tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28745970069963764572024-02-19T02:28:19.214-08:00Suomi Songs Rachel spent spring semester of 2017 in Finland conducting research on children's choirs and music education as a participant in the Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching Program. This blog solely represents Rachel's opinions and not those of the U.S. Department of State or the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Program.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09006923080987846281noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874597006996376457.post-29629754003069430442017-12-06T16:37:00.000-08:002017-12-07T06:41:01.006-08:00The Future is Still Murky...and That's Okay<span style="font-family: inherit;">It's been quite a few months since I have written a blog entry. In fact, we were still in Finland the last time I wrote. My lack of writing isn't because I've had nothing to say - quite the opposite, actually. It's more like I've needed time to synthesize the seemingly endless and relentless thoughts that are with me day in and day out. In many regards, the transition back to life in America has been difficult for me. I was not prepared for the degree to which this trip would transform me, nor was I expecting the transformation to affect so many aspects of my life.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Today is the 100th Anniversary of Finnish Independence, and this milestone has stirred up in me the desire to finally share some reflections on this blog. Here's some of what I wrote in my first blog post, nearly a year ago on January 3rd:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Now we are less than a week away from leaving and I can hardly believe it. I keep saying that I’m ready to finally get going, that this has been looming for so long and I’m anxious to rip the bandaid off and just DO THIS! But it strikes me every time I say it that I actually have no idea what all of this will be like. There is so much unknown. “The future is murky” has become my mantra - not only for my time in Finland, but also for what my life will look like after we return. I went into this thinking that the Fulbright was the final destination, but I have learned that for most people, the Fulbright is a stepping stone that opens many doors. And what are those doors for me? I have no idea. But the way everything has fallen into place at every step of the way gives me a sense of peace about the unknown. I’m confident that taking this wild risk is the right move for us to be taking, and good things will come from it, even if it is hard to know what that means." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the title of this entry suggests, the future is still murky, and I'm okay with that. It is true that the Fulbright was not the final destination for me, it was most definitely a jumping off point. Here are a few tangible things that have come directly out of this experience:</span></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">I've been hired as part of the artistic staff in the <a href="https://www.angelicacantanti.org/" target="_blank">Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs</a> and I couldn't be happier to have this beautiful, artistic, creative outlet in my life. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">My choir was invited to perform this September at <a href="https://finnfest.us/" target="_blank">FinnFest</a> as part of the Finland 100 celebration.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">I was also asked to present my Fulbright project, "An In Depth Look at Music Education and Children's Choirs in Finland" at the FinnFest choral symposium.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have had the opportunity to share my research with multiple groups, including graduate students in music education and fellow educators in my school district.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">I've accepted the invitation to direct the ACDA-MN State Honor Choir for 4-5-6 Boys in May of 2019. Directing a state honor choir was one of my post-Fulbright 5 year goals, so I'm VERY excited for this opportunity.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In addition to the tangible, there is so much that I have gained personally, and so much that I hope is still to come. To those of you who have listened to me talk ad nauseam about my time and learning in Finland, I sincerely thank you. It means more to me than I can tell you. I've never wrestled internally with something quite like this before. I've been through many highs and lows on this journey of trying to discern what exactly I believe about education as a teacher and as a mother. Each of the discussions, listening, questioning, and even the arguments, have been helpful in the process of me working through all of this.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So what exactly do I believe? Here are a few things:</span></span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">We need to pay more attention to "who" we are teaching. The "who" and "what/how" of education cannot be separated, but I believe there is currently an imbalance in American education. It is my opinion that teachers do give attention to this, but I do not believe we are encouraged systemically to really know our students for who they are. We are trained to know their academic strengths and challenges, but not to really know <i>them </i>and <i>their passions/strengths/fears/struggles. </i>We are also not focused on how to help them discover their own identity and then foster that into a happy, fulfilling, sustainable future.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">I wish our littlest students were given more help and time in becoming ready to learn before being asked to learn. Perhaps not having a lockstep system where students move ahead based on their birthday would be a way to address this issue. Could we find a way to decide this that takes into consideration things like home life, previous personal and education experience, and developmental skills? </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">I believe more attention needs to be given in the early years to helping students develop their character and identity. Again, I believe our early childhood and primary teachers work very hard to do this in their individual classroom. I do not see, however, enough support for this on systemic level. What I mean by this is the training and professional development we receive is extremely heavy on the side of instruction and content. The academic demands placed on primary teachers are really incredible, and seem to come at the expense of character development. My school district has a new program in our high school that allows students to choose different pathways in their education. My understanding is that this is based on the idea that there are different roads to "success" and that "success/career readiness" doesn't look the same for everyone - and that's GREAT! I would love to see this idea expanded to our younger students. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kids need more time playing and moving, preferably outside! Really. 20 minutes of recess is not enough. (Elementary students in Finland go outside for 15 minutes of every hour - 45 minutes of learning and then 15 minutes of recess. All. Day. Long.) Besides the obvious benefits of moving and using their bodies, I believe this would have many positive effects on our students. Unstructured play time is where students have real-world interactions, both positive and difficult, with their peers. This is the time when students can practice and apply skills like problem solving, conflict resolution, and other relational skills in authentic ways. I've wondered if there is any research documenting the percentage of time students spend in teacher directed activities vs. self directed activities. If you know anything about this, let me know!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">American teachers, at least the ones that I know of, and especially the ones in my school district, are SO WELL TRAINED!!! Our instruction is incredible. I don't know how to stress this enough. I wish administrators and others who make educational decisions could see what I saw in Finland. All 8 of us Fulbrighters in Finland last year had the same observation: Across all subjects and grade levels, the instruction we saw in Finland was not as engaging or rigorous as what we see in our home schools. And the children of the Fulbrighters who were attending Finnish schools said the same thing. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Finland's success is not due to the quality of instruction, it is due to three things, in my opinion: </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">The many social safety nets in place for all of their citizens, which results in their students being ready to learn because all of their basic needs are met before they come to school.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"> A society who makes decisions from the standpoint of "we all do better when we all do better." It is a shared cultural priority to care for others rather than to focus on the needs of you and your own. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">The purpose of education in Finland is to help students discover and affirm their personal identity as human beings, learners, and community members. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">What are the implications of all of this? I see two primary sides to the equation of education: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">teachers and students. I know this is over-simplified, but stick with me. My personal opinion is that as a system, the vast majority of attention is focused on teachers and how to improve their instruction in order to increase student success. My current wonderings are: What would happen if we trusted teachers and their instructional skills and turned our focus toward the students? What would happen if our professional development focused on how to help our students develop their personal character and identity? What if we had a system that accommodated and affirmed each and every child, rather than making children conform to our system? What if our early childhood education was more developmentally appropriate? What if we trusted students enough to let them take risks and learn/grow from those experiences? