Shabbat in Finland- our family moved to Finland a few weeks ago and the newness of everything can at times be overwhelming. With so much being new we crave the familiar. Before we left we wanted to make sure we did our best to make sure our Friday evenings continued with our Shabbat traditions. It’s what we are used to from home and it’s what we look forward to and are trying to protect this special time now. The four of us sitting together for dinner. Salmon, salad, challah and the traveling Shabbat candles we brought from home. So the challah is actually Pulla- a favorite Finnish sweet bread that is braided and has subtle reminders of challah from Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf with a bit of added cardamom. And it’s dark so early out. In fact, our first Shabbat in Finland the sunset was at 2:30 pm. We emailed our go-to’s at CBB (Rabbi, Cantor, Jen, Laurie, and Ben) and they provided some great suggestions for our family’s time of observance. After reading a few articles with follow up discussions we opted to give a nod to our home in Goleta and light candles at what would be sunset back home (i.e sunset is 5:38 pm in Goleta then we would aim for 17:38 in Finland). The thousands of miles we are away hasn’t been easy. However, this experience is amazing and we are taking advantage of every opportunity possible. Shabbat has grounded us. The traditions, the prayers, the conversations, and the foods, this one time each week feels like home. Shabbat Shalom.
Another interesting week in Finland began with Runebergin Päivää and Penkkarit (a candy-throwing parade of some 1,000 high school seniors celebrating the end of their studies before studying 3-4 months for matriculation exams) and continued on Thursday with an evening with Tom Dodd, the British ambassador to Finland who was to help clarify the current Brexit situation for Brits living and working in Finland. Hosted by the city of Jyväskylä and the Anglo Guild, Tom Dodd was to be present in a small and up-close venue at the Alba Hotelli which is located on the University of Jyväskylä campus. Meggie and I decided to pay a visit and see if there was any new information to be had in this unpredictable and often confusing situation.
We got to the hotel a little early and had a great time chatting in the bar overlooking the lake while we waited. We entered a short while later to find ourselves with the ambassador and a few business leaders-only about 10 people in all (including us). The room looked ready to host a UN peace summit, but we decided to stay even though we felt a little out of place. Graham Burns, a likeable British businessman who runs the Anglo Guild made us feel at home as we introduced ourselves and chatted about our respective ties to Finland. It turns out he runs an English management team and has been living in town for the past fourteen years. The ambassador came over and we shook hands and made introductions again.
The conference began with a presentation by two representatives of the City of Jyväskylä who are leading the new Hippos Center project the city has committed to. The center will be a huge sports and well-being facility housing three major arenas in an area 160,000 square meters (sixteen football fields). It will employ about 1,000 individuals and will increase the numbers of visitors at the current much smaller facility from 1.5 million to 3.5 million per year. As you would expect, the budget for this project is huge; 220-250 million euros and will take five years to complete. The city is having a rally for foreign investors this summer and are very eager to have British support. Thankfully, I didn’t have to break open the checkbook. I was intrigued though because the emphasis of the facility is not only on sports and sports medicine, but also the balance of well-being for people: “brain and heart” as they so eloquently put it. The whole presentation was very down to earth and I for one wish them well.
After a light dinner, Tom Dodd took the floor to talk about Brexit. He did a very good job in my opinion detailing the overall timeline of Brexit from the referendum to where we are now trying to work out a new deal. He also included the three different types of deal including the least desirable no-deal and how this could possibly impact Brits living in Finland and Finns living in the U.K. Although there wasn’t too much in the way of new information, the ambassador explained some of the options and possible changes the Finnish government is considering for Brits as well as his own personal views. The Brits were justifiably nervous about their living situations especially as becoming a Finnish citizen is notoriously difficult (the language test is 5 hours long by all accounts). Basically, the Brits were advised to check in with the Finnish authorities as it is down to them and if you want to live here, you have to play by their rules.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom though. Tom Dodd reminded everyone that the annual garden party will go ahead in June, and that other community events such as the open bar at the British Embassy will continue once per month. Brits just need to show up with their passport. Wait…what?!
Meg and I had a lot to mull over on our walk home. Things will be very different from the open EU I’d imagined for her years ago. Still, you never really know what may happen, and there’s always the open bar night at the embassy…
It’s so funny how popular you become in a group of girls the moment you mention you’re from the famous, “Kaliforniassa!” I started dance this week, trying out two types: Katu (hip-hop/street) and Nyky (contemporary). I’m so glad that I chose dance as my main physical activity because not only is it a great opportunity to socialize and make friends with people my age, but also because I love dance anyways and that’s what I did back home.
My dad took me to a meeting concerning Brexit. I got to meet the English ambassador stationed in Finland. There are some very unfortunate problems politically that are occurring right now and while it didn’t take this meeting for me to notice or realize this, it felt more real to have a knowledgeable important person explaining it right to me instead of little snippets that roam around on social media.
