Finland - Number One in the World?

Finland is a country where kids don’t start school until the age of 7, there are no private schools, no school uniforms, education is free for all and where teachers need a master's degree just like lawyers or doctors. Yes, Finland has been chosen to have number one educational system in the world.

All this refers to a PISA study. PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) is an international study where participating countries school students science, reading and math skills are tested. It aims to “evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students in participating countries/economies.” In the year 2000 Finland placed first in science and nearly top in math and reading with South Korea and Singapore. After that Finland has been time after time in the top three among the participating countries.

What makes Finnish kids so smart? Why Finland which had 40 years ago maybe the worst educational system in the world? Well, one Youtube video says that we Finns decided to focus on equality. We decided that all teachers should have master grades. Without good teachers there can’t be good students and without good students it’s impossible to have well educated people and nation.

Photo by Éole

There are some key features for Finnish education system starting with that education is free for all, 100% state funded - including university. Kids don’t start school until the age of seven. Teachers are respected professionals; only 10% of people who apply to be a teacher are chosen. The teacher training is something unique; they don’t only study the subject they teach but also how to teach, how to be a good teacher. Finns value education, it’s the culture where most of the people go to university. Another important thing is that Finnish schools focus on equality; no one is left behind, absolutely no one. Technology is used a lot in Finland and there is no big testing until the age of sixteen. Students can choose what they want to study and what they are interested in; after nine years of compulsory schooling pupils choose academic or vocational studies.

I have just spent three months in Spain. The schooling system is quite different from here. For example they don’t have school food which we have plus it’s totally free in Finland. There are also private schools in Spain but they’re always religious and you have to wear a school uniform. One thing that surprised me is that in private schools some people are ready to pay to their teachers to get better marks. But that's illegal. In Spain there is only five minutes break time between the classes, in Finland it is 15 minutes and students are encouraged to go outside.  Universities are quite expensive in Spain; the state doesn’t give much money for the education. In fact the amount of money is so small that you could say nothing. One year studying in a university in Spain costs about 1000e. Plus you maybe have to pay for an apartment, electricity, food, water, transport… Private universities are more expensive because they usually ask money for the entrance. In bigger cities like Madrid it’s also much more expensive and also if you need a laboratory or some special equipment.

Now there is the question if the rest of the world could adopt the Finnish system. I think it might be possible but it needs a lot of changes starting with the cultural differences. And that needs a lot of time. But everything is possible if people really want and work for their ideas because education is the base for a welfare state.

My Spanish School Day

The Comenius wall

The school starts at 8:35 in every morning, about half an hour later than normally in Finland. A Spanish breakfast means that you haven’t basically eaten anything, just cocoa - what they call in here “colacao” because of the mark – with cookies, a muffin or a croissant…but usually I don’t eat anything.

You have three hours of lessons before the free time what is called “recreo”. Every class takes 50 minutes and there is five minutes break time between every class. The recreo starts at 11.15 and the next lesson is at 11.45 so it’s half an hour free time. Then people eat their “bocadillos” which is French bread with jamón Serrano, chorizo, cheese, tortilla de patatas…My host-mom always prepares me one, but you can buy something to eat from the school canteen or from a shop nearby – the school is right in the center of León;))

After the recreo you have your last three hours. School ends always at 14:25. Then we go home and eat a huge lunch with our family. You have to eat much, next time when there’s food it’s about 10 or 11 o’clock in the evening! "Siesta" is more or less between 13 and 17 o’clock. Then most of the shops are closed and people go to eat to their homes and just relax. The hottest time of the day is at siesta, there might be over 20 degrees!

That was my Spanish school day, what do you think? Eva linked me this video, it’s about our Spanish school “Juan del Enzina”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbudBwJDJ8k&feature=plcp&context=C4837510VDvjVQa1PpcFPNcOdFa8XBxdTCHRUmyk4Ukli_FpRA568%3D

Tapas

Tapas is something really Spanish so I just had to write about it. Tapa means the food that you’ll have when you order something to drink. It’s really popular to go to tapas here in Spain but only in the north of Spain you can have tapas for free, in the south you have to pay for it. And it isn't always so cheap…Anyway, the type of tapas depends from the place you’re - in a cafe they usually put small muffins, cake or biscuits – and also what do you order; in a bar tapas is usually nuts, potatoes or “embutido” which includes chorizo, jamón Serrano, cecina, lomo...and so on.

Chocolate caliente
In the back there is hot chocolate made of white chocolate, really good!

Café con leche y tapas

This is from our favorite cafe; Past y Pan

 I have to admit that I totally love to go to tapas. Spanish people usually go from one bar to another, eat tapas there and just talk with each others and simply have a good time.

You Are What You Know

I believe knowledge has three sides. First one is the part that you think you’re. You can consider yourself as a quite social person who likes sports for example. Or you can think you’re a bit quieter than the others but you dress to kill. This is how you see yourself from your own aspect. But are we the ones who know ourselves the best?

Then it’s the part that your family and friends see. You might think yourself as a shy person, but at home or with the people that you know well - and they know you also - you might act like a totally different person, you can change from a shy person to a really social one.

Then it’s the part in you what nobody knows, not even you. You might think you’re bad at sports but when you actually try some, you might find yourself really talented. And then you ask for yourself: “Why haven’t I ever tried this before?” But of course everything needs practice.