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I know there's more...but that's a lot of what I've been thinking about. And I have hopes about where these musing might take me. I was not expecting to come away from Finland with a passion for educational systems and education reform, but that's where I seem to be. I hope to move out of the classroom and into some sort of position where I might be able to have an influence on our systems. That could look a lot of different ways (who wants to open an experimental school with me?) - which is why I still think the future is murky, but now that's an exciting thing to me. This journey has taken me exactly where I need to be, and has provided me with the exact people I need in my life. I trust that if I continue to listen to the messages presented to me and follow my passions, I will end up exactly where I'm supposed to be...even if I can't predict what that might be. </span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09006923080987846281noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874597006996376457.post-23442352738822392672017-05-02T10:17:00.001-07:002017-05-03T09:50:19.996-07:00"I teach children, not music."<span style="font-family: inherit;">Today is Tuesday, May 2nd, and this marks the start of our 10-day countdown to leaving our sweet town, Jyvaskyla. Bittersweet is the only word I can use to describe how I'm feeling right now. We are genuinely excited to return to Minneapolis. Each of us misses different things:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rachel: our house, my garden, my parents and all of our friends </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jerod: work</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ruthie: all of her neighborhood buddies and horse riding lessons</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lydia: Cash and Karis</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But at the same time, this has been such an amazing four months, and I am quite sad to see it coming to an end. It's just so difficult to put into words what this trip has meant to us individually and as a family. We've made such dear friends here, both with our fellow Fulbrighters, and also with people from Finland. Our time here has been relaxing, simple, exciting, challenging, reflective, and transformative. I'm honestly kind of nervous about coming home and trying to discuss this trip with people. These four months have really challenged my understanding of education and culture, in deep, deep ways, and it sounds daunting to try to convey this in any sort of cohesive or meaningful way. One thing that I've thought so much about how to explain to people, is all of the ways in which Finland is a "people-centered" society. Their education system is no exception to this truth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I have been sitting in one of my favorite coffee shops all morning pouring over the Finnish National Core Curriculum for Basic Education. My plan was to write up a comparison chart between these music standards and those from the National Association for Music Education (the US common core standards for music education), both of which were written in 2014. Once again, this task is proving to be difficult because it just doesn't work to compare cultures in neat little boxes like that. I tried, I really did. I've drawn up no less than six charts attempting to compare these music standards, and they just don't line up neatly. It doesn't work, because they have different primary focuses. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As I read through each country's standards, certain statements stood out to me that highlight these different focuses. I've compiled a sampling of these statements from each set of standards that illustrate my point. I understand that this is not a complete comparison of the standards from each country, but I hope it helps to explain one of the fundamental differences I'm seeing.</span></div>
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First, here are a few non-music specific examples.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">-The Common Core State Standards provide clear and consistent learning goals to help prepare students for college, career, and life.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">-The standards clearly demonstrate what students are expected to learn at each grade level, so that every parent and teacher can understand and support their learning.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">-The mastery of each standard is essential for success in college, career, and life in today's global economy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">-The standards focus on core concepts and procedures starting in the early grades, which gives teachers the time needed to teach them and gives students the time needed to master them.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #202020; font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">*http://www.corestandards.org/read-the-standards/</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">-Basic education helps pupils to identify their personal strengths and to build their future by learning.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">-Basic education offers the pupils possibilities for versatile development of their competence, and reinforces their positive identity as human beings, learners and community members.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">-The mission of basic education is to support growth as a human being and to impart competence required for membership in a democratic society and a sustainable way of living.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">-Basic education encourages pupils to recognize their uniqueness and their personal strengths and development potential, and to appreciate themselves.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">*Finnish National Board of Education National Core Curriculum for Basic Education 2014</span></span></div>
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Does this not make you want to cry? I know it does for me. America's standards are all about THE STANDARDS! And it sure feels to me like there is a very narrow path being set before American students: college and career. This can be seen in how we define a school's success - test scores! Finland, by comparison, appears to care about raising students who feel good about themselves, and who have a strong sense of identity, recognizing their own strengths. It is written into their national standards that basic education should help pupils <u>recognize and appreciate their uniqueness!</u> </div>
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This dichotomy is carried through to the music standards as well. Here's a peek into them:</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The National Association for Music Education standards are divided into four primary categories: Creating, Performing, Responding, and Connecting. Each of those categories are then broken down into subcategories. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Because my purpose it to make a point, and not educate you all on the intricacies of music standards, I will use "Creating" as an example. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-Imagine</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Generate musical ideas for various purposes and contexts</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-Evaluate and Refine</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Share creative musical work that conveys intent, demonstrates craftsmanship, and exhibits originality.</span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-9ac7854c-c8c8-0b12-a02c-199585fd821b">Then, under each subcategory (imagine, plan and make, evaluate and refine, and present), there is an explanation of the intended "Enduring Knowledge" as well as an "Essential Question." And below the Enduring Knowledge and Essential Question are the specific standards for each grade. This is what the subcategories "Imagine" and "Present" look like:</span></div>
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<table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none;"><colgroup><col width="89"></col><col width="99"></col><col width="97"></col><col width="93"></col><col width="96"></col><col width="103"></col></colgroup><tbody>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Imagine </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Generate musical ideas for various purposes and contexts. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Enduring Understanding:</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The creative ideas, concepts, and feelings that influence musicians’ work emerge from a variety of sources. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Essential Question: </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How do musicians generate creative ideas? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">K</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With guidance, generate musical ideas (such as movements or motives). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With limited guidance, generate musical ideas in multiple tonalities (such as major and minor) and meters (such as duple and triple). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Generate musical patterns and ideas within the context of a given tonality (such as major and minor) and meter (such as duple and triple). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Generate musical ideas (such as rhythms and melodies) within a given tonality and/or meter. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Generate musical ideas (such as rhythms, melodies, and simple accompaniment patterns) within related tonalities (such as major and minor) and meters. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Generate musical ideas (such as rhythms, melodies, and accompaniment patterns) within specific related tonalities, meters, and simple chord changes</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Present</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Share creative musical work that conveys intent, demonstrates craftsmanship, and exhibits originality.