Celebrating Finnish Independence Day 

or 

ITSENÄISYYSPÄIVÄ

 

Finland became independent on December 6, 1917, this day is a national public holiday and a flag day in Finland. This year  Finland celebrated 102 years of Independence, and I was a part of this celebration. We celebrated the day with our coordinator Riina's and coach Irene's families. That was a typical Finnish way of celebrating the day and I felt like a part of this country and people.

We started the day watching the legendary film ''The Unknown Soldier'' based on a novel about  the Second World War. Later we lighted blue and white candles and had a dinner all together.

Ater the the dinner it was time for the most important event, which is Independence Day Reception held by the President. It is a gala event for VIPs and specially selected guests and Veterans. The invitees include high-ranking officers, politicians, diplomats, as entertainers and activists. This event is broadcast on national TV. The TV reporters make comments about all the guests as they line up and shake hands with the president and his spouse on the way in. And we also did some commentary with our observation, while playing specal 'Bingo'.






 After the handshaking ceremony the band started playing, guests were enjoying the evening:dancing, eating and drinking and reporters are interviewing famous people and asking them about their ideas on independence.

But of course here everyone has his own way of celebrating this day. The main point is that the country worked hard to gain its freedom and fought hard to keep it. People learn at a young age that self-determination should never be taken for granted and they are reminded of this every year on December 6.

Return from Croatia - evaluation and feelings

Oona and Krista spent two months in Vrginmost working at the local youth house and now is the time for the return training to evaluate their experience.

The return training at Multi-Culti was a combination of  a lot of talking, cooking, tea and two very adapted volunteers. Krista and Oona seemed to be very satisfied with their experience but were also confident talking about the things they would improve in their journey.

During their time in Croatia they had the possibility to travel and get to know the host country. Experiencing the diversity and the history. Discovering their own skills and learning to trust themselves in different situations.

Of course their time in Croatia offered a lot of learning experiences, f. ex. the importance of being alone, similarities regarding food from different countries and how differently people takes care of domestic chores. They got quite used to writing on Croatian keyboard, so now back home they are looking for the right letter when using Finnish keyboards. And the doors open the "wrong" way and that the light switches are not placed at the same heights. So during two months you can get very well used to do things in a specific way.   

Oona and Krista didn't recognize any culture shock when returning back to Finland but they were able to see a lot of benefits from their experience: They got more confident in speaking English and entering situations they were a bit uncomfortable with. They got to know themselves in a foreign situation and realized they would be alright traveling anywhere.

''LAPLAND''

TRIP TO YOUTH HOLIDAY CENTRE VASATOKKA 

AND A PERFECT DAY IN NORWAY

HELLO, HELLO, HELLO!!!

Today I want to share with you my memories of an incredible trip to Northern Finland. 

I spent a week in Vasatokka, and that was one of the best travel experiences that I had in my life.

Vasatokka was a beautiful place, and it was perfect for observing Lapland's nature. This is a place where nature has been kept unspoiled.

I had a week full of interesting activities organized by Youth centre Vasatokka.

We had a tour to Inari Reindeer Farm. It was an incredible experience meeting Inari Sami people and their reindeers. Of course this was the first time in my life to see reindeers, before this reindeers were only Christmas magic for me(Santa, reindeers and elves😂😂😂).They have a big farm where reindeers are kept, and there was a little but interesting handicraft shop and reindeers safari. We had a little presentation about Sami culture and history.

 As Sami culture is must know if you are in Lapland, we had the next trip  to Sami museum in Inari. Sami people are native to Lapland, they have different tribes, and all they wear different native clothing. There are only 9000 Sami people around Finland, but still they have their own language and flags.

 The next place where I have been was very special.

It was Husky Sledding park in Inari. This was a big Husky camp, where different types of that nice creatures were living. You cannot believe, but in this camp there were more than 70 huskies living in a peace and love.

And we had a special day. It was day when we traveled to Norway. The place where we have been, was not too far from Lapland, but when we crossed the border everything changed, it was another world, everything there was differet. It was very nice place by the Arctic ocean. Photos and words can't show the indescribable beauty of Norwegian nature. 

