Week 37 ForssAndújar report 

 

Sunday: 

Spanish people left with the bus early in the morning. Two Finnish students left at 14 from Forssa. They went by bus to Helsinki airport and got the Spanish students and teachers. Back in Forssa the rest of the Finnish students picked up their Spanish pairs. In the evening students mostly ate with their host families and shared experiences. 

 

Monday: 

We started school at 9 o'clock. First, we got to know each other in the Jugend hall with different games and introductions. Then we separated into smaller groups and the students introduced the school to the Spanish students. At 11 o'clock it was time to go to the first school lunch in our school. We ate spaghetti and meat sauce in the school cantina. Our bus was waiting for us, and after lunch we left to Torronsuo, a national park that consists of a large swamp. We had a guided tour and saw, smelled, and felt the swamp, literally. We learned for example, how to find pure water if we'd get lost in the swamp and some of us even tasted the water. In the end of the guided tour, we made tikkupulla, "stick bun" on the campfire and drank juice and coffee etc. Some of us had marshmallows so we shared those too. Our official program ended after Torronsuo, so we came back to school with the bus. Most students decided to stay in Forssa with their Spanish pairs, and we walked around Forssa enjoying the good weather. We walked by the river and listened to music while talking about various things. 

 

 

Tuesday:  

Today our projects started. We got to school at 9 o'clock and began our groupworks. We worked on them for a while before lunch. We had fishballs. A few students wanted to experience fast food culture, so some of us joined them later after we ate lunch at school. Then we all returned and continued with our projects. First, we updated the whole group with our process to know at what point our work is. Some of the projects were at a point that we couldn't continue them today, so a couple of students took Spanish people to follow their lessons. Our school ended at 14.30. Tuesday afternoon had the most freetime out of all the days, so we decided to hang out at one of the Finnish student's cottages. All the families brought something to eat, and we hanged around the cabin inside and outside, some brave Spanish students even went for a swim in the pond. The sauna brought mixed emotions, some people loved it, and some weren’t big fans of it. There was also a hot tub/palju that students loved. 

 

Wednesday: 

On Wednesday we spent our day in Turku city. We left by bus at 8.30. It was a rainy day, so when we had a little bit of freetime in the morning, we didn't want to walk around in the rain. Our bus left us in front of the Turku's Tuomiokirkko, so we decided to visit it. Then all the students wanted to visit a shopping mall nearby. We had to be back at the bus at 11.25 to be in time for Turku's castle. In the castle we had a guided tour. Our guide was really interesting, and she explained the medieval history of Finland in great detail. The tour lasted for around an hour, and we had lunch in the castle's basement. Juhana Herttuan Kellari had amazingly tasty lunch and all of the students and teachers got to eat well. With our full stomachs we were ready for the national park of Ruissalo. Gladly, the rain stopped just in time and the weather was actually pretty warm. Ruissalo was beautiful, it's next to the ocean. We had plenty of time there, and when we got back to the bus, everyone was nicely tired. The ride back home was peaceful. A few of the Spanish student decided to explore the Finnish supermarket, but mostly the rest of the evening was pretty relaxed.  

 

Thursday: 

We started school again at 9 o'clock by continuing our projects. Some of the groups were ready before lunch and they possibly went to follow the lessons of the Finnish students. For lunch there was coconut soup, so most students weren't really keen on it. We decided to go to see the fast-food culture with a bigger group, so we gathered in Hesburger and ate and talked. Some Finnish students took other students to follow their lessons and some continued with their work. Before the next part of our program Finnish students brought all the Spanish students to see our school's Spanish teacher. At 13.15 we all met in the same place and danced by turns into Finnish or Spanish music and we even saw Flamenco dance. At 2 o'clock was time to leave to Eerikkilä, a sport resort in Tammela. First in program was walking in the nature and seeing beautiful forest and lakes. When we came back from the forest, it was time for sauna and grilling sausage. Especially sauna was an awesome experience for the Spanish people. Most of them even chose to go to the lake and swim there. Gladly there was enough time for our lounge in Eerikkilä, because sauna was really popular by our guests. After sauna we ate and then danced. We were taught Flamenco and Finnish folkdance. We left Eerikkilä at 20 and then our tired students went home. 

 

Friday: 

Friday is the last day of this Erasmus week in Forssa. Our teachers decided to let us come to school later, because all the Spanish had to pack before coming. We started around 10 o'clock. First the local newspaper came to interview us about this project. We told them about our project and what we have done and then they took a picture of us. After the interview we had some time to check our group projects for the last time. We made some finishing touches and then went to eat. For lunch we had some ham temptation (kinkkukiusaus). At 11.45 we went to the Jugend hall and presented our projects. Every project was done well and they were really well thought out. When the presentations were presented, it was time to say our goodbyes. So, at 13 o'clock the Spanish students left and went to Helsinki. The goodbyes weren't as sad as they could have been because we knew we will see each other again in April when we go to Spain.