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Enduring Understanding</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: Musicians’ presentation of creative work is the culmination of a process of creation and communication.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Essential Question:</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> When is creative work ready to share?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">K</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With substantial guidance, share revised personal musical ideas with peers</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With guidance, demonstrate a final version of personal musical ideas to peers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With limited guidance, convey expressive intent for a specific purpose by presenting a final version of personal musical ideas to peers or informal audience.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Convey expressive intent for a specific purpose by presenting a final version of personal musical ideas to peers or informal audience.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Present the final version of personal created music to others, and describe connection to expressive intent</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Present the final version of personal created music to others, and explain connection to expressive intent.</span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-9ac7854c-c8c8-0b12-a02c-199585fd821b">If you take the tables above and multiply them by all of the categories, subcategories, standards, and grade levels, you can see that these standards are quite extensive. </span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-9ac7854c-c8c8-0b12-a02c-199585fd821b"><span style="font-family: inherit;">These standards are all about skills related to the content. At each grade level, the skill level and content amount increase slightly, while guidance from the teacher decreases slightly. All of the writing above (and throughout the entire </span><a href="http://www.nafme.org/wp-content/files/2014/11/2014-Music-Standards-PK-8-Strand.pdf" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">NAfME music standards document</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">) is about what the children are doing with the content they are learning, or demonstrating their knowledge of a concept learned. There is nothing listed about the students themselves. Nothing about how the students feel about themselves, or what they are discovering about their identity, or how to work with their peers, or what we want the students to learn about themselves, or what we hope for their emotional or social health and well-being etc...</span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-9ac7854c-c8c8-0b12-a02c-199585fd821b"><img alt="Image result for finnish flag" height="121" src="data:image/png;base64,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" width="200" /></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-9ac7854c-c8c8-0b12-a02c-199585fd821b">Now let's look at the Finnish music standards. The music standards begin by explaining the "task of the subject," which is the same for grades 1-9. Here is a sampling of this writing:</span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-9ac7854c-c8c8-0b12-a02c-199585fd821b">"The task of...music is to create opportunities for versatile musical activities and active cultural participation...The pupils' musical skills broaden, which also enhances their positive attitude towards music...[teaching them to] be curious about music and cultural diversity....A functional approach to the teaching and learning of music promotes the development of pupils' musical skills and understanding as well as holistic growth and cooperation skills."</span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-9ac7854c-c8c8-0b12-a02c-199585fd821b">Did you read that last sentence? Holistic growth and cooperation skills! In their national music standards!</span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-9ac7854c-c8c8-0b12-a02c-199585fd821b">After the task of the subject, a more specific description is given of what this looks like at each grade level. Here is the first sentence from Grades 1-2: "The teaching and learning of music allow the pupils to realize and experience together how every pupil is unique as a learner of music and how musical activities at their best can bring joy and create a sense of togetherness."</span></div>
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Again, did you read that?! Experiencing together how every pupil is a unique learner?! Musical activities at their best can bring joy and create a sense of togetherness?!" Sigh...</div>
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It continues. After the task of the subject are the Objectives of Instruction for grades 1-2. I'll include the full writing, but I'll highlight the parts that really stand out to me (like the first objective!)</div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-9ac7854c-c8f4-f6d6-9715-aa328b5836eb"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Participation </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: cyan; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To guide the pupil to act as a member of a music-making group while <u>building a positive self-image</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To guide the pupil to develop his or her natural voice and to sing and play instruments as a member of a music-making group.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To encourage the pupil to experience and perceive the sound environment, sound, music, and musical concepts through movement and listening to music.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To provide the pupils with opportunities to express their own musical ideas and to improvise as well as to guide them to compose and perform their own, small-scale pieces of music using aural, physical, visual, technological, or other means of expression.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: cyan; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To encourage the pupil to explore his or her musical heritage through play, song, and movement as well as to enjoy the aesthetic, cultural, and historical diversity of music.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To help the pupil understand the basic principles of music notation while making music.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To offer the pupil experiences that help him or her understand why setting goals and practicing together are important in learning music.</span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-9ac7854c-c8f4-f6d6-9715-aa328b5836eb">These standards are about the students. Finland's education system <a href="http://suomisongs.blogspot.fi/2017/03/binge-blog-1-people-finlands-most.html" target="_blank">(and society as a whole</a>) is based on the idea that each person has value, just as they are, and it is a teacher's job to help students figure out what that means for them. Success is not so narrowly defined. In fact, the entire system is set up to give people many options to find a path that fits them and helps them find their own way to success. And it is no different in the music classroom. </span><br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-9ac7854c-c8f4-f6d6-9715-aa328b5836eb">I don't know that I have a neat and tidy way to wrap up this blogpost. I just know that on the eve of returning to my American life this difference is sort of haunting me as a teacher and as a parent. <span style="font-family: inherit;">As a teacher, I wonder how I can possibly give this to each of my students when I teach nearly 700 students in two different schools. When I only see each student one week out of the month, I can't possibly know them all like I should. If I don't know my students, how can I help them discover their strengths? How can I make their education individualized to them?</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> And I've seen how this shift in focus has positively affected my daughters, even at their young ages. I feel like they have been celebrated for who they are, and I trust that if we stayed here that would continue. Their strengths have been encouraged by their teachers, and as a result, I do believe they have grown in their sense of self. I see them talking about how they are smart, strong, curious little people, and they are proud of these things. And in areas where they struggle, they have been encouraged to keep trying, with the belief that they have the ability to overcome hard situations. They've got </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisu" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">SISU</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">, baby! </span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-9ac7854c-c8f4-f6d6-9715-aa328b5836eb"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sigh...I feel heavy over this subject. I don't have good answers. But I know this is a difference I see that I think is worth American educators and administrators giving some though to. </span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-9ac7854c-c8f4-f6d6-9715-aa328b5836eb"><span style="font-size: large;">"I teach children, not music."</span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-9ac7854c-c8f4-f6d6-9715-aa328b5836eb"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I honestly don't even know where I have seen that...probably on pintrest, or on a t-shirt at a music teacher convention. Who knows? And while I have previously been turned off by the saccharine nature of this sentiment, it has been floating around in my head as I've been reflecting on the difference between education that is child centered vs. subject/content/process/methods/anything besides child centered. I still think it's a pretty cheesy thing to say, but I do think it gets at the heart of the difference between American and Finnish education. </span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09006923080987846281noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874597006996376457.post-58111131334368095682017-04-23T04:10:00.000-07:002017-04-23T11:12:32.802-07:00Pedagogy: It's not what you think.