Erasmus+ in the Czech Republic!

Last week, I was in a town called Rakovník in the Czech Republic with five fantastic International Studies pupils and the ever-amazing Jouko! We were visiting as part of the EU Energy project (a partnership with schools in the Czech Republic, Austria, Ireland, and Germany). Our project is all about examining different types of energy, their pros and cons, and their futures in our world. This time, our focus was upon nuclear energy.

Our journey began on Sunday with a flight from Oulu. Luckily, Jouko was on hand with his juggling skills to keep us entertained!

Monday was the day of icebreakers. My favourite ice breaker was when each table of people was given a large sheet of paper and told to decorate it using the pens and face paint. There was one golden rule though: you could not use your hands to draw things! Naturally, I shoved my nose into the paint and drew a cat with that. Other people were using their wrists and inner arms - much less messy!

We also had a visit to the town hall to see the mayor and enjoyed our community food evening. Our project is based a lot around the use of Snapchat, so we also had lots of fun watching the SnapStories that each country had made about their culture.

On Tuesday the students presented their community survey results regarding nuclear energy. They read with such poise and confidence!

Now, here is things get really interesting. Wednesday saw us take a three-hour bus ride to Temelín in order to check out the nuclear power plant there. We got to see the operating room as well as all of the technology that contributes towards how the plant functions.

On Thursday, we took a break from the project work to visit Prague. Experiencing another country's culture and capital city is always such an awesome experience. We all agreed that we had heard about how beautiful Prague is but it really did take our breath away. We were given a guided tour of the castle grounds, soaked in sights of the cathedral, crossed the Charles Bridge and enjoyed all of the stunning architecture.

Our final full day in Rakovník came along all too quickly. The students spent the majority of the day writing up reports about the nuclear power plant visit, compiling SnapStories and making an energy display for the school.

That night, the Czechs held a special leaving ceremony. We received our participation certificates and were treated to musical performances from two pretty incredible bands! (The food on offer was also delicious.)

The next day, it was time to fly back home to Kalajoki. Overall it was a brilliant week of experiencing new things, learning more about nuclear energy and creating deep friendships in a deceptively short space of time. Many thanks to our hosts!

A New Teacher...

Meet Ahren. He's a new native-English teacher in the area. He'll mainly be working with kindergarten and elementary school children but you might see him around the lukio every now and then! Let's see what he has to say...

Hi, everyone, I'm Ahren. I’m proud to come from the beautiful city of Leicester in England. It’s famous for its pork pies, stilton cheese, gorgeous countryside and amazing sports teams. I could probably spend this entire blog post talking about how Leicester City Football Club and the Leicester Tigers are the greatest teams in the world.

This is a pork pie in case you were wondering:

I'm a keen fan of baking too. In fact, you probably tasted some of my cakes if you attended last year's British tea party and summer fete.

I also love the United States so much - I’ll even be hosting an American themed party in the lukio this Autumn! I’ve visited the USA over fifteen times. As a huge fan of ice hockey and American football, I support the Buffalo Sabres and the Buffalo Bills. I’m still looking for a Finnish ice hockey team to support so feel free to make any suggestions! My love of the USA has also influenced my love of rap and country music (yes, I am a huge fan of Taylor Swift!)

I’ve even worked in some American summer camps. I worked in Texas and High-Rock, Massachusetts, with children of all ages. I taught activities like Outdoors Skills and...you’ve got it...American football. Fun Fact: Lady Gaga went to Hi-Rock before she became famous.

I do have to say that I can’t wait to finally teach in Finland. It’s going to be so much fun and I’m so grateful to be here! See you all soon.

Fun Facts:

Scariest thing I’ve ever done: Skydiving - the part when we were hanging outside the plane and waiting to jump was kind of terrifying!

Favourite book: Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. It’s a science-fiction book in which the Earth ends and one human called Arthur Dent travels around the universe with a cast of quirky characters. It's a lot of fun to read.

Role-models (people who inspire me): My parents. They have done so much for me and I wouldn’t be the person I am today without them.

Weirdest moment: When I was visiting the Kiasma. I walked into a room with a wooden hut in it and spent two hours talking to Shia LeBouf.

HELLO AGAIN!!!

There are certainly lots of new, intriguing and impressive things happening in the school this year! We have so many projects to prepare for with many students getting ready to visit some very beautiful countries. We also have our special morning activities, International Studies and one big American party this Autumn...

Heypa! It's me, Chloe from England in Great Britain. I'm here for another year of teaching, exciting international stuff and pulla (yassss).

Channeling my inner Harry Potter

When I was last in Kalajoki it was graduation time! We don't have anything like this in England, at least not in the city that I'm from. When I finished school, we just had a "prom" (an American-style excuse to wear fancy dresses and ride in a limousine if you're really lucky).

It was awesome to see this Finnish tradition, with all of the students enjoying a very well-deserved day. I especially like the hats that graduates receive. After the graduation ceremony, I attended a couple of houses belonging to the graduates whose parents are teachers here. Again, this was a new concept to me. It was lovely to catch up with everyone and THE FOOD WAS DELICIOUS. I REPEAT: THE FOOD WAS DELICIOUS. I'd never even seen a cake with salmon in it before that day - I'm a fan!

I spent another week in Kalajoki before hopping on a plane for some travelling in Rhodes and Amsterdam. Both are extremely beautiful places.

Some photos from Rhodes:

The Acropolis in Lindos

Some photos from Amsterdam:

The Royal Palace:

Rembrandt Statue:

On a cat boat! It's a boat where an organisation gives help and homes to stray cats. Visitors are free to stroke and adopt them.

The best part was probably when we visited the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam where they showcase lots of his famous paintings including my favourite: Almond Blossoms.

The rest of my summer was spent in sunny England (no sarcasm, it was actually sunny)! Before I knew it, I was on a flight back to Finland. This time, however, I am not the only native English teacher in the area... More on that later...