Some Quick Impressions/Lessons

Hej Hej (Hi in Swedish),

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. I started teaching this week and that keeps you busy! I thought I would share with you some of my first impressions/lessons about school and life in Vasa.

School:

• Teachers and students in Vasa have a lot more freedom. Teachers have fewer classes that can be spread across the day with long (multiple hour) breaks in between. Students too! Students may also take only 1-3 classes at a time if they have other things to do and more classes later in the year. Classes meet 2 or 3 times a week. 
• Language is fluid at school. The classes are taught in Swedish or English (or Finnish of course for the Finnish language courses) and the students/teachers easily move between all three and others often as well.
• People trust more. Students hang their coats, hats, and scarves on racks around the school and trust that they will be there at the end of the day. And they are!
• The teacher-student relationship is more relaxed and informal. All teachers go by their first name and students are very comfortable talking to their teachers and feel like they can trust them (as described to me by the students).

Life Lessons for visiting/living in Vasa:

• Have a game plan when you enter a cafe or shop. When you want to go into a cafe make sure to find a table first, or at least take off your coat, hat, scarf, gloves, etc. before you go to the counter to buy/pick up food. Otherwise you will end up juggling your wallet, foreign coins, a hat, two gloves, and the scarf that just fell on the floor. 
• Enjoy the daylight to its fullest. Because you are not going to get a lot. Yes, the days are getting longer but it will still be very very dark when you leave in the morning and either getting dark or already dark when you return home in the afternoon. We are just now at 5 hours of light a day including the partial daylight at the end and beginning. So, use your time don't just stay inside.
• A good pair of warm boots will be your most important clothing item. The boots I brought are great and I have worn them every single day for most of the day. 
• You will wear a lot of clothes/warm things. Just accept it and move on. No one wants to be cold especially when it is 5 F outside with windchill making it feel like 0 F and you need to walk to school.