<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Warning: This is a lengthy one...and a bit rambling at times...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have been thinking about this blog post probably since mid-February. I now realize the topic of "pedagogy" is at the heart of the differences between American and Finnish education. Well, that and the way Finland values their <a href="http://suomisongs.blogspot.fi/2017/03/binge-blog-1-people-finlands-most.html" target="_blank">people</a>, which I covered a few posts ago. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Before I delve into this tricky subject, I want to say that the process of struggling to figure out the Finnish understanding of pedagogy has been one of the most pivotal, meaningful, and personally shaping experiences of my entire time in Finland. Much of what I am learning about Finnish culture has been easy to see: they don't wear shoes in school, the education system is free, they love salmiakki etc... But this was a case of knowing that what I was observing was a new thing to me, but I couldn't make sense of it. I have been blessed with an advisor who is good at sitting and talking with me, and who has given me literally hours of her time. Most of our conversations have been fairly easy in that one of us asks the other about some aspect of our respective culture, and the other answers it. This topic, however, was different. I have come to understand that sometimes it is difficult to describe something about your culture when you are speaking as an insider, from a perspective where you're culture is all you know. It's like the questions being asked don't really make sense because you can't even see what the question is. What would the other option be? This was pedagogy for us. We were using the same word, but meaning very different things by it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Let's see if I can walk you through some of this journey....</span></div>
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Part of the application for a Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Education grant is a proposed inquiry project. Here's an brief outline of mine:<br />
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I wanted to create a resource guide for music educators based on what I observed in Finnish choral rehearsals. The main purpose of my time in Finland was to increase my skills as a conductor and choir teacher. I was also hoping to come back with a handy little guide full of new tools and techniques that teachers in the US could take into their classrooms. Chapters one and two were meant to be brief descriptions and chapter three was going to be the meat of my project. </div>
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<b>An In-Depth Look at Music Education and Children's Choirs in Finland</b></div>
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<b>Chapter 1: Music Teacher Training in Finland</b></div>
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<b>Chapter 2: The Finnish Music School Model</b></div>
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<b>Chapter 3: Finnish Children's Choirs</b></div>
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-Conductor Responsibilities</div>
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* Choosing Repertoire</div>
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* Learning the Score</div>
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* Conducting Gestures</div>
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-Tools and Techniques for Teaching Musicianship Skills</div>
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* Vocal Development</div>
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* Musical Literacy</div>
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* Part-Singing</div>
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-Rehearsal to Performance</div>
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* Song Presentation</div>
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* Planning Rehearsals - both short and long term planning</div>
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As it turns out, Chapter 1 is the only chapter that will remain the same. The issue with Chapter 2 is that the <a href="http://suomisongs.blogspot.fi/2017/04/finnish-music-education-its-complicated.html" target="_blank">Finnish music education system</a> is much more extensive than just music schools. And Chapter 3...well this chapter is pretty much going to be thrown out completely. It became clear to me almost immediately that I was asking the wrong questions in Chapter 3. </div>
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Let's back up a little. The very first day that Sanna (you all know her as my advisor by now, right?) and I met to talk about my project, she suggested I look at the pedagogy in Finnish children's choirs. Excellent, I thought! I've got an entire chapter of my project dedicated to this! </div>
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Now fast forward a bit. Sanna invited me to teach a handful of songs to her choir - quite a generous gesture! The first song I worked on was "On Suuri Sun Rantas Autius." This song is a bit like a Finnish "Shennandoah." The words talk about hearing the wild duck crying on the shores of a beloved lake, and the cries make the writer long for their home land. Like a good choir director teacher, I spent time analyzing the piece and figuring out what a good "entry point" was for introducing this song. Vox Aurea, Sanna's choir, is an advanced choir and I had a hunch they wouldn't need much help with the actual notes. So I decided that a way to get right to the musicality of the song would be to focus on the mood of the piece. I read the words to the choir and then I played them an audio recording of a loon call, which was the closest connection I had to a wild duck. We discussed what kind of emotions a call like this evoked. I had the choir sing the song with those emotions in mind. I also noticed that the music had no dynamic markings, which I found unusual and interesting. I had the choir break up into small groups and discuss what they thought the dynamics should be throughout the piece. Then each group took turns writing out the dynamics on the board and we sang through the song according to each groups dynamic interpretations. I should mention, I was absolutely impressed with the choir's ability to sing the dynamics differently each time. They really did sing with such sensitivity. Then my time was up so I said we would come back to this next week and make final decisions about dynamics as a whole group.</div>
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Pretty good lesson, don't you think? Engaging, analytical, opportunity for group discussion, and repeated practice of the song. This lesson had it all! I was supposed to have worked on two pieces that day, but what teacher hasn't run out of time for their entire lesson before, right?</div>
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Not so much. Sanna's response was basically: "What was that?" Her general feedback was that in the time I had to rehearse, I only got to one piece. They have very little rehearsal time to learn LOTS of songs, so there is no time for things like what I did. She did, however, agree that I had told the kids we would decide on dynamics next week, so she said I should work on it again next week and follow through on my promise...but be quick about it!</div>
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So I taught the song again the next week. I don't honestly remember as many details about that rehearsal, but I know we decided as a group on the dynamics and we rehearsed a few tricky spots that I was noticing note-wise. I thought it had gone better. Again, not so much. Sanna still seemed confused about the choices I had made for that rehearsal. She posed questions like "was I happy with the speaking vs. singing ratio" and "what did I think about the timing / effectiveness of the session."</div>
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I was starting to stress out! I'm here on a FULBRIGHT, for goodness sake, and I felt like I was coming across as some American yahoo who didn't know how to run a choir rehearsal. And it wasn't for lack of trying on my part! I put a lot of thought into both of those rehearsals. Aaaagh!</div>
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Sanna and I met the next week to talk things over. At some point during this conversation she again mentioned that I should examine the pedagogy of children's choirs. As we began discussing "pedagogy" it was clear we were not understanding each other. I remember her saying "well...maybe the issue is in each of our understanding of pedagogy." But neither of us were doing well at articulating our understanding of pedagogy. It was a frustrating position to be in. I wanted to do well by her, and I wanted to learn the Finnish way, but we were struggling to communicate to each other. </div>
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All I knew was that she was giving me another chance to work with her choir, and I did NOT want to screw it up. But I didn't really know how to fix what I was doing. I remember thinking and thinking about this. I was frustrated, I didn't understand, and I didn't really even understand what it was that I didn't understand. It was like there was this big black hole that I wasn't able to penetrate. I can remember coming up with a brilliant solution to my problem as I was walking one day. I sent her an email asking if she would be willing to give me a sample "lesson plan" of what she would do if she were me. How would she use those 30 minutes to work with the choir? I thought that if I could see how she would use that time, maybe I could prepare by trying to do my best at following her modeling. She responded by saying that she'd be happy to try, but that's not really how she thinks about teaching. She said she doesn't decide beforehand what she will teach, but she listens to what the singers' needs are and reacts accordingly. She comes prepared with many different plans and then works in cooperation with the singers to meet a shared goal. </div>
