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Yläkanpingin Yö-Stu

Fish and chips Finnish style-I was hoping this was a single portion size 😉

This past week the city of Jyväskylä enjoyed temperatures in the mid to high 70’s which on one particularly glorious day was actually higher than our home in Goleta, CA! The city seemed to relax into the warmth as the “spontaneous and cultural experience” that is the Yläkanpingin Yö festival (loosely translated as uptown nights) took hold of the uptown and university area. There were street vendors selling food/bohemian art/clothing/jewelry, live music performances, lectures, art, and theatre performances. Christian bands and what I thought was a Polynesian choral group (all in Finnish so a little hard to tell); rap; pop; and some hard-core thrash metal all competed for attention-often at the same time.

Most of the pedestrian main street shopping area was taken over by Christian booths that seemed to be offering everything from literature to support groups to crafts or even opportunities to serve as missionaries.  I was surprised to see so many churches there and asked one of the vendors about it. He explained that 95% of Finns belong to the Lutheran Church and that all the booths were part of this one church. Reading up about the event later I saw that there were some “associations and societies showcasing ideology and causes.”  This I interpreted as the Lutheran Church vendor(s) and the 400 scouts that were having a campout at the Church park (both the church in the park and the scouts were Lutheran based also….)

Yläkanpingin Yö is meant to encourage people from different cultures living in Finland to meet and mingle. Judging by the varieties of Asian and African food on sale alongside the four-foot  diameter grilling dishes offering Finnish favorites such as whole fried fingerling fish with vegetables or meatballs and fries, or even whole grilled salmon, I would say that this was pretty successful even if there are few immigrants in Finland generally.  Whatever its intentions, the stomach knows what the stomach wants regardless of labels! The event was started in the early 1990’s as a way to help offset the hard economic struggles Finland, and Jyväskylä in particular, was experiencing. Many businesses were closing and selling off their merchandise at flea markets leading a student named Soili Puranen to pitch the idea of a huge flea market and uplifting arts-based festival to help people make money and have a good time.  As it didn’t really cost anything, the city agreed and put Soili in charge. It’s continued to grow each year and now thousands of visitors enjoy the fun. The ice cream vendors seemed especially both exhausted and happy by the end of the weekend as they were running out of stock. For us, it was great to wander through the booths and sprawl out on a blanket in the sun serenaded by the sweet tones of Finnish rap.

Part of the scout camp out-in true Finnish style, it is gender free
These whole sides of salmon on cedarwood had the best aroma
I keep seeing this guy…
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Random-Meggie

Trees finally starting to show leaves

Finland has a few “tendencies” with regards to random things I’ve noticed thus far. What I mean is no matter the food group for example, there’s always a licorice flavor. I’m not kidding, if you looked hard enough, you could probably find a bag of chips with licorice seasoning. Licorice is addicting, and that’s why it’s everywhere; ask my family- we have all succumbed to its temptations.

When we first got here, we would see flyers and hear people saying that such and such happens in the spring… However, we had lost hope in there ever actually being spring by the time May worked around and the snow was still a couple of feet high and snow boots were still in use. It’s more exciting than you can imagine to say that – I hope I don’t jinx it – Spring has Sprung. Coming from California, we have finally gotten back into our routine of putting on shorts (not snow pants) and leaving our jackets behind.

Liam and I are officially done with school. Our typical school day was work work work in the morning and then have the afternoons to go outside and do what we wanted (whether it was go to dance, or swim, etc.).  But now that we have our mornings free it’s been fun to see what Finland is like on a spring day. I think one of the most words used by my family when we go outside is “wow” because it is truly beautiful outside with all the trees and flowers blossoming. Finland has transformed from being rather barren to full of life and color.

Trees at Laajavouri


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Lake and Sun-Liam

My family out at the university (we need sunglasses all the time now!)


A few weeks ago I could walk on water. Actually, it was ice covering a lake near my house, but tomato tomoto. The past few days it has been very hot here in Finland, almost rivailling our normal Southern California weather. My family had an amazing idea to check out the lake that was frozen over just over a month ago. We walked down expecting to see maybe one or two people sunbathing in the unusual 70 degree weather, but we soon discovered nearly 40 people either lying in the sand or splashing in the just above freezing water at their feet. We laid out a blanket and took off our shoes to test the water and experience the cold temperature. It was surprisingly similar to the ocean at home although a little colder. I worked up the courage to go out waist deep to find that the depth of the lake didn’t go any deeper for at least another 20 yards. I kept going out deeper and deeper until it got to the middle of my chest then promptly ran back out to shore. I laid in the sun after repeating that a few times, and after about another 20 min of sunbathing we started to pack up. As we walked back I thought about home and the ocean. All in all it was a fantastic evening at the beach. Oh, did I mention that it gets dark around 11 o’clock at night now? That is taking a lot of getting used to.

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Sunshine-Robyn

Every educator is impacted by their students, they brighten our lives teaching us as we teach them.  And often we have a special student that stays with us even after teacher and student have moved on.