Photo by the Italian voice 

“El pensamiento es como un churro.”  That is one thing I have learned in Spanish philosophy classes. “Knowledge is like a churro.” I know that sounds funny but it’s an allegory. Well, imagine the situation; you are making churros. You have all the ingredients in front of you, but without the knowledge to know how to mix all the ingredients and really make a churro, it’s impossible. Or you might have the information – the recipe – in front of you, but without the knowledge to read it, you just can’t cook anything.

Churros and chocolate, typical Spanish breakfast;)
Photo by Sami Keinänen 

“Cada vez que me miro, soy otro.” “Every time when I look at myself, I’m somebody else.” I think that one means that maybe you have an aspect about yourself; you think you know what kind of a person you are, but then when you look in the mirror you notice you’ve changed…a lot. Then you start wondering how this all happened. I think the answer is the environment and the people around you. But I guess mostly it’s you.

How we were almost arrested

In every summer with my friend’s family we take a car and drive somewhere we’ve never been before. A couple of years ago we went to Paris and something happened during our way there.

By jas_gd from Fickr CC

It was dark outside, we had been driving all day long. Everybody was really tired. Only a couple of hours more and we could sleep in a lovely, comfortable hotel bed! Anyway, we continued our travel and suddenly we saw a huge truck in the middle of the road and a police car next to it. When we were a little closer we could see a policeman waving some kind of stick with a bright light on (I couldn’t see well enough, it was dark!). Of course we knew that the police officer wanted us to do something, so we just passed the truck on the other side of it. We thought that everything was ok, but suddenly we heard a loud noise behind us. It was a police siren! We were all extremely scared; we didn’t know what we had done wrong anyway. We stopped the car and the officer came to talk to us. Well, he didn’t speak any English (what a good luck we had!). We tried to say something in French, but it sounded really bad and it was quite difficult to understand what the officer was saying and he didn’t speak English so… Finally we figured out that we had driven too fast, and we had to pay a fine. But luckily we weren’t arrested or anything worse…

Anna V.

Actually this was a made-up story based on what happened in my friend’s trip;D

Chinese Zodiac

The Chinese year is changing. There are many myths and stories about the Chinese zodiac, and I want to tell one of them.

Photo by nopkin from Flicker CC

One of the stories goes like this: God organized a party and invited all the animals there. Rat and cat had a fight, so the rat told the cat that the party was actually on the next day, but that was a lie. So, all the animals went to the party, except the cat, who thought that the party was the following day. Actually this party, that God had organized, was really a competition to select the animals for the horoscope. The competition was about running, everybody simply had to reach the other side of the line before the other animals did. But the rat cheated this time too. It knew that it wasn't a very good runner, so the rat secretly rode on ox's back. Just before the ox got to the goal, the rat jumped off the ox's back to the other side of the line, so it was the first to finish. That's why the rat is the first animal in the zodiac. The ox was the second one, so God made it the second animal to the zodiac, then it was tiger, rabbit, dragon...just like in the zodiac. And this is why cat isn't in the zodiac - rat cheated it.

Photo by chooyutshing from Flicker CC

This story has many versions, I've heard one where rat pushes cat to the water in a swimming competition.

Bailando por el mundo = Dancing for the world

This post is about my hobbies, and in the beginning I must say that I absolutely love dancing. Here is a link for the headline.

Photo by anujraj from Flickr CC

Three years ago I went to my first zumba class. In the beginning I wasn't going to go there, but my friend dragged me with her, so there I was. The hall was full of people; there were at least one hundred of us. First I thought that this was crazy. Everybody was dancing and doing weird movements but at the end of the class I was really happy. The class was so much fun, it even didn’t feel like exercising. But it certainly was that. So that’s how I got interested in zumba. And big “thank you” for my friend who dragged me there!;D

Now I have a huge interest in reggaeton and salsa. They both are Latin dances and really popular in South- and Central-America (= Latin-America). Especially in Cuba, people dance a lot, usually salsa. One of my friends from the dance classes was in Cuba for one month, and she said that basically everybody dance in there, but there are only a few people who actually know how to dance. And they are very good. But still, the “dance spirit” is really good in Cuba, so everybody does that.

Photo by Jan Zalud (योहन) from Flickr CC  

Shoulders, hips and stomach are used a lot in reggaeton, it’s quite a masculine dance, similar to hip hop. I started it in the fall, and I completely fell in love with it. Spanish music in the background and like all the dances, you have to think what you are doing, otherwise you will mess up the choreography and the steps. I think it’s relaxing because you have to think “in the dance way”, all the stress and worries disappear from your mind, at least for a moment.

Salsa is also really popular; I think it is known all over the world. The basic step in salsa is quite easy, but when you have to add the spins and other more difficult movements to the choreography, you need to concentrate. But I think it’s still not difficult, you just need to practice. And when you have danced more you don’t need to count anymore, you can hear everything from the music. It’s wonderful when you can see that you have developed. Salsa is usually categorized in three levels in dance schools. I’m really proud of myself, I jumped straight to the second course in salsa, I skipped the first one, I was already familiar with the basic steps, because of zumba.

I have never tried salsa with a couple but maybe some day I'll...
Photo by dekay from Flickr CC

I think I’m going to keep on dancing at least couple years, right now I can’t even think of quitting. I feel like it’s a kind of a “lifestyle” for me.

Anna V.