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Again, aaaaagggghhhh!!!! Of course I don't disagree with this, but you can see how I was struggling with knowing what to do with this. I mean, what <i>exactly </i>was I supposed to do? I wanted a step by step guide about how to improve my instruction. <br />
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We met again and Sanna suggested that I talk with a professor from the education department who was from England but has lived in Finland for 20 years. Sanna thought a native English speaker with an "outsiders" perspective may be able to help make sense of the confusion I was experiencing. </div>
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I met with this woman and basically explained to her everything I've written above, and this is where the breakthrough happened. She understood immediately what I as talking about and described it like this:</div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">In America (and apparently England too):</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pedagogy = specific techniques, tools or methods used to teach and assess different skills or content. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>This is teacher or process centered.</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In Finland:</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Pedagogy = The process in which a child grows in personal and cultural development, and how the teacher uses various tools to help each child in the process according to what works for each individual child. </span></span><b><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This is s</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">tudent centered. </span></b></div>
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Understanding this difference made me realize I had been asking the wrong questions. The question wasn't "what tools and techniques do they use in Finland." Those are basically the same as what we use. As Sanna says, "Educational research is universal." I kind of agree. Instructionally, I have seen nothing new happening in Finland. The difference isn't in their tools and techniques, the difference is in their approach to education. So the correct question to be asking was, "How does Finland approach education, and what does this look like in a choral setting?" A primary goal of Finnish education is to help students discover who they are and to grow into their own personal identity. Educational ideals are not imposed on students they way they are in the US. There isn't one definition of success (ie, high scores on tests.) Teachers here are expected to know something about many different methods and instructional models, and then look at their students as individuals and choose the instructional method that is right for them in that moment. </div>
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So what did this mean for my time with Vox Aurea? I decided to just focus on the music. Each time I've been asked to teach a song, I prepare by making sure I know the score really well so that I'll be able to spend all of my energy listening to the choir and responding to what I hear. I've taught through a very straight forward method - basically teaching the songs by playing the music on the piano. There is not much creative about the teaching process, but then we get to the "making music" part more quickly. And since I've done that, Sanna has said, "That was perfect, Rachel!" This is quite different that the training I've received in the US. I can see pros and cons to both systems, but I am avoiding making judgments, and simply trying to learn the Finnish way. </div>
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As a result of all of this learning and reflection, the three chapters to my project will now be:</div>
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1. The Finnish Music Education Model</div>
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2. Music Teacher Training in Finland</div>
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3. The Finnish Approach to Teaching and Learning in a Choral Setting</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09006923080987846281noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874597006996376457.post-14298220133448422232017-04-22T03:13:00.000-07:002017-04-22T03:13:02.339-07:00Finnish Music Education: It's complicated.This is gonna be a big one. Finland's music education system is quite complex, and I think we are going to need some visual aids to help sort this all one. Here goes...<br />
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Remember this picture from a few posts back? <br />
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<b>Visual Aid #1</b></div>
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<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/96xNCKuR7eE0UasxbwJZKQyeb5npCb3EPB3ARYtgPUT_9ke3KARsHoe7LG8rt8m-NIoUeB4pSrebQXD4eZzh3YooYhnmRMDvXfVGOpOcO27gkd7I1NabEzVC5oFKciewvcEu9PlEPWM" /></div>
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For right now, we are going to start by focusing on the lower half of this picture: Early childhood education through basic education (birth-16 years old.)</div>
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Finnish music education is divided up into multiple "pillars." From what I can tell so far, there are four pillars, but there is honestly so much music here that I wouldn't be surprised if I'm missing something. Each pillar has its own purpose, and it appears that different pieces of the music education are pretty compartmentalized into a certain pillar, and there's not a lot of cross over between them. </div>
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<b>Visual Aid #2</b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Basic Education<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #202729;">Basic Education/</span></b><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: #202729;">Special
Music Classes</span></b></span><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: #202729;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Conservatory
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #202729;">Community </span></b><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #202729;">Ed </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: #202729;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Private<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">3 Yrs:</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10pt;">General Upper
Secondary School</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10pt;">(High School)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">Music Lukio</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">Music every day</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">Various courses that include many genres of music</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td rowspan="4" style="background: #B6DDE8; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent5; mso-background-themetint: 102; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.85pt;" width="141"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">Conservatory</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">*Auditioned</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">Community Ed.</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">*Non-auditioned</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">Private</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">*Non-auditioned</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">-Private instrument lessons</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">-Music theory classes</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">-Orchestra</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">-Choir</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">-Folk music</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">Ensembles</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">-Pop/Jazz Ensembles and lessons</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td rowspan="3" style="background: #FBD4B4; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent6; mso-background-themetint: 102; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 74.65pt;" width="100"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">Youth Choir</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">Ages 11-18</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td rowspan="3" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 67.85pt;" width="90"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">9 Yrs:</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">7-15</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #D6E3BC; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent3; mso-background-themetint: 102; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 78.9pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10pt;">Grades 7-9: Two compulsory
music courses</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #CCC0D9; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent4; mso-background-themetint: 102; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 78.55pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">Music every day:</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">various music courses</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">(Audition for Music
Lukio)</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #D6E3BC; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent3; mso-background-themetint: 102; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 78.9pt;" width="105"><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10pt;">Grades 3-6: Music
