Comenius Education Partnership - Meeting in Kiiminki, Finland 1

Comenius Education Partnership - Meeting in Kiiminki, Finland The sound of the wheels, as they touched the ground below us, could be heard from our seats, as we landed in the small airport of Kiminki, Finland. After collecting our luggage, I was met by my host family, who were to look after me for 6 days whilst we were to visit a school in Finland, in the Comenius School Links project. My friend Rhianne, who came with me, stayed with a different host family, which meant we would do different things. My host, Sofia, lived with her mum in a small yet cosy house in a big neighbourhood, which was completely surrounded by hundreds of tall, white fir trees. This change in landscape took a while to get used to, as my astonishment did not wear off for several days. Everywhere you went, including on either side of nearly every road you took, there were thousands of fir trees everywhere, towering over you. However, the landscape did not shock me as much as the weather. Everything was covered in deep, pure white snow. Temperatures the week before had been -25 to -30 degrees Celsius!! However, the weather pitied us and we never had to endure such temperatures, luckily. I had a fabulous time in Finland and the different activities which we did, have given me an insight into what the Finnish culture is like. At the weekend, I visited Oulu, the nearest town to Kiminki, and explored shops and a traditional indoor market selling lots of fish. I also went on a day trip to Lapland with the rest of the other schools who were also involved in the Comenius project. We had a photo with Father Christmas, met some reindeer and visited a beautiful and stunning snow castle. This was one of the most memorable parts of the trip, as everything was completely made from snow or ice! I ate a Finnish bun in a snow restaurant, Mr. Porter and Miss. Newton had a drink out of an ice glass and we all got to look inside the snow hotel rooms, which were expensive to stay in! I went to school with Sofia and enjoyed some interesting lessons, which I could not understand as they were spoken in Finnish. Then on the last day, I was taken to see Sofia’s Aunt and Uncle and her cousins. I had a wonderful time playing in the snow and they also took me on a magical sleigh ride through the beautiful snowy forest. It was truly amazing!
This experience has given me a wonderful understanding of the Finnish way of life and has enabled me to meet new and friendly people.
Thank you to Mr. Brooke, Miss. Newton
and Mr. Porter, who, without them, I
would not be able to have gone on, what
was, a terrific and memorable visit to
Finland!