And while we are all in a bit of a difficult time, my parents reminded me that hey-right at this moment, I’m living in a really wonderful place full of wonderful people. It’s good to remember to step back and focus and appreciated the now rather than worrying about something that may never happen.
My trip in Finland has been filled with all sorts different things. For example, my family and I were told about this parade were the seniors of the local high schools in costume throw candy at the people watching. There were about one thousand kids in trucks going about the town. It was kind of chaotic with candy flying every which way. The kids were quiet, but a little rebellious. It was a very different experience for the whole family.
I have also seen some very different sports. Today I went to see rugby played in the snow. Near us in California they have a rugby team, but this was very different. First off, the teams are considerably smaller. Also, they wore long pants and long-ts. When you walk to the field they give out free sausages that are made out of elk! It was the best sausage that I have ever had. They had cheese in it too, all of that from elk which is totally strange.
All in all this week has been filled with new experiences and there are for sure more to come.
The first few days upon returning ‘home’ from Tallinn and Helsinki were all about settling back in and getting the kids set up with some kind of physical activity (preferably one where they can also meet some of the local kids, too). Robyn had done a lot of research for different activities and we settled on a local swim team for Liam and dance classes for Meggie. We took Meg out to view the two different options and she liked the one through the local Gradia (vocational high school). Liam tried the swim class and even though it was initially very hard due to the long training periods and mileage (up to 3 miles per session) he decided that he enjoyed it. There was even a boy his age who had spent almost a year in the states, so his English is pretty good!
The first time we visited the pool and recreation center, I was stopped by the lifeguard soon after entering the pool area due to my swim shorts. Apparently, even my European style small shorts were not acceptable for Finland as all males have to wear either racing speedos or tight trunks that are a little smaller than boxer briefs, but thankfully a tad bigger than the infamous (at least at my age) speedos. I thought that I was going to have to leave the pool due to being inappropriately attired. Thankfully, they have loaners (yikes) that they keep for just such occasions. I suspect that every non-Finnish male who enters the pool needs such help. Then it was simply a matter of trying to decipher all the signs on doors, walls, and even swimming lanes of which there were many and none in English. We soon understood that such places even though they don’t have many rules, are highly organized and it is very easy to cause problems by not following along. For example, there are no bathing suits to be worn in the sauna, although bringing in a towel is okay as I eventually found out. I was the only one who brought something in to sit on it should be noted. That being said the rec. center here is extremely clean, modern, multi-faceted, and enjoyed by all.
I started to teach myself how to cross-country ski around the park across the street this week. I bought an entire set of second hand skis, poles, and boots for 30 euros (just over $30). Let me say that I was very surprised that I could pretzel myself into some remarkable positions while thrusting my head into a snow drift up to my shoulders. This usually occurred only when locals were nearby to witness my achievements. I was amazed at how many dog walkers there suddenly were late in the evening. Perhaps it was a bad T.V. night. I persevered, however, and am making some real gains. My favorite place to work on technique (other than snow banks) is the lake which has now had about a 2 mile track groomed on its snow covered icy surface. It’s amazing how big the lake is and the wonderful views it offers of the town, especially at night when everything is lit up. It’s also possible to ski across town on surface streets as there’s been so much snow. This is not so good for me at this point as I can’t really steer that well going downhill.
The weekend saw us visiting the local ski resort as well as the Alvar Aalto museum. The ski resort was hosting the Redbull Crashed Ice competition which tours many different countries and is, I believe, part of the X-games circuit. The racers look like hockey players in their pads and hurtle down ice shutes similar to bob sledding runs, but are wider and have gnarly jumps and drop-offs. It is a lot of fun to watch the athletes fly past and the event is very popular. It was brutally cold that day and we all made it home mildly hypothermic and in need of some high calorie comfort food to revive us. Well, that and something for the adults to spike the hot chocolate with 😉 Friends stopped by on their way home and I was relieved to see that we weren’t the only ones who were tinged a little blue around the edges. In fact, one of Robyn’s Fulbright colleagues reported that her son had PTSD the next day and wouldn’t leave the house! All good fun and character building.
Sunday was the anniversary of Alvar Aalto’s birthday. This beloved Finnish architect and designer from Jyväskylä made huge contributions worldwide to how living spaces were conceptualized, built, and used in the 20th Century. He even designed glassware and other household items that would be very familiar to you if you’ve spent any time in Europe. I’m sure many furniture items in Ikea give more than a nod to Alvar’s genius. The museum here which bears his name had a few design workshops as well as birthday cake and refreshments for visitors who braved the driving snow. It is a lovely place full of original illustrations, models, and household items designed by Alvar as well as other architects and designers inspired by him. While we were making our own art, Robyn took the opportunity to talk to the education leader about the school groups that visit, and what the learning opportunities look like there. Being Finland, there is apparently much discussion how architects use space and items to help people’s wellbeing while including nature. This is followed by hands-on projects and presentations. Good stuff. Happy Birthday Alvar!