class once per week</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #CCC0D9; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent4; mso-background-themetint: 102; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 78.55pt;" width="105"><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #202729; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #202729; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Four hours of music instruction per week, including c</span><span style="color: #202729; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">hoir</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #D6E3BC; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent3; mso-background-themetint: 102; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 78.9pt;" width="105"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">Grades 1-2: Music class once per week</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #CCC0D9; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent4; mso-background-themetint: 102; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 78.55pt;" width="105"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">Audition for special music classes - may vary</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td rowspan="2" style="background: #FBD4B4; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent6; mso-background-themetint: 102; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 74.65pt;" width="100"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">Children’s Choir</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">Ages 7-10</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 67.85pt;" width="90"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">1 Yr:</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">6</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #D6E3BC; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent3; mso-background-themetint: 102; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 78.9pt;" width="105"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">Pre-Primary Education (Kindergarten)</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #CCC0D9; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent4; mso-background-themetint: 102; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 78.55pt;" width="105"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #B6DDE8; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent5; mso-background-themetint: 102; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.85pt;" width="141"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">Music Playschool</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">Instrument Lessons</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 67.85pt;" width="90"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">5 Yrs:</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">0-5</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #D6E3BC; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent3; mso-background-themetint: 102; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 78.9pt;" width="105"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">Early Childhood Education and Care</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #CCC0D9; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent4; mso-background-themetint: 102; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 78.55pt;" width="105"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #B6DDE8; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent5; mso-background-themetint: 102; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.85pt;" width="141"><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10pt;">Music Playschool</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #FBD4B4; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent6; mso-background-themetint: 102; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 74.65pt;" width="100"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202729; font-size: 10.0pt;">Playschool </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Choir</span></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
The chart above shows the four main pillars I have observed so far. Let's dig in a bit. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWmcE50PWKn355GRjx3X1uS5Cv5-PYF04KgXlZEL_h-L9oIoIF92yI_Q20YsSRBlMdAIfAAKo3f5xxqBlugKwUr_x5nFshTA_SXQqji7hMBI6oxnweMaUuj_-9Nzp7nV7PUo0OzsNWO68/s1600/IMG_8250.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWmcE50PWKn355GRjx3X1uS5Cv5-PYF04KgXlZEL_h-L9oIoIF92yI_Q20YsSRBlMdAIfAAKo3f5xxqBlugKwUr_x5nFshTA_SXQqji7hMBI6oxnweMaUuj_-9Nzp7nV7PUo0OzsNWO68/s200/IMG_8250.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>Basic Education</b><br />
Structure:<br />
I don't see that Finland's music education is terribly different from American music education (in structure, at least) during basic education. There is one exception to this, and that is the early years. I do not believe there are any music standards for students younger than kindergarten in America. Here, all children do receive music education in preschool, and have access to music classes from birth. <br />
<br />
Observations:<br />
So far I have only observed primary music classes. I am still hoping to observe some classes in upper secondary, but have not yet done so. After observing numerous primary music classes, three things strike me as notable. First, there seems to be an overwhelming focus on instruments rather than singing. The classrooms that I've been in are well stocked with instruments. It is common to see class sets (meaning enough instruments for each student to have their own) of guitars, ukuleles, and recorders. There are also usually a decent set of Orff instruments, a piano, many unpitched percussion instruments, and a set up for a pop band including electric guitars, drum sets, and microphones. I've only seen singing in a handful of classes.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDlfjMitbNnYMXBAoTX7IIO1fZm2GW2XhzHS-G0PJozYgIC3aO0O5GO7BofqPQqu6VvqJhEf7V63IoFOW0pFV1E1iP_ud1Zqsxq0x_9n4EKiYXVZJ6LHuP_kU8kwVR5dJXopKHWZ2-IgM/s1600/IMG_8239.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDlfjMitbNnYMXBAoTX7IIO1fZm2GW2XhzHS-G0PJozYgIC3aO0O5GO7BofqPQqu6VvqJhEf7V63IoFOW0pFV1E1iP_ud1Zqsxq0x_9n4EKiYXVZJ6LHuP_kU8kwVR5dJXopKHWZ2-IgM/s400/IMG_8239.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So many colorful UKES!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDsyG6p5yXs-jQ_bSIF1IbiQLcYbYLY1TfnQPqlcYU9r4ZR9w2E_LKJ_xkij9Rj6yDqYn1lduc38PhBDllOipb3wUUUJ3EPpIVQ01W2Cz49r42qF27z1GRg2LMh-e6t-G3J3Pz3Xa2Po/s1600/IMG_7979.JPG" imageanchor="1"></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEHwiqp6kqFR08DCq-KEN5JbBM2Cewmal6ukJ2DZlqRYGLJcoB0U7fr-lcT5DULdD8hsExL_l3c1eHyrqbLTj8klSfUHJbz63sK0M6pbFtDFcVClc0pNX5Hx38fJFH4kcPDapC6sgyRZo/s1600/IMG_8242.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEHwiqp6kqFR08DCq-KEN5JbBM2Cewmal6ukJ2DZlqRYGLJcoB0U7fr-lcT5DULdD8hsExL_l3c1eHyrqbLTj8klSfUHJbz63sK0M6pbFtDFcVClc0pNX5Hx38fJFH4kcPDapC6sgyRZo/s400/IMG_8242.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These kids were playing the guitar by plucking one string at a time<br />
as a "bass" accompaniment to recorded music. It was a nice beginner<br />
level activity.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDsyG6p5yXs-jQ_bSIF1IbiQLcYbYLY1TfnQPqlcYU9r4ZR9w2E_LKJ_xkij9Rj6yDqYn1lduc38PhBDllOipb3wUUUJ3EPpIVQ01W2Cz49r42qF27z1GRg2LMh-e6t-G3J3Pz3Xa2Po/s1600/IMG_7979.JPG" imageanchor="1"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDlfjMitbNnYMXBAoTX7IIO1fZm2GW2XhzHS-G0PJozYgIC3aO0O5GO7BofqPQqu6VvqJhEf7V63IoFOW0pFV1E1iP_ud1Zqsxq0x_9n4EKiYXVZJ6LHuP_kU8kwVR5dJXopKHWZ2-IgM/s1600/IMG_8239.JPG" imageanchor="1"></a><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDsyG6p5yXs-jQ_bSIF1IbiQLcYbYLY1TfnQPqlcYU9r4ZR9w2E_LKJ_xkij9Rj6yDqYn1lduc38PhBDllOipb3wUUUJ3EPpIVQ01W2Cz49r42qF27z1GRg2LMh-e6t-G3J3Pz3Xa2Po/s1600/IMG_7979.JPG" imageanchor="1"><br /></a></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGcmqS-gbzghAGf1_60OI3_sqZ0QqaoqpTA6klLK_QDzWA1qKpMxQwz9NaL8ab9by6zWGGLLfjDA4vA-dHmN-z029TGVgllVLp6CrUCpk2IrLfUOyyksdUxZjlKdzkpldmKIVX_MetvPs/s1600/IMG_7965.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGcmqS-gbzghAGf1_60OI3_sqZ0QqaoqpTA6klLK_QDzWA1qKpMxQwz9NaL8ab9by6zWGGLLfjDA4vA-dHmN-z029TGVgllVLp6CrUCpk2IrLfUOyyksdUxZjlKdzkpldmKIVX_MetvPs/s320/IMG_7965.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a kantele, a traditional Finnish folk instrument.<br />
It is similar to a dulcimer, but it tuned in a way that makes it very easy<br />
for young students to play chords. And it has a lovely, light sounds that<br />
is suited perfectly for accompanying young voices.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDsyG6p5yXs-jQ_bSIF1IbiQLcYbYLY1TfnQPqlcYU9r4ZR9w2E_LKJ_xkij9Rj6yDqYn1lduc38PhBDllOipb3wUUUJ3EPpIVQ01W2Cz49r42qF27z1GRg2LMh-e6t-G3J3Pz3Xa2Po/s1600/IMG_7979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDsyG6p5yXs-jQ_bSIF1IbiQLcYbYLY1TfnQPqlcYU9r4ZR9w2E_LKJ_xkij9Rj6yDqYn1lduc38PhBDllOipb3wUUUJ3EPpIVQ01W2Cz49r42qF27z1GRg2LMh-e6t-G3J3Pz3Xa2Po/s200/IMG_7979.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very nice recorder storage.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWIshaMFsZRZS_ynCUUIw3_c599he5sC-xEDAjrmp7qNSOhSFO5uveupDnR9pklb3c2KU1Ab-moQGGYc9gNtDbHLFNGZKay_JQAxgd_fFTDC-Ny-kft8BgsCpqte_lx89bAPTovS_RrTs/s1600/IMG_7981.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWIshaMFsZRZS_ynCUUIw3_c599he5sC-xEDAjrmp7qNSOhSFO5uveupDnR9pklb3c2KU1Ab-moQGGYc9gNtDbHLFNGZKay_JQAxgd_fFTDC-Ny-kft8BgsCpqte_lx89bAPTovS_RrTs/s400/IMG_7981.JPG" title="" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Bands! This kind of set up was in <u>every single</u> music class I visited.<br /></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Second, music teachers seem to create experiences for their students, rather than rolling out lessons of explicit instruction. There isn't much "do this when you see this" or "play this when I give you this signal." It seems much more free form. For example, there might be a <i style="text-align: left;">quick</i></span><span style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"> overview of the song they will be playing, and then there is lots of time for the kids to "practice" on their own. And I put "practice" in quotes because it's really more just exploring their instrument. My advisor compared it to kids playing on a musical playground. As in, they're just noodling around seeing what the learn from these instruments that are in front of them</span>.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Lastly, pop and jazz music play a big role in Finnish music education. A BIG role. I would almost go so far as to say that pop and jazz are valued more than classical music. The only other genre I see playing a big role is folk music. I have heard quite a number of folk songs performed at various schools. But definitely pop and jazz music are the majority of what I've seen students singing and playing.<br />
