Drying rack instead of dishwasher

Drying rack instead of dishwasher

Something very specious about such a technologically advanced country as Finland is that Finns never have dishwashers in their kitchen. Dishwashers are being counted for hight standard equipment in European kitchens. Finns always clean their dishes by hand. BUT they use a very smart invention to dry the dishes; Finns invented the "drying racks". Those are like shelfs above the sink where you can place your dishes in it, let it there for a few hours and let it dry.

My first experience with it was the first night I arrived in Turku in an Airbnb and I didn't think about it very much. I just thought that this person is very lazy and do not have enough money to buy a dishwasher. The second encounter with those drying rack was in my kitchen in my accommodation. Even the school's domestic economic kitchen was furnished with drying rack. I've learnt that it is the normal equipment for a Finnish kitchen! And I think it's very ecological, cheap and smart.

Lunchtime at 11 am

Lunchtime at 11 am

A cultural shock for me was absolutely the Lunch. The time Finns use to eat their lunch is just ways too early for me; they eat around 11 am. Back home I use to eat breakfast at this time (on weekends). However, having lunch at 11 am was too early for me. I even didn't feel hungry at this time of the day. In January, the sunrise was after 9 am and two hours later they had their lunch...

Another very surprising thing to me was the price for the meal in the student restaurants. All the universities provided in their cafeterias around three different menus, vegetarian menus were included, for just €2.60 (in Switzerland a student menu costs about €10.-)! And the food was very tasty and healthy as well. You could have a glass of water, fruit juice or milk, salad from the salat bar and the main dish. The main dish was mostly rice or potato with meat or fish and vegetables.

All the students could easily get their food very quick because of its smart system. Everything worked well. I was amazed about the way the students removed their dishes. Everyone brought back their tablet and removed rubbish. They have a great recycling system which I would love to test in Switzerland as well.

Finnish school system

Finnish school system

There must be a certain reason, why the Finnish school system is considered to be one of the best school systems in the whole world. I spent three months in a primary school in Turku and had the chance to see a little bit behind the scenes. The biggest differences I recognized were the breaks, free lunch and education and WILMA - more about it on this blog:

After every lesson ,which last just 45 minutes, the pupils have to go outside and freshen their brains. Even it's very cold outside this 15 minute break between each lesson is obligatory. The pupils are not allowed to stay inside.

All the pupils are staying at school over lunch which allows them to end schooldays at 1 or 2 pm. Additionally, the lunch break is quite early. They eat that early to have half of the lessons before lunch and half of it are held after lunch. The lunch is paid by the government, more exactly by the taxes.

Also the education is free in Finland to anyone. From kindergarten until university, students don't have to pay anything in order to get education. The students get a grant from the Finnish welfare system so that they can afford a flat as well handle their daily life. The grant is around € 500.- a month. If it's not enough, the students can apply for a study grant. The study grant have to be paid back. My home country Switzerland supports us as students as well. But they do not provide for example a study grant which you can use for paying a flat. By the Swiss law, parents have to provide their child money for a first education such as a apprenticeship or university. Having provided a grant like Finland does to its inhabitants is very nice.

In the online system called WILMA all the teachers can mark if a pupil was absent, forgot something at home or did not behave well. Just the teacher and the students parents have access to it. It's a easy tool to communicate between teacher and parent.

Ystävänpäivä

Ystävänpäivä

Ystävänpäivä, Saint Valentin, Valentine's Day or Valentinstag - we all know this day. As you can see is the Finnish "Valentine's Day" something very special (just have a look at the totally different spelling than in other languages). And the way Finns celebrate it is really different from the Valentine's Day in other countries.

In Finland it's not the day of couples and lovers - it's the day of friendship. So, on the 14th of February it's the day Finns say thank you to their best friends. In my opinion, it's a very lovely tradition. I like it and I haven't seen it in other countries as well.

On the other side, I also love to celebrate Valentine's day in the Swiss way. It doesn't have to be on the 14th of February but I think it's also important to pay regard to a relationship and celebrate it.

Cathedral of Turku

Cathedral of Turku

Turku Cathedral or Turun tuomiokirkko in Finnish is a building very important to the city of Turku. I've learned this already at the first day in Turku, on my orientation days. You can find almost everything in a near walking-distance to the cathedral in Turku. Shops, restaurants, bars, hairdressers and even the universities are close to it. The cathedral is also considered to be one of the most religious building in Finland and it is central for the Christmas celebration in Finland. It's the most recognizable symbol of Turku.

In it there is also a museum. The cathedral is quite big and nice to visit. I would say you have to visit the cathedral at least once during the stay in Turku. It was build in the late 13th century. They built it on wood. The cathedral was important to the Finns for all its history and it's still is.

Hesburger

Hesburger

Hesburger is a very unique invention from Finland. There is no Mac Donalds in the whole Finland (well probably there is one somewhere, maybe in Helsinki, but I've never seen one). But of course Finns are also addicted to burgers. Instead of Mac Donalds in Finland they have this restaurant called Hesburger. It works similar like Mac Donalds, also the offer of food is almost the same but their businessplan works differently; Hesburger takes care to our environment. Their concept is to recycle a lot. All their employee are wearing recycled uniforms. For example, they wear caps which used to be a bottle once or an environment-friendly jeans made from recycled cotton. The enterprise also stays for producing less plastic, more sustainable packing, energy from the sun and fewer emission. Furthermore they do different recycling. I've read once that textile waste becomes Hesburgers' table sets.

Hesburger also gets its own sauces. I liked the garlic Hesburger sauce the most and I recommend to try it (I bought a whole bottle of Hesburger sauce in the K-market because I was addicted to it)...
Also, the food in Hesburger is freshly prepared and not that expensive. The cheapest burger costs about €1.- and a whole menu about €5.-. Hesburger is open on Friday and Saturday night until 5.30am which makes a short stop after parting hard definitely worth it.

Struggle with the Finnish language

Struggle with the Finnish language

Words like "kiitos" or "moikka" were easy to get after a few days. Luckily, I also had a Finnish course for exchange students which enable to count to twenty. Some words in Finnish are almost like German, you just have to add an "i" at the end like "elefantti, salatti, halli or alkoholi" which makes the language funny for German speakers.

At the beginning I felt like I want to learn Finnish as a second language but after few weeks I become more realistic and I destroyed this goal. Finnish is one of the most difficult language in the world. During my practical training in a primary school I learnt that even Finns with their mother tongue have struggles with the grammar. Lots of the lessons at this primary school were in Finnish. Sometimes, I didn't understand a word or the topic they talked about for a whole hour.
Day by day I got better to get some words or make a guess about the topic but for me it's almost impossible to make a sentence, even I had any lessons.