Rites of passage

My backyard on a really clear and sunny day!
But don't let the sunshine fool you-
it was -18˚C outside at the time! Brrr!!

Funny story! Wednesday I finished school early and so had to catch the bus home. While waiting for the bus I decided to go to the supermarket to look around. I was waiting at the checkout with only some pens for school. There was only one register open and there were 2 people in front of me. The guy in front of me sort of turned a few times and looked at me, I looked away not quite sure what he was doing. He started talking to me in Finnish and of course I had no idea what he was saying! As he was babbling about who knows what, he sort of motioned in front of him and stepped back a little. From the body cues I gathered he was letting me in front because he had a full trolley yet to go through. Everyone around was watching the whole thing and so to avoid explaining to him that I didn’t speak Finnish I just went out on a whim and stepped in front of him and said “kiitos” (thankyou), hoping that was what he had said to me! Luckily it seemed it was! He, the checkout chick and the other customer already being served started talking and I just stood there and tried not to make too much eye contact, hoping they wouldn’t try to involve my in their conversation. I said ‘hei’ when it was my turn, was served, motioned that I would use my card to pay and then said ‘kiitos’ and ‘hei hei’ (bye). This is what I call my ‘Survival Finnish’, it works at checkouts perfectly fine as long as they don’t ask me any questions or try and start a conversation!

Last week was the third year’s final week of school. The second year students had organised a night at the middle school in the music room. It was decked out in cool lights and they were dressed in cargo as it had like an army theme. They had the third year students dress in cargo also and made them commando crawl in under some desks! They had made a parody of a popular song dedicated to them and they sang it and played a video clip they’d also made. They had organised a bunch of activities for the third year’s to do. Including, making a select few girls and boys go out and swap clothes and had them imitate the guy or girl whose clothes they were wearing. I thought the guys’ impressions of the girls were quite hilarious! Obviously I had no idea what they were saying but I was sitting there watching guys dressed in girls clothes speak in a foreign language with girls voices which was enough to make it funny for me! Another favourite of mine was when they strapped heart rate monitors to some of the girls and challenged some boys to see who could raise the girl’s heart rate the most within a certain time limit. So funny! These things and many more happened and all of the younger students could come and just watch. Going with the theme throughout these activities some people would pull out the participants and make them do push ups for punishment for some reason or another. It was a rather entertaining night!

The next day was Penkkarit… I had been warned but nothing could’ve prepared me for what I walked into when I walked through those doors into school the next morning! It is like the muck up day some schools in Australia have except with like no rules and the vandalising of people is accepted and even one of the major parts of it! It’s the day where the third year students dress up and attack both the school and the younger students because they are the eldest and they have finished! When we got to school that morning all the windows and doors where covered so you couldn’t see what was waiting for you on the other side. Riina and I managed to sneak up the stairs and hide out for a while. We dropped our coats down onto the coat rack from the balcony and listened to the screams of the students now arriving at school and the laughs of the third years’. 

We did well but it was inevitable… we were caught and I was duct taped and glad wrapped to a pole in the cafeteria, drawn all over with lipstick and squirted with water! The day was crazy! Every time I managed to escape from the tape, I was bound again and again! I had so much water tipped over me and sprayed in my face, lipstick drawn on me and lollies stuck down my jumper! It was so funny though! 

When I got the chance I walked around and had a look in all of the classrooms. Each of them was completely turned upside down! Although, it wasn’t just like they had vandalised it all, they had changed each of them and they each had a kind of theme or décor. For example, they’d pitched a tent in one room with litter and empty bottles strewn around as if it was an aftermath of some crazy night, made a giant chess set in another, they had a teddy bear’s picnic, a room dedicated to ‘Robin’ (the Finnish equivalent of Justin Bieber) where they had pictures of him, his music playing and glow sticks, etc. 

Even during lunch people were being snuck up on and taped to their chairs! After lunch they went over to the middle school and took some of the madness out on the younger kids too and then they were back over for their last part in the school. It is tradition that the younger year levels in the Lukio ‘kick them out’. We carried each of the third years out to a truck outside where everyone in the town and all of the kids from all of the other schools were waiting and watching. 

