Penguin Club is a membership club with a site on a little island right in Vasa (about a 3 minute drive). Members come to the club get in their swim suits, go in the suana, and then go in the water (repeat as many times as desired). In The winter they break through the ice and keep one small area clear. You can walk (not jump) into 1 meter, 2 meters, or 3 meters deep water. The veterans will go in one staircase and then swim to the other staircase. Or you can just walk in and move around a bit and then come out. My host took me to the Penguin Club as her guest on Tuesday. The water was 32.9 degrees F and outside the water the temperature was 14 degrees F. We went to the suana, the water, the suana, and then the water. The first two videos are form my first trip into the water and the second is part of my second trip.
Enjoy some other pictures of my activites this week so far. Today was the first day in the classroom. I will have a blog post probably on Friday about my student teaching so stay tuned!
1. This is where we went in the water.
2. I pretty much laughed the entire time I was going in the water. It was so cold that I guess my body just didn't know how to react so I laughed. The other Finnish people there were really proud that I was doing this for the first time ever and excited for me.
3. Tuesday, Jan. 6 was a national holiday in Finland celebrating the 12th Day of Christmas. Since Finland has a national religion their government recognizes this as a holiday and everything is closed- stores, restaurants, all businesses and schools, etc. My host is Spanish and in Spain and other Latin American countries they also celebrate the 12th Day of Christmas but they call it the Wisemen's Day. In their tradition/Bible they believe that there were actually 4 wise men including one wise woman. However since the Catholic Church didn't want to recognize a woman as being a wise man they made her into a good witch or bruja character. On the 12th day of Christmas or Wisemen's Day she brings small gifts and candy to the children. Part of this tradition is to have a party with family and friends. At this party you eat a round sweet cake that is filled with cream. Hidden inside the cake is a small ceramic king figure and a bean. If you get the king you get to wear a crown and be the king or queen of the day. If you get the bean however you have pay the host for the cake. We had our own celebration with my host, her daughter, her daughter's father, and myself. My host's daughter got the king and got to be the queen and her father got the bean. We had a great dinner (Sister Sausage Soup- a traditional Finnish dish) and a great little party afterwards. Living with a Spanish-Swedish family has been great because I get to see a blending of two very different cultures. Happy Wisemen's Day!
4. After our "swim" my host took me on a tour of where we are living. It is sort of a mix between a townhouse and an apartment complex. Below the homes there is the parking garage, storage spaces for each tenant, the laundry room, a drying room (yup a whole room where you hang your clothes and then turn on a loud fan like machine and then shut the door and I guess your clothes will be dried?), a game room, and a fully equipped bunker. Yup, a bunker or bomb shelter sort of. As I learned in Finland pretty much all buildings have a fully equipped bunker. I haven't learned yet why exactly these spaces are still maintained but I image they are related to Finland's history as a part of Russia and the various World Wars in the 20th century. So suffice to say I am living in a space, prepared place.
5. This last set is just a couple pics of a class VW Bus I saw in the garage. As I learned from my host and her friends the Finnish people love classic cars especially American cars (yes I know VW is not an American company). In the summer when they have virtually 24 hours of daylight the Finns love to drive around in their classic cars, go to shows and parades. So here is a little bit of Finland for my dad and all the other classic cars fans. Sorry it was so dark. I forget to set my flash. Opps.
Thanks for enjoying my pictures, videos, and thoughts. I know this is a lot but I wanted to share these things with you. As I said I think I will have a student teaching experiences post on Friday and maybe one about food I have tried so far some time this weekend.
God Kvรคll!
Good evening in Swedish
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