1998 School Magazine

Girls 6rammar ^, rhool alarmbane 1998

^S^'

Rotary EXchange to Finland

differently. There is no powder on the slopes; they scrape it off so that you ski on ice. It's very difficult and I was terrible. The whole school stopped to help the new Australian learn to ski Now, after skiing in Sweden and trips to ski fields all around Finland, I am a professional. .... sort of. The first P. E. lessonltook was ice hockey, something I have never done before. Showing true Aussie spirit I dashed out to defend my goal (they had unwisely made me goalie). Unforrunately, I fell flat on my face, taking another girl down with me, and had to watch, momen-

wa patvaa. kaikki, nimini on Chioe Hall-Brown ja nimini on Luisa Ryan. Me asumme Suomessa nyt God dag. lag heter Chioe Hall-Brown och jag beter Luisa Ryan och vi bor I Finland nu Hello everyone. My name is Chloe Hall-Brown, and my name is Luisa Ryan and we live in Finland now. The above sentences were written in the two official languages of Finland, Finnish and Swedish

tanly paralysed, as the puck slid slowly into my goal. My face was puffy for a week Other Finnish celebrations include Vappu (May Day) and Midsummer. The Finns celebrate both occasions by getting quite intoxicated. Vappu is spent with friends at a pub, throwing streamers and meeting new people, Everyone is friends on Vappu. it was one of the best parties I have ever been to Midsummer, when the sun doesn't set, was spent with my third host faintly at their sununer cottage. Call Finns have sunnner cottages - small cabins on the lakes with no electricity or running water it is their way of getting back to nature Most Finns spend the entire summer holidays, two months, at their summer cottage. ) it is a family tradition to build a bonfire and float it out onto the lake. it

Our welcome into Finland was -20 degree weather, snow and ice. The first week was spent at a language camp in Karkku, learning Finnish or Swedish and meeting other eXchange students. Our introduction to Finntsh culture was a steam- ing 80 degree sauna, followed by a night time plunge into a hole in the ice As you can imagine, going from the 32 degree heat of the Australian SUITuner to this kind of climate was certainly shock- ing. We were as far away from our friends as we could possibly be and many of us were scared siny. Now, however, many months after OUT amval in Finland, we have grown fond of our new home and have had many different experiences After seven days at Karkku we were whisked away by our host families and began to lead two very separate lives LUISA=

L"is" in Vero""

was the kids turn this year. Our bonfire sank in one week I will be moving to my fourth family; I have five in total. Some speak only Swedish, some only Firmish so I'm learning both languages - which is hard. This summer I have lived on a 400 year old cattle fann, which is certainly different Rustling up the cows was an interesting experience. I was meant to lead the cattle off onto a small path and into a field, so, when they all came at me, I waved my arms appropriate Iy and the herd split. One half went when they were supposed to but the other headed straight for the manure pile. Being a city girl I had absolutely no idea what to do so I stood there flapping my arms, dumbfounded, as half the herd became bogged in the largest manure pile I had ever seen. it took my host father an hour to get the distressed, rapidly sinking cows out of their predica- merit. I have had a truly fantastic six months in Finland. I've made heaps of fantastic friends and met wonderful faintlies. I have toured central Europe, Russia, Estonia and visited Sweden many times. I would reconmiend youth eXchange to anyone CmOE: in some ways my year has been similar to Luisa's but in most ways we have lived two very different lives. When my first host

I was taken to live in the city of Tampere, one of the largest in Finland with a population of 180 000 people. I am a member of the Swedish speaking school, which is very small. The high schoolis made up of only two hundred students, quite a change from Grammar. Like us, Finns also have their strange school traditions. When moving from second to third grade, the equivalent of entering Grade Twelve, the students hold what is called the old dance. Dressed in clothes from the 16th century, the students perform the appropriate dances in front of the rest of the school Before graduation, the Firms also have an equivalent of our 'silly assembly'. The seniors dress up not in formal clothes but, for example, as vampires, and spray younger students meaning me - with off milk, stinky perfume and lipstick. The day is a favourite for the kids, however, as all the seniors from all the schools then go around town on the back of trucks, throwing candy as they go The best part of living in a snow covered country is allof the different sports you can do. Although Finnish schools don't have sporting competitions or even any school clubs, they do arrange student ski days. The ski fields here are prepared very

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