Week 2: In My Home I've Never Been

Sunday May 15, 2016



The one who painted Finland, loved the colour green
I am so amazed by all the colours, in my home I've never been...

PICTURES


I found out I actually live in a place called Pirkkala. Pirkkala is a suburb of Tampere. It is 2 short bus rides into town where I am working. I have my bus pass for the month and am confident in my bus route now. Both Pirkkala and Tampere are beautiful. My home has a beautiful little forest in the back yard and there is a view of the lake from the one side of the house. I might have seen a wolf in the back yard, or maybe just a neighbours dog. It went too fast to be sure. I definitely saw a huge jack rabbit in the back yard. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera ready.

I am hoping to see one again when I have my camera ready, and hopefully have my camera ready for the squirrels! They're so cute! They have such tall ear hair it's adorable!
My biggest nature goal is to see a moose while I'm here. Let's all say a prayer I get to see a moose! And that I have my camera ready at the time!

Apparently my neighbour is the most famous body builder in Finland! I haven't yet seen a neighbour that looks like a body builder, but maybe one day I'll meet him.

Shawn, the owner, my school's director, came home from Germany Wednesday night. She had been on a business trip to visit several German schools. She had started a school in Beijing as well, but... that didn't work out very well to say the least. As much as I love China, I love her for who she is, and I am certainly aware of her flaws, which are vast and mighty. China doesn't get along with everyone, she's very particular in who she befriends, and she can be very vindictive as well. I try to talk to her about it, but she doesn't listen to me. She's stubborn and spiteful despite her beauty and glory.

If you'd like to see the home I call The Palace, this music video was filmed here.
Finnish Singer Iisa Music Video
It was filmed and edited by Shawn's son Frank. Watching this video I realize he is very talented.
Both of her sons look like fashion models. Frank has beautiful long curly hair, that when I met him, he piled on top of his head in an outstanding bun. George with long straight hair. I swear they should both be in magazines.

Shawn is of the Bahai faith which I think is so cool. http://www.bahai.org/
I am really interested to learn more about it. What she told me about the Bahai faith, I was thinking, "Oh that's what I believe... maybe my spirituality does have a name!"

The school uses The Anisa Model which recognizes and honours the spirit of the child. They also use The Virtues Project to teach children and instill within them things like respect, gratitude, generosity, and many more. They use virtues instead of values because values are culturally specific, while virtues are universal. I really like it! I am so impressed by the behaviour guidance strategies at the school. The teachers are so kind and gentle but very very strict. They have very high expectations of the children and their behaviour, and the most amazing part is that the children are able to meet their expectations. I have honestly never met such courteous and respectful children.
The children I worked with in China were very kind and very respectful ALWAYS. They were the loveliest of children as well, but their behaviour seemed to be influenced at least somewhat by fear. The children here seem to be respectful sincerely out of respect. Also my kids in China were wild, they didn't have the privilege of clean air that these kids do, so they weren't able to go outside all that much, leaving them wild indoors.
The children here are always given respect and treated kindly in every situation. The teachers never seem to raise their voice but are always in command of the classroom.
The children are so well behaved, they always say please and thank you and ask permission for everything. It is stunning! The focus of the school is really centred around the child and their social emotional wellbeing and development.

I am in preschool classroom which is 6 year olds. In Finland they start school at 7 years old and entering the first grade. So 6 year olds are considered preschool. The kindergarten classroom at the school is 4 and 5 year olds. So in Finland preschool or pre-primary education comes after kindergarten which is optional.

Monday morning I met my children. Some of their amazing names include Vilgot, Peppi, Sasu, Malalei, Deekshitha... and there is an Elma and a Ruth, both of my grandmothers names. I've never before met someone other than my Grandma named Elma. I've met a few Ruth's. But it's so cool they have my grandmother's names. They are from many different countries in Europe, a few are from Finnish and from Finland, some are half Finnish, and some of the other countries include Hungary, Russia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Italy, I'm sure I'm missing a great deal.
I absolutely love their answer when I ask, "Where are you from?"
Almost consistently I am told, in their impeccable accent, "Well, I am from my Mummy's tummy. I am born in Finland but I am half from.... and half from..."
One boy on the playground told me "Well, I am from my Mummy's tummy. I am in Spain when I come to my Mummy's tummy. But I am in Finland when I come out."