<br />
One school I visited was particularly focused on pop music. She started the 4th grade music class by having a group of kids show me their "band" playing ACDC's Highway to Hell. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Basic Education/ Special Music Classes</b><br />
Structure:<br />
The easiest way to describe this is a magnet program for music within a regular public school that students must audition to be in. These classes begin in fourth grade and continue through what we would call middle school. All of the students accepted into the program are in the same classroom, and they stay together from grade to grade. For example, in the school I visited, there were two fourth grade classes, and one contained all of the students in the special music class program. Next year, all of these students will again be in the same class in fifth grade. Students in the special music class receive four hours of music instruction per week; two one-hour classes during the school day and a two-hour class after school one day. This after school class is less like regular music class and more like an ensemble, made up of students in all the grades combined and co-taught by the special music teachers. The cool thing is that the nature of the ensemble is flexible. Sometimes it's a choir, other times it's an orchestra, or a ukulele ensemble, or an orff ensemble etc... After "middle school," students may elect to either go to a regular lukio (high school) or take an entrance exam to attend the music lukio, which is essentially a music magnet high school. <br />
<br />
Observation:<br />
If I were a child in Finland, I would be in the special music classes. I would love all of the extra music classes and I would love being with a group of friends who love music as much as I do! As you can image, these students become a close knit group and end up creating quite a bond with each other over the years. I observed the after school ensemble rehearsal of the special music classes in my town, and I was quite impressed. The day I observed they were rehearsing as a choir. I loved the repertoire the teachers chose, and I thought the whole rehearsal was quite engaging for the students. I think I probably would love being a teacher in this setting as well because I love co-teaching!<br />
<br />
I've been told that the number of special music classes has declined in recent years. Apparently there used to be three schools in Jyväskylä with special music classes, but now there is only one. It seems that despite the long tradition of music in Finnish culture, they are experiencing a similar fight for the arts as we are in the US.<br />
<br />
<b>Music Schools</b><br />
Structure:<br />
Music schools are after school programs where people of all ages can study a wide variety of musical subjects including early childhood music classes, private instrument lessons, music theory classes, orchestra, choir, folk music ensembles, and pop/jazz ensembles and lessons. There are three types of music schools: Conservatories, Community Education (not actually what it is called, but a similar system to what we have in the US), and Private. The idea of public vs private and the prestige associated with each is the opposite in Finland than the US. Conservatories are publicly funded by both the federal government and municipalities. They are competitive, highly respected institutions for students who pass entrance auditions. Families do still have to pay a fee, but a nominal one. Private schools, as it was described to me, are available to anyone who can pay the tuition, regardless of talent. That said, I think there are some very good private music schools. Then there is the community education program. This is also funded by the government but is more of a place for people to study music as a hobby. <br />
<br />
Observation:<br />
This seems to be where most of the explicit instruction takes place. From an American perspective, and I am saying this slightly tongue in cheek, this is where it seems the "real teaching" is happening. I sat in on a theory class for late elementary aged students, with approximately 10 pupils. It was based on the kodaly method and felt very familiar to me. This is where students learn all of what we in America would call "musicianship skills" like sight reading, inner hearing, audiation, rhythmic and melodic dictation etc... Many students who participate in choirs take theory classes and/or private instrument lessons in music schools. I have been told that because they are learning to read music in these settings, these skills are not explicitly taught in public school or in the choirs. There seems to be a concern about not repeating information, or making students sit through the same content multiple times. It almost seems to me that the very involved students are catered to so that they will not be bored. I do know that there is a lot of competition to keep students involved in choir, because there are so many activities for students to choose from, not unlike in America. And it seems as if that may be even more the case here because these activities and sports are all much more affordable than they are in the US. <br />
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Penatoniikka</div>
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Each student had their own keyboard and headphones. </div>
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They had spent the entire class up until this point working with one song, </div>
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figuring out the solfege (pitches of the song) through singing, hand signs,</div>
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analyzing the intervals, and writing it on the staff. Now they were discovering</div>
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how to play the song on their keyboard.</div>
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<b><br /></b>
<b>Choirs</b><br />
Structure:<br />
Children and youth choirs in Finland seem structurally similar to choirs in the US. Choirs in this "pillar" of the system are non-profit, community organizations, have a board of directors, usually have choirs for multiple age groups, and rehearse in the evenings or weekends. One interesting thing is the way they group students age-wise. It it very typical for the "top" choir of an organization to include children from 10-18 years old, or even as young as 8 or 9. One significant difference is that these choirs are typically funded by the city. While there is a nominal tuition fee, the majority of the director's income is paid by the city. <br />
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Sanna Salminen and Vox Aurea</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Pasi </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: left;">Hyökki and Tapiola Choir</span></div>
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Observations:<br />
While structurally children and youth choirs seem similar to the what I've seen in the US, there are actually many practices I've seen that seem distinctively Finnish. The repertoire selections in Finland are largely modern compositions and folk song. By my ear, there seems to be far less lyrical or romantic sounding music. I've heard a lot of Baltic or "nasal" folky tones, overtone singing associated with yoiks, and an overall brighter sound. It's very "fresh" sounding. Despite the large age span, these choirs are still technically treble choirs, singing SSA, or SSAA music. This does beg the question of where are the changed male voices? The first thing I would say about this is that I have not seen many boys in general singing, and even fewer older boys. This seems to be one similarity to youth choirs in the US. Even though these choirs are technically treble choirs, the low alto parts (which are where the older boys sing) sound very low to me. While the directors here in Finland say their choirs sounds like youth choirs, there are times where I feel like their music almost sounds like a mixed chorus. I had an interesting facebook discussion with some American choral colleagues about how low is normal for altos to sing. It seems as though the range isn't the difference, with altos singing between F-C below middle C. I think the difference is in the tone or timbre of these low voices. According to my dear advisor, Sanna, there have been studies done that show Finnish women have lower voices than women from other countries, and this is attributed to their long history of gender equality. I know, it sounds like a joke, but apparently it is not. Back to repertoire: most of the music they sing is unaccompanied. As one director put it, in Finland the harmonies come from within the choral music, where as in America the melody comes from the choir and the harmonies come from the piano. This is of course not an accurate blanket statement, but I think there is definitely something to it. And having the large age span of singers definitely allows for more difficulty in musical selections. The older singers kind of help the younger singers along. Here's an interesting dichotomy: while there is relatively no piano accompaniment in the pieces, the music is introduced almost exclusively through playing parts on the piano. This was kind of a shocking one to me. I am so used to presenting songs in a way that engages singers in the score, or helps to build their musical literacy skills etc... You may remember from the music schools "pillar" that music theory and musicianship skills are taught there. Thus, they are not taught in choirs. When speaking with the director of one choir he told me that he will always pick students with a good ear over those with good voices. I asked if he does anything in his rehearsals to help develop students ears. He paused for a long time....and then said, "no." It's just not a focus of rehearsals here. And many, many of the students who sing in choirs here also play an instrument and and theory classes, so they come into choir reading music. Those who don't just get carried along by the others. To me, it almost felt like the rehearsals early in the season that were largely focused on learning new music were, well, boring! I was honestly kind of shocked. However, because there doesn't seem to be as much of a need to "teach" in these rehearsals, they get to the music making much faster. <br />