 Later we had ''Survival skills'' activities in a forest near Vasatokka, that was interesting, helpful and very cold, but it was survival skill lesson, so we survived.😅
And later we had hendicraft workshop, where we made some keychains and jewelery, but not usual ones. Everything was made of reindeer bones and leather.
This was another special week of my life in Finland. And my special thanks to Lahti City Youth Services for organizing this tour, and  for making me a part of it !!! 😊😊😊

6 UNFORGETTABLE DAYS IN 

''VILLA ELBA''

The last week was a week full of memories, emotions and good vibes. 

From 28.10-02.11.2019 we had an on-arrival training in Kokkola in a very warm and hospitable Youth Centre Villa Elba.

Evrything was highly organized for us to feel comfort.

I met all the volunteers at a train station, and when we talked a little bit all together, I said to myself   

''-This  gonna be a cool week.'' and I was right, and it was far more cool than I could imagine. 17 volunteers from different countries of Europe and not only, took part in this training. And all the people who were in Kokkola were super friendly and sociable, so we could easily communicate and have fun together.

One thing that made me really happy was that we created a real team from the firt day. There were no misunderstandings or some conflicts between us, and I liked it.From the very beginning of training I felt a good and strong SPIRIT that all volunteers had. Training program was also very interesting, we had many attractive group activities about volunteering in Europe, volunteering principles, about the solidarity in our projects and ect., we got some practical information about ESC  programmes and Erasmus+, we had 2 days of finnish language lessons and they were really hepful.

We visited the first Arctic museum which is in Pietarsaari.

      

And we have been in Laivurintalo, where we had coffee and pulla and a presentation about Kokkola, and after we had a walking city tour.

And I am really happy that I was a part of  this training, now I know more good people around the world, and yes, now I can say that I have good friends around the Europe. 

I will always keep this good memories from Kokkola.

HALLOWEEN!!

 31.9. thursday we had a halloween party. 

 We carved pumpkins with kids and made waffels and played different kinds of board- and card games.

Tree planting day!

Today we planted trees on the school's yard.

 We planted trees as a message of climate change.

The International tree planting event was 25. till 27. of October.

Finnish day!

Finnish day

On Finnish day we made some finnish traditional dishes and sweets. We made karelian ricepies with eggbutter, blueberry pie and apple pie with ice cream.

The day before today we teached finnish at Suncokret. Just the basics: alphabet and greetings!

Hello from Croatia!

We've been in Vrginmost almost four weeks. This is a little town, about 80 km south from Zagreb.

Our temporary  home here in Croatia is a big green house. We also have another smaller house in our yard where the turkish volunteers are staying at the moment.

When in work we play with children different kinds

of games and make art such as paint, knit, sew and draw.

“Armenian Special Edition”

Last Thursday, 03.10.2019  was really important and memorable day for me. That was sprecial day  not only for me but for all the armenians who came to participate. And the Event was called

 ''Armenian Speial Edition''. 

This Armenin event was organised in Multi-Culti and it was sponsored by them. 

This was not an ordinary event. I've tried to organize it in a different way, without any formalities. 

We had a special guest, DJ Moris. Armenian DJ living and working in Fnland, and he made the event even more attractive, playing armenian music during that few hours. And all our guests were dancing and having fun with us.

The aim of this event was to represent Armenian art, culture and of course Armenian hospitaliy,  and I think it succeed. During the event I had a little presentation about Armenia, its histoy, cuisine, art and the culture. 

Some Armenian national dishes were served, like dolma, baklava and other sweets, 
made with love (by me😚).

 So that finnish people could feel the taste of Armenia. 
And for me it was pride and success to have so many guests. We had more than 30 guests during that evening and not only armenians or finnish people, but from Romania, Honduras, Iran, Afganstan and ect. 

This was perfect and unforgettable day for me, and I'll remember this day forever, and I hope that those who were participating will also remember this event and some things about Armenia.

#YOUTHere  ESC  EUsolidaritycorps  ESCvolunteer Dusya Armenia Finland volunteer

Hard and long travelling - How to get to Vrginmost from Lahti

Four bus rides and two flights.

We started from the travel centre in Lahti at 3.30 am with the bus to the airport and arrived in Vrginmost at 18.25pm. That was the hard and long part of our journey.
But with a lot of positive spirit and a good attitude we had a nice day.

       

      Happy travellers at the airport in                     Frankfurt 

The day consisted of a lot of waiting in different surroundings like airports and bus stations.

When we arrived Zagreb it felt like we had travelled back to summer time, with at least 27 degrees Celsius. So quite a change from autumnish weather in Lahti.