For me I often think of her as sunshine, smiling while she looks straight at you, telling you everything she wants you to know. A meeting of the minds, you just have to know to understand her, she is communicating and sharing, you just have to look beyond traditional conventions of communication. Not only can she brighten one’s day with her infectious smile she has even captured the heart of some of the toughest kids. While it pains me that not everyone gets her, those that do reap the benefits of the light she brings despite the incredible challenges placed upon her.

While lecturing throughout Finland at times it’s been challenging to share about my research. However, I am driven to share my passion so that people understand the importance of inclusive education for students with moderate and severe disabilities. I assume that people aren’t interested because they aren’t able to connect or relate. Maybe it’s because they never met someone like her before.

When I spoke recently at a University I was incredibly nervous as I knew that my audience wouldn’t “hear” me unless they felt the passion behind my work with such amazing children. Before I stood in front of so many I took a moment to visualize the sunshine she has brought to my life. This moment of reflection ensured that no matter what I said, I knew I wore my heart on my sleeve, and hoped that the participants would better understand how to best support our students.

I am advocating for my kiddos because it’s what I love to do. I wish others wanted this too but I like to think that with her sunshine I am strong enough.

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Here’s a Thought!-Robyn

Clarity

Cleaning house after years of buildup.

The clutter became confusion.

Constantly advocating had brought exhaustion-a cloudy perspective.

Deadlines and todos.

Striving to reach one finish line after the next.

Taking a step back and listening.

Quieter and reflective.

Instead model and guide.

Reclaiming warmth and kindness.

A metamorphosis.

Embracing this gift with no more feelings of guilt.

No longer trying to prove.

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Happy Birthday, Mom!-Meggie and Liam

Who doesn’t like chocolate cake?!

We were all very excited for our mom’s birthday. Of course, we are in Finland so naturally this makes it all the more unique. In being so far up North, we had to prepare for two separate circumstances that comes along with the high probability of having cold weather in a spring month. One idea consisted of warm weather activities such as hiking, a picnic, and just generally having a lovely day outside. Whereas if it snowed, we planned for a day of fun, such as boardgames, strolling through an art museum, and a family movie- based upon mom’s preference of course.

It worked out well that the latter occurred because having a warm gooey cake that we had worked on, suited the mood of a cozy winter indoors. Miraculously, she was out all day the day before, so we didn’t have to sneak around to buy ingredients and bake the cake.

And while our mom is most certainly not one for material possessions- she prefers experiences -it is good to treat her, because she deserves it so very much. Our more private thoughts and feelings went into her birthday cards, but we wanted to share that yes, all of our efforts paid off and ended up with a truly special May/winter birthday!

P.S. the cake was very very good.

Birthday snuggle

Breakfast in bed 🙂

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Vappu Sunshine (and Snow)-Stu

From Finnish Nightmares, a quirky and very popular comic strip highlighting things that bother Finns by Karoliina Korhonen

This past week was notable for several reasons. Firstly, another Fulbright grantee, Keith Thompson, visited Jyväskylä from Belfast, Northern Ireland. His project is centered around helping groups and individuals discuss and resolve conflict, which obviously has been a big part of daily life in areas such as Belfast which continues to move slowly forward years after the peace accord ended the ‘troubles’. It was interesting for me to view Keith’s presentation to college students as N. Ireland was on the news almost daily it seemed as I was growing up. My uncle and a few good friends were stationed there at different times when they were in the British Army. I could also relate to the concept that inequality brings friction. I’d like to think that this is lessening over time, yet I know this is not the case as there still remains a big divide between the have’s and have-nots in the world. It was a good visit, and Keith even got to see some of the Vappu celebrations, and, of course, sauna.

Vappu is the first of May celebration in Finland, which if you imagine that winter started somewhere around October and has been lingering ever since, is a source of joy for the population. Besides, it marks the official start of ice cream season beloved by all here (the Finns eat an average of 12.5 litres per capita). To celebrate, many Finns go out to party the night before. We saw hundreds of college students gathered at the local church park all decked out in their various brightly colored overalls that indicate what area of study they are enrolled. For example, Biology students have a green overall. All students wear them tied down at the waist, and they are typically covered in patches indicating various places or events they’ve been to. I suspect that beer is involved in most events, yet all were celebrating quietly. Also worn are white caps with a black band and visor that resemble jaunty captain hats favored by yachtsmen. These indicate that the wearer graduated from high school. Even individuals who graduated 30 years ago wear them on Vappu. This is a cause of some contention apparently, as not all Finns graduate from a typical high school. In fact, many attend vocational and technical schools and so do not have caps. There can be divisions and problems when many people get together as it can ostracize some, although everyone seemed happy to us. We particularly enjoyed picnicking at Harju Park the next day which is when literally the entire town congregates to enjoy the warmer weather.