My favorite piece of these children and their culture is the attention to their names. They will take the time to teach me how to pronounce their names, and I am expected to learn. They are not going to give me a short name or a nick name to accommodate a mispronunciation. They will teach and anything less than what is correct is unacceptable for them.

Monday during circle time, Lily introduces me to the class and they all have lots of questions. My favourite colour, my favourite food, what do I like to do outside? Lily tells them "Lots of people have Miss Shawna what she likes to do outside, why don't you ask her what she likes to do inside? You know Miss Shawna has many talents..." Awe schucks! Thanks Lily!
So when they ask me what do I like to do inside, and I know Lily wants me to tell them I am an Artist, I tell them, "I love to paint and draw pictures. And actually, I have a very special present for the class." And I give them my book Henrietta. They were so into it, it was completely awesome.
They were struggling to stay seated while I read it because they were so psyched by the story. When we came to the outerspace page I hear a loud group gasp. They rocked my world man. Rocked my world.
"Did you draw this page too?"
"Did you draw this page too?"
"Oh Miss Shawna! I think you are very talented artist."
"Can you draw for me a dolphin?"
"I think I know how you make this book. I think you take the paper, you draw on the paper, and then you put plastic on top, and then you put it together."
I explained the book making process. "Well actually, I painted the pictures on big canvasses. And then I took pictures of the paintings with my camera. And then I had someone called a graphic designer put the pictures into the computer with the words of the story. He made a digital file which I sent to a printer, the printer made the books."
I absolutely adore them! I remember asking my niece Krista, "Do you think its wrong that I like children more when they like my book?" She says "Yes, I do." Lol! I can't help it! I love when children love my book and these children do. They love Henrietta.
One of the boys told me "The girl in your book is called Henrietta and my name is Henry!" He was pretty proud that his name was similar to Henrietta's.

FYI, this week I was also able to donate another print and audio copy of Henrietta to the Tampere Metso Library! 2 libraries now in Europe, and 7 in Ghana.

The children were all very excited to have me draw dolphins so they could colour it. I don't usually like to do that kind of art activity because I think it isn't very creative, but I had hard time disappointing them, and they really wanted me to draw dolphins. But to my amazement, they were so incredibly creative in their colouring! OH MY! Some of them drew patterns, and different colours, and used assemblage, one of them had a light up heart from Viking Lines that they used for the moon.

PICTURES

 I was in absolute amazement! They were so clever and creative and artistic, I couldn't wait to draw more dolphins for them! One of the girls came and asked for a dolphin, she had already drew a dolphin though... "But you have already drawn a dolphin here, it is lovely."
"But I think you can draw a better dolphin, I don't like it."
"Well actually this is a very good dolphin! I think it is excellent!" She walked away beaming!
Oh I love my life sometimes.

Something I notice here is the friendships and connections between the girls and the boys. The boys don't ever seem to pick on the girls or try to exclude them from sports... it's so nice! They play together so kindly. Maybe this attitude from childhood lends to the grown men who understand consent? LOVE.

The class is getting ready for The Spring Concert and their Graduation next week. They are doing an African Theme and singing "Waka Waka This Time For Africa" and "The Circle Of Life". They are all dressed up in different African animal costumes and the storyline of their play is that they are working together to fight a giant beast! The concert is on Friday and I am so excited!
I worked on the porcupine costumes and next week will finish up the butterflies and the lions.
I had the kids help me out with the porcupines, letting them paint the costume which they loved.
I had them paint straws, I was going to use the straws as quills. Elma was especially irritated that I was letting them paint their hands! They need to use the brush to paint the straws, not paint their hands and use their hands!
Next week I plan to do an activity making hand print animal paintings. It fits in with their interests and their curriculum. I wonder what Elma will think!

The class starts their morning with a yoga routine, and some left brain-right brain integration activities. Holding their ear lobes in opposite hands, and bending up and down for 3 minutes.
After yoga they sit on the carpet and sing what I call The Child's Anthem. It such a nice song! I can't seem to find it anywhere online though.

