MIDTERM TRAINING in SOPUKKA

Hello dear bloggers and blogreaders. 

It's winter and it's really cold outside, but I hope that you're all doing well and if not, read my heartwarming post and I am sure that you will feel better.

Today I will tell you about midterm training which was in Training Centre Sopukka.

This was only 3 day training, but that was enough to recharge our energy batteries and to increase positive emotions.

Training was very interesting. We talked about our projects and we shared our experiences. This time we had more things to discuss, because we have all  been in Finland for quite long time.

We had little group presentations about our projects and some other group works.

I really liked all the group activities, because we were working in small groups which was making easier to know each other better.

 For me the best part was meeting my friends from previous trainig, because we really missed each other, even though we sometimes organise meetings. This was a great chance to spend more time together again.
As this group was bigger, and there were more people from different countries I had great time while talking to them about their country culture and of course it was pleasure to tell them about Armenia.
I really enjoyed this midterm training, even if this was by the end of my project, so this was my term-end training.
Thanks for reading!!!

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.

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.

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 :) 

Ola Seriki

Where am i from
I am from Ireland


Age: 27


What I have experience my time in Finland?
I have experience alot of positive vibe and good friendship. I have also experinece the culture and how to be a people person and to be more understanding.

Is there something that I find exciting?
I found everything new very exciting but the most stand out thing is the level of engagement with the people of Finland when you communicate with them


What are my hobbies? what kind of stuff am I interested in?
My hobbies are listening to music, dancing and going for walk, cycling and cooking.  I also interested in going to gym and playing football.


What is the most important thing I am going to take with me?
What I like to take back to Ireland with me will be the experience and the different lifestyle I have gain and the understand that not everything I know is right but there is more to life to what I already know.


What would I like tell about  Ireland to people of Finland?
 Ireland is just as beautiful as Finland but much cheaper with same level of quality.  Ireland is also peaceful and very calm and is a place  that you would feel like home regards of where you are from.

What do I wish for my future? What is my dream?
I hope and plan to be a youth worker and my dream is to be able to assist and support young people and their family in the coming years.

Ewan Reid

Name:  Ewan Reid

Age: 20

Why I'm went to Finland? I’m going to Finland because I want too have new experiences.
I haven’t been in Finland or worked in another country. I want to see the world, so Finland is a good start!!

What are you expecting for your time in a foreign country? I was expecting people to be afraid to talk to me because I am a foreigner... But it was'nt so bad i met some really good people and got to see most of Lahti, but i would like to see more of Finland, like the nature and the countryside.

Is there something you find exciting? I found the idea of being in a different country exciting and this meant everyday would be different and not the same, this made everything interesting.

What are your hobbies? What kind of stuff are you interested in?
I like to go out in the evenings and see the nightlife, I also love to cycle as I do it everyday at home, in my spare time I like to hike, which i have'nt done in Finland as there is only little hills!

What is the most important thing you're going to stow with you? 
My phone.

What would you like to tell about your homeland to people you'll meet in your destination?
I want to learn about the finnish people's ways and how they are different from irish people, I told them about Irish culture and how different it is from finnish culture, and it what ways it is the same.

What do you wish for your future? What is your dream? I really want to travel the world and see the most interesting places in it and now Finland is off my list!!

Hey! I'm Pauliina.

Name: Pauliina Suonio

Age: 23

Why I'm going to Slovenia? I’m going to Slovenia because I want to have new experiences.
I haven’t been in Slovenia or worked in another country. I also want to meet new people and see what’s every day life in Slovenia like.

What are you expecting for your time in a foreign country? I’m expecting to see beautiful Slovenian nature. I have heard that it is stunning. I also expect to become better English speaker in foreign country.

Is there something you find exciting? I find working another country exiting. And also I’m exited to use English more.

What are your hobbies? What kind of stuff are you interested in? I’m interested in many things. I do yoga, run and meditate. I’m very creative person so I most of the time paint, draw or shoot pictures with my camera and edit pictures. Most of my paintings and photos are gothic because I’m very in to goth subculture and goth is what I am. I’m also interested of metal music and goth music, science, pagan religions, conspiracy theories and psychic powers.

What is the most important thing you're going to stow with you? My camera.

What would you like to tell about your homeland to people you'll meet in your destination?
About finnish language and old pagan culture of Finland.

What do you wish for your future? What is your dream? I wish to become my greatest version. I also dream to publish my action comics, make epic animation movies of them in future and have great time and future with my boyfriend.

Hei!

Name: Jonna

Age: 23

Why I'm going to Slovenia? Traveling has always been an interest for me, so when I heard that I could go living and working in Slovenia for two months, it sounded like a way too good opportunity to miss. Also I can't wait to get to know some Slovenian language and culture.

What are you expecting for your time in a foreign country?

I want to gain new experiences and meet new people. And I want to practice my English.

Is there something you find exciting?

I´m waiting to explore the village that we are staying in and see the mountains and nature. Also it will be fascinating just to see some differences between cultures in everyday life.

What are your hobbies? What kind of stuff are you interested in? I read a lot, watch movies, play videogames etc. I´m interested about science and technology.

What is the most important thing you're going to stow with you?

Laptop.

What would you like to tell about your homeland to people you'll meet in your destination?

Something about our culture and language.

What do you wish for your future? What is your dream?

First I wish I could go to school. In the future I want to travel and live abroad some time. I also dream of starting my own company.

My final blog post

Hello again!