Robyn’s birthday was on Friday, and she celebrated bundled back up in winter clothes as the snow had returned. Robyn had fun with it as there’s been no time in her life that she celebrated her spring birthday in the snow. Our family is now convinced that Finland has only one season- winter. It breaks down like this: first there is winter, winter; then there is late winter (spring to us); very late winter (early summer); pre winter (summer); early winter (fall); and finally, winter (winter.) You get the idea…We enjoyed her day visiting art galleries and eating sushi along with a homemade cake and breakfast made by the kids. Thanks for making it possible to be here, Robyn!

The birthday girl “enjoying” the return of snow


Robyn and Meg strolling through the quiet Vappu celebrations


Taking a moment to appreciate what is important in life (the kids thought we meant ice cream…)


The start of Vappu: good-natured party in the park. Note the colored overalls and grad. Caps (the green stuff is grass and is nice to see again)


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All Aboard-Robyn

Recently I was fortunate to attend the International Seminar on Inclusive Education in Tampere, Finland. This multicultural conference focused on inclusive education through the lens of four participating countries: Norway, Finland, Belgium, and the U.K. These educators have been pursuing innovative strategies to strengthen the competence of their specialized centers that support inclusive education. The project had been created due to the increasing need to share multidisciplinary information on best practices and how to support inclusive education for students with intensive needs. In addition, they created flexible models for the training of staff at expertise centers (segregated sites) and mainstreamed schools, yet also provide services for supporting the implementation of inclusive education.

Initially, when asked to attend this conference, I was intrigued as it was a conference on inclusion, but produced by organizations that oversee segregated sites. Fascinated by the irony of this I knew I had to go. Sure enough, like everything else on this Fulbright journey the learning occurred in several unexpected ways.

Major Takeaways:

  • The organizations that I considered segregated sites are indeed segregated sites. However, these 4 countries perceive these sites as the experts in the field of all things special education. This means they are responsible for trainings and disseminating best practices to each of the schools throughout their country.
  • The term Inclusion in Europe vs. the term Inclusion in the United States are absolutely defined differently (stay tuned as this will definitely be a future post)
  • Prezi is an awesome presentation tool and I can’t wait to use it! https://prezi.com/
  • Everyone throughout the world is trying their best to make inclusion happen for all students. However, the drastic differences in cultures, funding, resources, and knowledge has created variances among how and when it is utilized.
  • Our Goleta USD teams need to be very proud at how well we are implementing evidence-based practices in the least restrictive environment.
  • For me, the list of new knowledge and to do’s continues to grow
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Blog Liam: Endgame Review WARNING, WILL INCLUDE SPOILERS!!

The 22nd movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a 3 hour long film that finally shows the defeat of the Titan, Thanos. In my opinion the movie was amazing and it was nice to see everyone that got ‘snapped’ come back. Anyways it was sad throughout the film to see some of the most iconic characters die. Such as beloved Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff. I thought that the movie had many sad moments, but the directors also managed quite a few jokes and funny moments. All in all it was a good final ending for the the Avengers…for now. It is a must see for anyone from a huge fan to someone who has never seen a Marvel film. Another warning: Some may cry as it is a very rough movie as superhero films go.

On another note me and my family went to Tampere this week. My mom had a conference so we got to explore the city. We walked to this building that had many different museums in it which was a lot of fun. I also went and had a picnic near the river. There was a museum building near us where they had a video game museum, a dracula one and a natural history wing.

The video game room was a lot of fun they had a bunch of retro games such as space invaders and pacman. We stayed in there for about 30 minutes then we made our way to the dracula exhibit. I learned where the person dracula was based on lived and the Western Europe’s ideas about Eastern Europe. The whole trip to Tampere was a lot of fun and it was a nice change of scenery.

This was my dad’s bike when he was a kid…
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Tampere-Meggie

One of the first wildflowers in the forest


This past weekend we went to Tempere, and while the real reason as to why we went was so mom could take-part in conferences; of course, the rest of us turned it into a bit of a vacation.

We discovered right when we arrived that we had two choices for what we should do for dinner. We could go to a nice sunny restaurant by the water, or we could go walk a few minutes to a grocery store, pick out a couple of foods, and go find a patch of grass to sit on right above the river. If you have ever met my family or have even read any of our blogs, you would already have guessed that we chose the latter. And it isn’t just because we travel cheap- we’ve just come to understand that having a humble little picnic is much more our speed than being catered to in a fancy restaurant. Which isn’t to say that we don’t love the occasional night out- but when it comes to choosing between the two turning dinner into an adventure is much more memorable.

The next day, the three of us went for a walk hike up what we thought was going to be a mountain. Last time we went to Tampere, the weather was very severe with howling wind and driving snow- so when we visited the park on the hill it looked like some huge treacherous mountain. It turns out that when there’s no howling wind and shin-deep snow, it only takes a few minutes to reach the top. Since the weather turned out to be so mild, it was a great opportunity to take some photos of the wildlife that was making its first appearance in months.

Taking photos while you’re wandering through a new city is such a great way to remember the details. Not to mention it’s super fun!

Door on top of observation tower