Lastly, today (February 5th) is Runebergin Päivää, or Runeberg Day. Johan Ludvig Runeberg was a Finno-Sweddish poet whose first poem in his very first publication became the popular Finnish National Anthem. Born in 1804, Runeberg went on to write many poems that are often sung rather than spoken. People celebrate by eating a special delicious Runebergin Torttu that replicates his favorite that his wife used to prepare for him. Available in shops only for a limited time, the torttu tastes mildly of almonds and resemble a 3 inch tall honey cake with a dollop of icing and jam on top. Sounds like a good excuse to read some poetry and eat some treats to me.
Johan Ludvig RunebergDelicious Runeberg Torttus-I’d save you one, but it probably wouldn’t last…
Picture: The first race of the women’s Crashed Ice competition
This past week I have seen an extreme winter sporting event and I have also joined the local swim team. The winter event I saw is part of the Redbull crashed ice tour. It is where 4 ice skaters skate downhill at speeds around 50 mph on a course with jumps, curves and also drops. It is also a very dangerous game so much so that they have to keep an ambulance near the track. In this small town of Jyvaskyla this world wide quarter finals are a very big event. It causes quite a hullabaloo.
This week I also joined the local swim team. It’s one out of two here. My first day I was pretty nervous, but then the coach introduced me to everybody (all 7 of them). It was a physically demanding work out. I didn’t know it at the time, but I swam over 3.2 miles that day. Plus I made a new friend! Overall, this week has been amazing. I am finally getting into the groove of things here in the official home of Santa.
It takes me now 15 minutes to get ready for the day.
The highlight of the week is sauna time.
Runners wear regular running clothes even in negative degree weather.
My dad got in trouble for wearing too “large” a style of swim shorts and had to borrow speedo-like swimwear in order to go into the pool.
I like being cold in the snow.
I taught myself some algebra.
I have no problem sharing a room and socks with my brother.
Weetabix and Ribena are sold here too.
I got a hat with a pom-pom on it – which is apparently all the rage here
Anyways, my mom and I have been walking around the lake closest to our house, well until it came available for us to walk across it instead. That was a very scary experience- however seeing some dogs prancing around on the snow-covered ice seemed to calm us down. I came up with the idea to stand and take a picture with the view of the lake, city, and trees; and then repeat it in that exact same spot on the same day, every month. That way we can take a step back and see how much everything here can change over 6 months.
Inclusion in Finland is really not that different than my practice at home. However, one big difference is that all students in gen ed have the right to be supported by special education teachers. At home we reserve special education for only those that qualify for sped services. The reason for this is that the aim in Finland is to prevent existing problems from becoming more serious. They use this specialized support to provide students with the systematic support teachers know that they need so that they can complete their course work successfully and move on.
I was kind of hoping for some sort of radical difference in how things are done in Finland so that I can bring home this new and amazing way to implement appropriate supports for our deserving kiddos. With every observation and interview I keep looking for this magic. Well, no surprise here, but that has led to the realization that it’s not that we need more research of how to make things better; we just actually need to be better at implementing what we already know. And I don’t mean by working harder, instead plain old simple working smarter. (I know not harder because being here in Finland away from some of the usual daily tasks of work I fully recognize how hard every one of my colleagues and I work). This distance from what has been my norm for over two decades leaves me feeling positive that we already have the strategies required to be successful. Now we just need to implement them. So I ask myself, why haven’t we implemented them? Perhaps one reason is “we” wait; we wait for someone else to make these changes to make it better. However, I am coming to grips with it no longer being up to “they” or “them”. It’s time to take some ownership and just do it. I get it, it’s easy for me to say while I am away, and easy to imagine of implementing as I think of how to incorporate back home. But now I am certain that this implementation process needs to be a critical part of my inquiry project.
Note to self: Add figuring out how to implement what we already know into our programs back home 🙂
Evidence based practices/visual supports (board maker in Finnish)
Today was our first excursion away from our little home away from home in Jyvaskyla. We got up early and walked in the dark through the softly falling snow across town to the railway station. We’d gotten up an hour earlier than we really needed to because it’s just still so dark here in the mornings (sunrise at 9:30 am-ish) as we thought we’d sleep in. Our roller suitcases acted more like sleds in the powdery snow; twin lines marked our passage along quiet streets.