I have now been home in Gothenburg for about five weeks and it feels really nice to be back. I have started working and it's going great. I learn new things every day :)

I love to travel and have always dreamed of living abroad in a warm country. And my wish to do so has grown even bigger after my EVS-period.  Maybe I can study abroad whenever I have figured out what I want to study or work as an aupair or work with something else, we will see.. I will just have to wait and see what the future brings :)

I’m glad that I was able to be an EVS-volunteer, it has given me so much that are useful both now and later on. I feel that I have grown as a person and I have discovered new things about myself. I have challenged myself and stepped out of my comfort zone and because of that I got to experience and learn new things.

I don't feel that I have that much more to write about so I will finish my last blogpost by saying thanks to everyone involved in this EVS-Project! It was a great experience.

- Linnea

My "first" Finnish week

Moi!

As I mentioned in the last blog post I traveled to my relatives in the northern Finland and Sweden. It was a wonderful trip and I am so happy that I had the opportunity to go and visit my relatives :) Nine hours in the bus was very long but so worth it!




On Wednesday it was time to work again, so I continued with the PowerPoints and soon I will be done with them as well, hopefully on Monday because I don't have much time left.
I'll go back home next week's Friday, so exactly one week. About going home I have some mixed emotions, on the one hand I miss my friends and family and I wanna see them again and my own home and city but on the other hand I feel like my time here has gone by really fast and I would like one or two more weeks.

Thursday I was at Martat, a cooking class with other youngsters from different workshops. the day before I was a bit nervous about going there because the class was in Finnish but I worried over nothing. The youngsters were really nice as well as the instructor Niina who even knew some Swedish but the main language was still Finnish :) First Niina gave us an introduction about Martat and about saving money and after that we started making the food and dessert. We were divided into smaller groups, some were two and two others were alone. It was fun and I'm glad that I went :)
 After that I went to my Finnish lesson and we went through some new stuff. Later I went for a coffee with my new friend, who is also taking the same Finnish lesson :)




Today Friday I have started writing in my Youthpass about my learning experiences, it can be a bit difficult to put words into it but I'm sure it will work out in the end :)


- Linnea

Sightseeing and my first hockey match

Hello!

This week has gone by really fast.. Last weekend I was visiting a friend in Helsinki, we saw and went to different tourist attractions. And just walked around and discovered the city :)

It is a beautiful city and I would like to go back there at summer time  :)

On Tuesday I went to my first hockey game with Lauri, his friend and his son. Pelicans (Lahti) vs. Kärpät  (Oulu). It was a fun new experience and it's not the same as watching it on Tv. Pelicans scored the first goal and after a while the score was 1-1, Kärpät won when they scored another goal during the extension period, Pelicans 1-2 Kärpät.

Thursday morning me and Susanna visited a Swedish school here in Lahti. The principal informed us/ me about the school and its history and after that she gave us a tour arond the building and introduced me to the pupils. It was a nice school:) And later that day we went to visit a 4H farm. Two of Susanna's clients are being there so I got the opportunity to come with and see some of the activities.

Today around lunch time I'm taking the bus to the northern Finland and Sweden where I'll be staying during this long weekend and visiting my relatives :) I'm really looking forward to seeing them :D but I'll have a looong busride ahead of me.. almost 8,5 hours.. I'm coming back to Lahti on the independence day 6.12

-Linnea

My first week and a half in Lahti

Hello, I have been here in Lahti for about one and a half week and it has gone really fast :) I really like to be here, everybody are so kind and nice :)
I arrived November 15th and my mentors Lauri and Vesa picked us up from the bus station. Then we went to the apartment to sign some papers and do talk and to get some information.

The second day contained more information, basically the first few days was informative. That day we walked around in the market square and then we made a quick visit at Ohjaamo, the place where I'll be work during my stay here in Finland.

Later that day me and Lasse, the Swedish coordinator,
 went for a walk to Sibelius Hall

This is Sibelius Hall from the inside

Thursday 17.11: first day at Ohjaamo. More information about what Ohjaamo is and what my work coaches, Riina and Susanna do. Then tour in Ohjaamo. At the office there is a turtle called Orbi :)
I don't have a picture of Orbi right now but i will take one and put it in the blog.

Friday Riina and I went to Multi-Culti to meet my finnish teachers, then to Tiimari to buy material for the window decorations for the FIS Nordic World Championships in feb/march 2017.


On Saturday me and Irene went to the market square to see Santa arrive in a helicopter. It was many families with kids there ofcourse.
Then after that we went for a Coffee and it was a nice day :)


Sunday I went with Susanna and her son to one of her sons schoolfair. We went through everything  then we watched a play, Snow white, played by 5th graders i think ,in  finnish ofcourse. It was nice to hear finnish and i understood pretty much everything :) then we went to one of the Cafes. It was really nice of Susanna to ask if I wanted to come with her and her son :)
The kids at that school do really creative stuff

Second week is almost over but it started on monday with a mentor meeting and work at Ohjaamo. I started doing Finnish flags that are supposed to be window decoration at Ohjaamo during the FIS Nordic World Championships.

On Tuesday I had my first finnish lesson here, it was fun and I'm excited for the up coming lessons because I already understand some finnish but I want to be able to and get the courage to also speak finnish. We'll see how it goes :)

The rest of the days i continued doing the flags and on Thursday I was finally done :)
I also started with my other task which is to translate powerpoints from English into Swedish.

Aerial Yoga

 On Thursday evening I tried Aerial Yoga for the first time with Susanna. It was a lot of fun and relaxing. At first I was like 'what have I gotten myself into..' but it turned out to be a really good experience and I would like to try this at home in Gothenburg and bring my friends or my aunt who I think is in to Yoga :) so thanks Susanna :)

I have probably forgotten something but i feel that this text is very long now..

Until next week
Linnea