In Karlovac we strengthen our immune system with some tasty lemonish water. And we were looking forward for our last bus ride. The mood was still incredible super good.

Finally after 50 minutes bus ride through amazing landscapes we finally arrived to Vrginmost and lovely Maja was at the bus station greeting us with warm hugs.

After a short trip with the car we had a pit stop at our accommodations. Info about rooms, toilets, kitchen and garden were given.

At this point all of us was extremely hungry so off we went to the only local restaurant.

Finally proper food with the best company.  And yes we did eat local food.

During our time at the restaurant we were joined by the big boss of the organisation Predrag and the wonderful Anja. We also met the other volunteers during our dinner as they came by on their way back to the accommodation from Suncokret.

After a day filled with travelling and waiting we were all three ready to find our beds, go to sleep and be ready for the next day.

Oona, Finland

Hi there!! I'm Oona, 19, from Finland and I'll take part in #YOUTHere! project and travel to Croatia for voluntary work. I will be working mostly with kids and youth. I'm really very extra excited about this and hope I'll face new and interesting situations there!

I graduated from high school in spring 2019 and
I'm now spending a gap year so this is a great time
to leave Finland, FINALLY! Haha

I would say I'm spontaneous and a colorful person who likes to laugh! I like theater, acting and photographing. I always try to be open for new opportunities and let life show me what comes next!

I heard about voluntary work from my friend and got instantly interested. I applied and luckily I was chosen! I haven't even been there yet but I would recommend that every one should leave for voluntary work in some point in their life.

Krista, Finland

Hi, everybody! I am Krista, a 23 year old girl from Finland. I am going to spend the next two months in Croatia doing volunteer work mainly with kids and youth. People have described me kind, calm and positive. I like crafting and DIY projects. I got a degree in childcare in 2015 and last year I got a degree in carpentry.

I excited to get to know a new culture and meet new people. I also want to improve my language skills and I think this is a very good opportunity to do that. Since I am unemployed at the moment, I feel this is the perfect time to go.

I don’t know much about Croatia so I don’t know what to expect, but I am excited for this adventure.

“Remember, you’re the one who can fill the world with sunshine.” - Snow White

Hi everybody !!!

Thanks for giving me this opportunity to introduce myself. I’m Dusya and I am 21 years old. I came here from sunny Armenia and I am going to live here for 8 months, sooo, this means that this is not our first and last meeting))).

I have recently graduated from Yerevan State Linguistic University of Languages and Social Sciences with a bachelor degree and I was looking for an opportunity to live, travel and get practice abroad, so ESC was really good chance for me.

So now it will interest you how I knew about this project and that’s what I am going to tell you...

I was on an internship at Brusov YSULS Career Center and Graduates Association, and they offered me to participate in this project (p.s. Brusov YSULS Career Center and Graduates Association is ESC coordinator in Armenia). I thought about it for few days and decided to send my CV for participation, and as you see I am one of the lucky volunteers who was choosen to participate in this project.

And now I’ll try to do my best to be useful for this project and of course I will enjoy my time here, in hospitable LAHTI!!!

Nice to meet you all. 

Levon, Armenia, 23 years old

Hi everyone. I am Levon from Armenia. I am a friendly, polite and honest person and i am looking for new friends and adventures. I’ve graduated from my university this year and wanted to get a good package of experience before proffesional work and also travel to Europe, see wonderful places, broaden my world-outlook. I’ve been doing volunteering in my country since 2016 and participated different kinds of projects. I have learned about this ESC project from my friend who also participated in it.

Before coming Finland i knew about it only some things, that it is very cold here)))) about Laplandia, and also about heroic Finns who fought against Russian conquerors and saved their homeland. 

#YOUTHere!

Hi everyone!

We are so glad to let you know that we have applied European Solidarity Corps - Volunteering Partnerships project called as #YOUTHere!

If the project gets approved, we will host long (8 monts) and short term (2 monts) volunteers in Lahti and have one group volunteering period for two weeks in Sysmä, Finland. We are also sending volunteers for short term periods.

Our partners in this project have not yet been locked, so now we are looking for new and familiar organizations to start co-operation with in this project.

We will know the applying results in the end of this year. The project is due to start in the beginning of 2019.

Can't wait to hear the result and hopefully start working with the project and volunteers!

Best and excited regards

-Terhi, youth worker enthusiastic about international work :)