It is tradition for them to then ride around the town in the truck and throw out lollies and chant or sing or whatever they want. People walked to the centre of the town and there we met the truck again and all of the third years’ piled out and stood atop a pile of snow. There they all threw out more lollies, yelled about how they had no mornings left at school and they set fire to a school desk! They came down from the snow and continued their giving out of lollies, drawing on the kids with lipstick and duct taping kids together! I have never experienced anything so crazy before in my life! It was definitely a new experience! It was so much fun to watch and also to take part in!

The next day was the Wanhat dance which marks the day that the second year students become the oldest at the school. The closest thing I can compare it to at home is our Formal, however it is actually really not much alike that at all! Unlike our Formals where we go to dinner and dance just for fun it’s more of a performance that they dance for people. These girls and guys in the second year that wish to take part in it take it as a class in the months leading up to the day where they learn the dance steps to a variety of songs and even choreograph their own special dance that they present at the end. They do have a special lunch at the school before the dance. They dance multiple times; I watched the one that was on during the school day where all of the students can come and watch. The girls aren’t just dressed just in nice dresses like we do, but in ball gowns! They all looked like princesses! It was really cool to watch!

After watching the Wanhat Dance Riina and I went to Ylivieska, a town about 30km from Oulainen. There is only one clothes shop in Oulainen so we went there for a little more variety! We wondered around, bought a few things and all of that. All was good until it came to the cash register at the big mall. Riina went through first and then I went through with my things. First mistake: I walked up and said “Hei hei” meaning “bye”! The checkout chick looked at me funny but ignored it. Then she started talking to me… oh no! I just stood there while she looked at me, clearly expecting some kind of answer to what she’d just said/asked… I just turned and called out to Riina who looked up and said to me (the English speaker) “Mitä?” and then turned to the Finnish checkout chick and asked “what?”. The chick, I think a bit bewildered, repeated the question she’d asked me and then Riina turned to me and began to explain to me… In Finnish! She realised and swapped to English… All of the fuss was over if I needed a plastic bag or not! I said no and then I proceeded to pay. I stuffed up my pin twice before I realised I was using a different card and then I accidentally cancelled the whole transaction! The poor girl on checkout put it back through and I put in my right pin! I think she was glad to see the back of us! What an event! Definitely gave us a laugh as we recapped in the car on the way home!

This Sunday for lunch my family went out to the primary school. There they had a village meal hosted in the school’s gym. Everyone in our village could come there and eat a meal of elk that locals had hunted and prepared. We lined up and had a proper feeding, it was really good! I think it tasted similar to lamb.

The night before last I went ice skating! Beforehand my host mum and I popped into the local library and picked out some things to help me learn Finnish and I even picked out some simple picture books to start learning simple sentence structures. I picked up a form and I’m going to get my own library card too!

We headed out to the ice rink afterwards. I have skated maybe twice before in Adelaide but it was years ago, indoor and I held onto the walls the whole time! So this was my first attempt at real skating! My host mum got me to wear an ice hockey helmet the whole time which was probably a good call! Even before I stepped onto the ice I was holding onto things and people! I discovered how bad my balance really is! I could not have gotten to the chair fast enough! All of the little kids stopped and stared at me leaning on this little chair and wobbling along with my big helmet on! I think they were a little confused as to why I didn’t know how to skate when they were like five and were flying around on their skates and even going with only one foot! I heard my host mum explain to one man that I was from Australia, immediately I could see his expression change from confusion and curiosity to understanding and maybe a little sympathy for my horrible skating abilities!

It was so much fun though and I only fell over once which was because Juulia thought it would be a good idea to get me to grab hold of her hockey stick and pull me along at a speed I was not ready for! I stacked it and could not get up! She had to fetch me my chair… It was a good night none the less! At the end I even managed to skate (quite badly but by myself none the less!) without the chair but not for very long or far… I think everyone out there had a good hearted laugh at the crazy Australian trying to learn to skate that night!

Incredible sunset and fog from my house-  5pm 20th February