We met the Freedman family at the railway station and soon boarded our double decker train bound for Helsinki. We had a 40 minute stop at Pieksamäki to change trains and enjoyed taking some photos to pass the time. The train was a super smooth and fast and the kids enjoyed the comfy chairs and the dining car. So good to be able to stretch legs and walk around. I particularly enjoyed the viewing seats up top that were spaced about 4 feet apart with their own little side table and were oriented to huge viewing windows offering views of the seemingly endless forest. Eventually we made it to Helsinki, and stepped out into a bustling metropolis. Our initial impressions (only strengthened during our stay) was that Helsinki seemed to be a mix between a modern western city such as London and old school Eastern Europe. Some of the buildings had a distinctly soviet era look to them, which is not really all that surprising. No matter, this was Helsinki in wintertime! So cool.
We checked into the Scandia Hotel on Siltasaarenkatu a Unionsgatan (NE from the Central Railway Station). This is a major street with lots to do nearby and easy access to the trams and Metro, both of which are cheap and ridiculously easy to use. You can even buy one way or 24 hour multi-use tickets at any R-Kiosk (like a 7-Eleven store). The Scandia hotel is also a great place to stay and has a very tasty and varied breakfast buffet which we probably enjoyed a little more than we should have. Across the street is the Hakaniemi Market place which I would definitely advise a visit to if you are in the neighborhood. This temporary building (apparently) holds about 40 small stalls that sell everything from great quality baked goods, fish, meat, crafts, soup, and gifts inside a welcomingly warm setting. Not as big as the Market Food Hall down by the harbor, this little gem offers some great and well-needed food when the body feels drained after sightseeing.
That first day we enjoyed ice skating at the rink right beside the Central Railway Station. There are no handholds, so beware if you are a beginner like me. However, the Helsinki city lights grew brighter as the sun faded and we enjoyed being together with the other Fulbright grantees and their respective families as we slid happily around the ice. As we ended our session and walked to our next event (a coffee experience at Paulig Kulma) large fluffy snowflakes danced around us giving the evening a festive air. The event at Paulig Kulma was a fun affair where we learned much about coffee and the process of bringing it from bush to cup. My daughter and son both engaged in the background learning, roasting, and tasting/pairing of coffee. Sadly our daughter now wants coffee every morning just like her bleary eyed parents. Thanks, Paulig…
The next day, the grantees were busy working giving family members the chance to get out and see Helsinki. Our family decided to go see the Helsinki City Museum (free). There was a very typically Finnish nature resting area complete with hoop swings, beanbags, greenery, and piped meditation music. The museum was hosting an exhibition called Fear in which the artist explored the concept of fear and what it means to different people. The kids really enjoyed the mildly upsetting exhibit as it really opened the door to conversation about fear and how it impacts our lives. I was proud as my kids wanted to share ideas that would prevent fear or at least put it into its place.
Later that afternoon, we met up with the grantees and boarded a coach to Lake Vitträsk and Villa Hvittorp, a well known mansion that hosts conferences and has a huge sauna next to the lake for cold water dips in between sauna sessions. While the grantees left to participate in their breakout sessions, the family members joined Johanna, a sauna expert, to enjoy a quiet sauna. The Villa Hvittorp sauna can easily hold 30 people, but we 8 or so people loved the experience of quiet meditative sauna followed by avantu (cold water swim) in the frozen lake. I’d been a little concerned because the hole chopped into the lake was a good 30 feet from the wooden dock. As I’m not a seal, I wasn’t sure if I could haul myself back up from the hole in the ice to safety (and continued life) without a ladder. Thankfully, the staff chopped a new hole so I wouldn’t have to embarrass myself by opting out. The water was uniquely cold as I walked barefoot across the ice on the dock and without any further ado went straight down into the water up to my chin. By now I have kind of mastered breathing slowly and steadily in such cold water rather than gasping and holding the breath which is a little dodgy and, ironically, makes the water seem colder. Johanna had said that taking avantu during a sauna session was fine, but doing it without sauna was unthinkable and much colder. I wondered how this was possible, yet as I pulled myself up the ladder with aching shins (why there?) I knew that I was a convert and would try to do it as much as possible. In fact, I did it another 3 times during my 2 hours in sauna. I’m also proud to say that my kids and Robyn, too did a fine job also! I think it’s more of a psychological barrier rather than a physical one.
The next day, we visited Espoo Museum of Modern Art Emma and enjoyed a private tour and lunch courtesy of the Saastamoinen Foundation who support new artists and the work of many researchers in Fulbright Finland. We had lunch there and then left the grantees who were going to visit a local high school. The kids and I opted to visit the Natural history Museum and were surprised to see it filled with military officers with much braid and medals on their uniforms. Many looked like generals to me! I saw Russian, Finnish, Estonian, and American uniforms as we wandered around the small but great museum. So strange what you will encounter when traveling…Generals and dinosaurs 😉
