave her a Moomin mug, some chocolate and Finnish bread called rieska to remind her of Finland. But some things we both got were an adventure and a bunch of friendship.

Minna-Mari Lesonen, FINLAND

Viva Finland

Lightly snow-covered, pavement in front of the 'Interglobus'company office
- there began our adventure with Finland. I didn't expect that I would be one of those people, who they chose, and who would be able to feel on the skin that Finnish cold. Life can bring a surprise.

My first feeling, and the first thing that surprised me was the question : where is the snow? There was so little of it, that for a moment I thought that we had made a mistake and chose the wrong plane. Fortunately, we arrived in Finland. Nina and Minna robbed us from the hotel. We went with them to Nina's apartment in Oulu. At the beginning it was a bit awkward, but after the first ice-breaking we spent 3 hours on a conversation about everything. Then each went to her room and fell asleep.

The next day we toured a charming town Oulu. It dazzled us with its simplicity, serenity and also plenty of designer shops, which were very expensive. Not only the clothes were expensive. One meal in a fairly popular restaurant cost more than 70 złotych. But they had a never-ending chocolate-flavored lollipops! Yummy!

In the evening, Minna's mother's boyfriend came and took us back to their family homes in Kiminki. Iga went to Minna’s, I was to live with Nina. Into my eyes appeared a huge, lovely house on the lake surrounded by snow and the remnants of Christmas decorations. Nina's Mom hugged me in greeting and invited to the house proposing a pizza at once . In Finland I had a strange feeling of perpetual hunger, which I was being satisfied all the time, because there was a feeling, that I was eating something all the time. And I was drinking some milk. Milk was served to everything - even the flakes with milk. It was probably a product which would never run out in a Finnish home. Basic equipment and a room, which was necessary for life was a sauna. Finns spend several hours a day there. They were shocked when they realized that in Poland we don’t have a sauna in our homes, only in the SPA.

Our knowledge of English assisted by the Polish-English dictionary was helpful in
a 7- hour-long night conversation. No matter that we had to get up at 5:30, when in Poland
it was 4:30. We were given some quality advice to get up from a soft, warm bed to go to the conquest of Lapland, or the home of Santa Claus. More of it was waiting for meeting him than the pleasure of a conversation with Santa - unfortunately we had no occasion, as one of the coordinators of the project wasn`t aware that we are the participants in it and didn’t allow us to enter. A Santa's Village is one, big commerce – it tries to make profit from everything, even the toilet paper with the image of Santa Claus. But…it`s fun for kids, I guess. The coolest thing there were reindeer! Fluffy but dangerous - only Mr. Ułasiuk (our teacher) thought in this way, because in fact they were friendly, like household pets. Then we went to the Snow Castle, in which Michal Wisniewski and Mandaryna (Polish pop stars) had got married. I can't imagine spending the night in the refrigerator! Brr.

Nina's mother spoke English perfectly , so we could talk, talk and talk. She liked talking, but that was nothing in comparison to Nina's stepfather, who talked all the time, although he didn't speak English, but he used words that resembled some English words, some German, mostly Finnish, but I understood everything. There were people open to new acquaintanceship, talked with me about everything, it was a huge surprise, because our teachers told us that Finns are a very closed social group, which isn't true.

Wherever we looked everywhere there were blond and blonde. Sometimes it was difficult to distinguish them from each other. The lessons were there in complete silence, they listen to the teacher, the teacher listens to students. Something extraordinary. Classes are for students, who want to get in on lessons, and if they don’t want - just leave without giving
a reason, go to sleep on a school sofa or listen to music without disturbing others. One lesson lasts 75 minutes and it was hard not to fall asleep, after we had slept for less than 2 hours. At some point, a teacher of biology and geography saw us that we slept in the sitting position and suggested us to go to take a nap on the couch. It was funny.
Those people I met in Finland were amazing. Sometimes there are no proper words to describe this incredible atmosphere that prevailed there. I regret that the trip lasted so short. I'm going to go back there, soon.


Martyna (Szczecin, Poland)

Comenius Project : Visit to Finland

At the beginning I would like to point out the fact that the trip to Finland was a fantastic adventure.
After a long and tiring journey, we arrived at Oulu in the middle of the night. The temperature totally surprised me: I was prepared for
-30 degrees, but there was only -15.
The girls we lived with were surprised too. I thought that they would be introverts, without sense of humor and very little talkative. However, I saw them smiling, and at first a little
self-conscious, the girls turned out to be the ones who weren’t shy. Talking with Minna about everything wasn’t a problem. They were happy to show us the city and enthusiastically went shopping and sightseeing with us.
The sizes and appearance of their homes were also surprising; maybe not houses, but villas. These huge residences were nothing out of ordinary for them.
In the evenings we surfed on the Internet, showed our houses and our friends, watched movies, played monopoly and sing star, simply had a great time.
I thought it would be hard at school and that there could be a lot of activities. Fact. There was to be hard work on the 75-minute-long lessons, and actually we did withstand them, but before the activities Finnish teachers approached us and apologized that the lessons would be conducted in their native language.
So we didn’t understand anything and we were a little bored.
Students weren’t talkative and during the entire stay there no one approached us. One lesson on which someone was interested in our presence was an English lesson. The questions that were asked were really very interesting. The Finnish school is not about strict discipline, but about the freedom and responsibility for ourselves.
I was disappointed only about Santa Claus and his village in Rovanniemi. Santa Claus was fake and commercial.
What, however, completely made up for it was the ice castle where Wisniewski(a pop star) got married to Mandaryna. That was the greatest attraction for us.
The trip was an unforgettable experience for me, because I had never expected that I would go to the Arctic Circle.
I hope to visit Kiiminki again, because I am invited again.
But now I am waiting for Minna, because she is coming to Poland this holiday.

Ixon(Szczecin, Poland)