My second Finnish class, including an exam
Savitaipale, February 2, 2018.
First of all… it’s absolutely beautiful to wake up and see everything covered in snow!
I have to admit that I was a bit worried about being cold at night since it’s about -13º outside. But the windows are thick, the heating is on all day, and the sheets are quite warm. Unlike in Spain, I’ve noticed that here in Finland, bedding is made to keep you from freezing while you sleep. You don’t feel cold at all. However, keeping up with my habit, I sleep with about four blankets on top of me. That way, your body stays warm but your head feels cool, making for a great night’s sleep.
Today was pretty tiring, as it was my first full day of volunteering. We’re required to work 25 hours a week, but we can manage the schedule however we like. For example, you can work more hours on some days and have more days off or fewer work hours later. Although it was my first day, I was quite motivated, so I ended up working… drumroll… 7 hours!
Finland’s recycling system
Before starting the day, we went to take out the trash, and they explained how the recycling system works here. Basically, where the trash bins are located. It’s really interesting because, for such a small village, they have a well-developed system. There’s a bin for each type of waste (plastic, glass, cardboard…), and each one has a Start and Stop button. The process is simple: you toss the trash in, press Start, and the system compresses the garbage to save space and make the collection more efficient. On top of that, every family has different bins or containers at home for recycling.
In Spain, this is still something that’s developing, but in countries like Finland or Canada, people are already aware of it, and the system is implemented pretty much everywhere, even in small towns. A couple of days ago, when I stayed at the hostel in Helsinki, I noticed they were doing the same there.
The first full workday
After that, we started the workday. Honestly, there’s not much to say because I spent the whole day ironing. Clothes, sheets, pillowcases, and the worst… curtains! Oh, My Goodness! It’s so hard! No matter how much I ironed, the curtains stayed wrinkled because they were made from a material that was impossible to smooth out nicely. But in the end, I think they didn’t turn out too bad. Supposedly, we rotate tasks each day during our shifts, so tomorrow I’m hoping for something different. If not, I might just become a master ironer…
The surprise Finnish quiz
In the afternoon, we continued studying Finnish. Before starting the lesson, we took a little quiz to review what we’d learned the day before. To our surprise, it wasn’t a total disaster, and we understood a lot of the material. Singing to remember things always works because it sticks in your head, making it easier to recall later. After the Finnish quiz, we moved on to the lesson: how to form yes/no questions, expressions, grammar… and we did a few exercises. We ended up studying for a couple of hours. As I mentioned in my previous post, Finnish isn’t overly complicated, but it’s definitely different from studying Romance languages. It has structures and words that are nothing like other languages.
Other than that, it was a pretty calm day overall. Tomorrow afternoon, if the weather is nice, I’d like to finish work early and go for a walk in the snow to explore the village a bit more.
If you want to see more photos from my trip to Finland, feel free to check out my Instagram account.