It goes something like "Take the time to be still. Take the time to know love. Take the time to remember who you really are. You really are a gift to the world, a child of spirit." There are more lyrics but I can't remember them all.

Even when the children are misbehaving, they're still so well behaved that I don't even know!
It sure is a change from my days in the school board where I had to take self defense classes to work in an elementary school. WHAT? Yeah man. Those kids in my school were wildly disrespectful.
So to see children welcome discipline so that they push their chair back in properly after getting up, is a wild wow moment.
They are expected to sit and walk peacefully in the school at all times. And they do! They spend 3+ hours outside every day, and when they are inside, they can actually succeed at sitting and walking peacefully! OHBYJEEZIZ WHOWOULDATHUNK??????  They have about 1.5 hours in the morning and 1.5 hours in the afternoon, often more.

I told the teachers and my director here, how in Canada in the public school system, they have about 15 minutes outside twice a day, and recess is often denied as a form of punishment. They also have gym class where they might get to go outside. I remember the one boy in grade one from my third year placement in the TDSB, had spent every day of the school year inside. Every day. Clearly the teachers strategy of denying his 15 minutes of recess isn't working to help him focus, if you've have to keep him inside every day of the year. Is that not considered abuse? Because I really think it should be!"

Shawn was telling me, "The thing about the Finnish school system that works is that they really focus on right brain development. Which if properly developed lends to later left brain development, and left-right brain integration. There is a strong focus on music and art, all the children learn an instrument, they learn to sew and are expected to go out into the forest, and then they do Math on Tuesdays."

Friday night I went to Sastamala to see their school concert. I went with Shawn and Lily, it was about an hours drive through the countryside. I fell asleep on the way there, because throughout the whole week whenever I would sit still for more than a few minutes I would drift off. I am hoping that my jetlag is done now. I need it to be done.

Speaking of sleep, that reminds me, I had the strangest sleep my first night in The Palace. I wasn't quite sleeping but drifting off into some sort of supernatural hypnogogic state. It was filled by bright flashes of light and images of old Finnish people I've never seen before. There was a man and a woman, and they looked like old photographs of my great grandparents. I would study their faces in my mind and search my memory for people on the boat. I often have images of things I've seen flash as I fall asleep, but I swear I've never seen these people before! It felt very surreal and all the images were very bright. The same man, and the same woman in every flash. I wish I knew who they were or where my mind came up with them!

Oh, yes, but the concert in Sastamala. It was so adorable. Almost every child was blonde, all these little Connor's and Chelsea's running around speaking Finnish. So cute. They did their performances, the one little girl stood at the front saying something to the audience, she seemed quite irritated! Lily was laughing and told me she is saying "Why are you all laughing?" She wasn't interested in singing, but stood at the front and criticized the audience in awe of her cuteness.
There the three school preschoolers who were graduating and they were beautiful. Oh they were so proud. Two boys and a girl, and while it was the only day I've ever spent with them, it seemed to be the greatest day of their life. The girl especially was so joyful recieving her preschool diploma. The boys as well beamed with pride. I couldn't help but love them and feel so proud of them. It was just amazing to see their smiles.
Lily and Shawn told me they are the nicest kids. I think one was named Daivo, and apparently he told Lily that he has never been angry in his life. His mother says its true. He doesn't ever get angry, he's calm and happy. Sometimes maybe sad but so far never angry. I wish I knew these three better, I think we would really get along!

The sun stays out until 11pm-ish so I usually go for a walk at night. Last night I had an amazing walk! I walked so far and didn't get lost! I tell you, I lived this life before. There was a moment when I thought I might be lost, and considered turning around and going back the way I came. Im glad I didn't though, I ended up on the right road, and back home much quicker than if I gone back the way I came. Good thing I have an excellent visual memory, it makes finding my way around much easier!
Travelling gives me proof of my visual memory since I have to use it so frequently.

I am so so so happy for this experience, the awesomeness of it all is long overdue.
I love the culture of the school, and the place. I love the difference between Pirkkala and Tampere, and how quick it is to get from one to another. Tis a grand life.