Koulu

That means school. But, my specific school, high school I guess you could call it, is called Lukio. That's what this post is mainly about.

However, first, totally not school related, is that tonight great! We had the neighbors and their 4, adorable little children over for dinner, which was all made on the grill, to celebrate my first whole week of living in Masku! And I'm loving every minute of it! :)

But now onto school. I have been making a list in my notebook during school of everything that I notice that I want to mention on here, so hopefully I'm not forgetting anything. These are in no particular order, and probably will jump back and forth a lot. But here's what I've noticed:

Pencil cases- everyone has them! Back home, I remember I never wanted to use them because they were "uncool" after about 7th grade. But these pencil cases lead to the next thing...

Markers- the ones that are basically felt tip pens, but in all different colors. Everyone also has a ton of these, which makes the pencil case necessary in order to keep them all together!

Bells- there aren't any bells to dismiss us from class, the teachers just tell us when we can leave. Then, we have 15 minutes until the next class (which, coming from having 5 minutes between classes in a much bigger school, is really strange to have so much time to just sit around) Then, there are bells, which are more like chimes, telling us to head to our next class.

Morning Announcements- The first day of announcements, I had no idea what was going on. I had just gotten to my first class of the day, and then the announcements came on, and all I could make out was that they were naming some states from America, and then saying a few sentences, and then everyone would laugh, and then they would name another one and the cycle would continue. I had no idea why anyone was laughing at the things being said about the United States, and I was getting a little worried. However, I asked and was told that they were telling about the stupid laws that were in those states, which was totally understandable, as I've looked them up and found them funny myself. Anyways, after the announcements every morning, then they play a song over the loudspeakers before we begin class. The song the first day was one by Pitbull and Marc Anthony, which probably never would have been played in my school in Manistee. Everything at school here is so laid back. Leading to the next thing...

What the Teacher's Wear- the best example of this would be my math teacher. He stands in front of the class everyday wearing pretty much a white v-neck and jeans. Now, compared to say, Mr. Joseph (my old english teacher), that's no big deal, right? But compared to my old math teacher, Mr. Thuemmel, who ALWAYS wears khaki pants and a button up shirt and tie, it's pretty different. But it makes it a lot easier to relate to the teachers here, so I like that-even if we don't speak the same language yet (although most of them come and talk to me one on one in english-except one class where all of his lectures are in finnish, and then again in english just for me... I feel like my classmates may be somewhat annoyed with that, but it's not REALLY my fault)

School Lunch- It's FREE! It's buffet style, and you can get however much you want, at no cost. However, there is only one option each day, until the 9 you get in Manistee, but it's generally good food, and very filling. Whereas in Manistee, you paid 2 dollars to get hardly any food and it wasn't good for you and left you even hungrier than you were before you ate anything at all.

Computers- students don't get any. Also, they don't even take them to school. Since it is the best education system in the world, maybe we shouldn't use them in the states. They are a big distraction, and the kids here just learn from books (which they buy themselves, they're not given to them by the school). Plus, isn't it a proven fact that you obtain knowledge more if you write it down, not just type it into a Word document?

Chalkboard- this one isn't that big of a change, but there are chalkboards in every classroom- no dry erase boards. And, the chalkboard always seems to look clean, never smeared with old chalk from the past lessons. I guess everything in Finland is just cleaner.

Bathrooms- No big bathrooms with multiple stalls. There are just individual bathrooms located down the hallway. Boys and girls use the same ones, and only one person goes in at a time. Simple as that.
Taking shoes off- The first day of school, everyone took their shoes off before they went into any classroom. I had no idea what was going on, or why they were doing it, so I just did it anyways. However, that was with a class I had with all 1st year students, who were new to the building. I later asked a 2nd year why they took their shoes off, and apparently they had to last year for some reason, but this year they could leave their shoes on. However, people still do it just because, and they did make an announcement saying that if you had shoes that were like running shoes, that you had to take them off before going into the class because they track in a lot of dirt. But there is one room where you HAVE to take your shoes off, and that's because it has carpet, which leads to the next thing, since carpet shouldn't be an issue since all of Manistee High has carpet. However...

No Janitors- The schools here have no janitors to clean up after everyone. So, everyone takes care of their own messes, and that includes dirt from your shoes. The schools aren't dirty by any means, so I'm wondering how things get cleaned, but I'm sure I'll find out more about that later on in the year.

Folders- I went to buy school supplies and expected to just get a regular folder that you can find in pretty much any store in the states. Just one slot on each side to slide my papers into. But, the folders here are different. Something that seems to insignificant can catch you off guard. The folders here have stretchy bands that wrap around to keep the folder closed, and when opened, there is only one place to put the papers. It isn't just a slot either. It has 3 sides that fold over where the papers go, and then you close it and put the stretchy bands around it to keep everything in place. Not the best explanation, but I hope you get the idea.

Paper- no regular lined paper here. (okay, not completely true. There is SOME, but I had to search for it in the store). All of the paper they use for every class is just like graph paper. You know, with all of the tiny little squares all over it. Again, insignificant, but kind of hard to get used to writing on.

That's it for the list that I've made. But one more thing is riding the bus to school. I have a choice between two bus stops to go to, one is about 10 minutes away, so I have to leave at 7:50 to catch the bus, then change schools at the middle school, where I have to wait about 20 minutes until the next one comes. OR, I can walk to a bus stop about 20 minutes away, and leave at 8:15 for an 8:35 bus, and go straight to school from there. So, obviously, I choose the one that's further away so I can sleep in just a little bit longer. Every bit counts. Plus, I figure in the middle of winter, I won't want to be waiting at the bus stop for 20 minutes in the cold.

A few more things totally un-school related:
Metal link charm bracelets here are really popular! I'm talking about the ones that everyone had in the states in about 7th grade. Each charm was probably about 4 dollars. Here, it's a MUCH bigger deal than it ever was there though. Each charm is apparently about 20 euros (about 24 dollars), and I've even spotted some of the guys wearing them. They do look good though, and since we were only in 7th grade and wanted just as many charms as possible, they're much more ACTUALLY fashionable here. Especially since the charms are so expensive, people are really choosy about what they put on them.

CAPRIS- for men. So many guys wear capris! I don't think there's much more to say about that, just that they must be in fashion.

I'm definitely loving it here though! Some things take getting used to, but I can most definitely do that! I'm getting a phone in a few days which will make it a lot easier to connect with friends here and such. Next thing is just to learn Finnish- but that will probably be a big thing for the whole year... there's a lot to it, just like any language. In fact, my principal came up to me the other day and told me it would be great if I would make a speech at graduation in Finnish, so I'll see what I can do :)