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There is one other thing that I absolutely LOVE about the Finnish philosophy about children's choirs or children in general. <b> Finns believe that youth choirs are not training grounds for children to become musicians later in life. Rather, children already <i>are</i> musicians capable of making art. </b><br />
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I love it. ❤❤❤<br />
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Conclusions:<br />
So...what does this all mean? I don't know. It's a lot to sort through. I think my general take away is that I feel like basic music education in public schools in America is more well rounded than it seems to be in Finland. Partly I think that is good because I think my students are developing more musicianship skills than it seems they might in a Finnish music classroom. And I am coming to realize how "American" this is, but I think the instruction as a whole is stronger in America. (More on that in my post about "pedagogy.")<br />
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On the other hand, it is WAY easier and way more affordable for Finnish children to delve deep into their musical practice pretty early in life. There are so many free or inexpensive musical opportunities available to students in Finland. I would have given anything to have this as a child. Really - it's pretty awesome.<br />
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It does leave me wondering about those kids who's only exposure to music education is from school? For me personally, I would choose American music education for those students. If we are talking about students who are able to take advantage of all the opportunities available to them, however, I would absolutely choose a robust music education system like Finland's.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09006923080987846281noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874597006996376457.post-86270069289376759032017-03-27T06:30:00.000-07:002017-03-27T09:46:45.734-07:00Binge Blog #6: Rovaniemi, Day 3Day 3 in Rovaniemi was, you guessed it, MAGICAL! It really was! We went on a reindeer and husky ride safari, and it was so fun! I was fairly convinced we were taking a ride through Narnia. Click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rachel.h.lucius/videos/10158298663265634/?l=2129390507925268617" target="_blank">here</a> if you don't believe me. We loved all of it - even the dogs that smelled kind of stinky...just ask Ruthie. <br />
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Isn't he beautiful?</div>
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This was SOOOOOO fun!!!!!</div>
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This pup was so sweet. I wish I remembered it's name. </div>
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Ruthie is still talking about how much this puppy loved her.</div>
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And a few other random pictures from the trip.</div>
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My sweet Ruthie Elf.</div>
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This picture was hanging on the wall of staff pictures at the Lapland Safari office. </div>
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Yes...his title really is, Lappish Man.</div>
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Peace out, Rovaniemi! You were a blast!!!!</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09006923080987846281noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874597006996376457.post-6037758502169905832017-03-27T06:08:00.002-07:002017-03-27T06:17:36.348-07:00Binge Blog #5: Rovaniemi, Day 2We spent the morning of Rovaniemi, Day 2 exploring some of the local museums. First we went to the Arktikum, which is the Arctic Science center and museum. There we learned about arctic wildlife and Sami, the indigenous people of Arctic Finland.<br />
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The view from our Airbnb. We think it feels a bit like being in Duluth.</div>
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Some pictures of our chilly walk to the Arctikum. </div>
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You can tell from these pictures that we still didn't have a ton of daylight that far north.</div>
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It was probably 11:00 am and the sun wasn't very high yet.</div>
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Very helpful sign in the Arktikum bathroom.</div>
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Sami "sunglasses" to prevent snow blindness. </div>
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Which ones do you like best?</div>
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I'm telling y'all...it's really just Minnesota here.</div>
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Traditional Sami Costumes</div>
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Arktikum atrium. Lots of windows for Northern Lights viewing.</div>
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Next we headed to the forestry museum. </div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">We momentarily lost Lydia in the forest museum. When I called her name I heard, "guys, I'm up here!"</span></div>
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The birch bark wallpaper again...because I love it.</div>
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That night we went on a snowmobile safari to hunt the northern lights. Spoiler alert: we didn't see any. And we still haven't, as I type this on March 27th. We tried last week to see them again - no luck. The aurora forecast for the next two days has the KP index at 6, which is the highest we've seen it. So in true Finnish spirit (I don't really know if that's true), we are giving it one more go, and spending two nights at a farm about 40 miles north of here. We're hoping we get to see them...I'll keep you posted.</div>
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Anyway, despite not seeing the northern lights, it was a really cool experience riding snowmobiles through the arctic wilderness. We started on the frozen river and then headed up into the forest to a tent where we roasted sausages and drank warm berry juice. I think my favorite part of the trip was showing Ruthie constellations. She loved looking at them! </div>
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It was, again, a very magical night.</div>
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Ruthie and Lydia got to ride behind our guide's snowmobile in a cool sleigh.</div>
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They were bundled up, sitting on top of reindeer hides and under lots of blankets. </div>
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Can you stand the cuteness????</div>
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Family pic #2. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09006923080987846281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874597006996376457.post-27593447856086524792017-03-27T05:39:00.001-07:002017-03-27T05:39:38.398-07:00Binge Blog #4: Rovaniemi, Day 1Rovaniemi is the capital of Lapland in northern Finland, and is the official home to the <i>REAL </i>Santa Clause. Yeah, you read that correctly. During our ski week vacation at the end of February, our family made the 9 hour trek north, along with our fellow Fulbrighter friend, Tiffany. She is now lovingly referred as "Aunt Tiffany." The girls pretty much consider her family at this point, despite Lydia's hilarious question of, "Mom, where did you find her?" We love you, Tiffany!<br />
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This trip was possibly the most adventures week of my entire life. I'm gonna let the pictures do the talking.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Displaying IMG_8377.PNG" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/?ui=2&ik=4733a1bcab&view=fimg&th=15b0fa2ce5289977&attid=0.1&disp=inline&safe=1&attbid=ANGjdJ_pCK0yKaqnPyG2eb1FZYQ0bspDeeblwYyA0cNuesz6ZZttjjZj71zm571UPdL1fMZ_RzyDor42tmQPNZDOkFl99dXh6kG945XTVH81S8JaQctrF1FYziqFgcI&ats=1490615994385&rm=15b0fa2ce5289977&zw&sz=w1261-h584" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The blue dot is our home in Jyväskylä. The red dot is Rovaniemi.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Heading to Rovaniemi.</span><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">
Our first stop when we got into town was Snowman World. It was pretty amazing, but also a little like the "Wisconsin Dells of Lapland," as Jerod put it. The girls LOVED it!</div>
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First we walked around the Ice Hotel, where we played on the ice slide, saw beautiful ice and snow sculptures, peeked in the rooms, and collectively decided we were glad we weren't spending the night there. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Family Picture!<br /><br /><img alt="Image may contain: outdoor" height="400" src="https://scontent-arn2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/16999200_10158287410675634_5022507052943013389_n.jpg?oh=107a66a1357b9489d6a820336f1c812d&oe=595F5C39" width="300" /></td></tr>
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Next we headed outside for some "Lappish Games." We went on a crazy ice slide, played in the snow, and took turns pushing each other on one of the fun "circle sleds." I still haven't figured out their real name. Jerod calls them "swizzle sticks," I think we'll go with that. </div>
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Tiffany at the top of the ice slide. She survived...barely.</div>
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Here's a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rachel.h.lucius/videos/10158286121305634/?l=3789840665444595892" target="_blank">video</a> of us on the smaller slide.</div>
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Remember that scene in Frozen where Anna tries to climb the mountain? </div>
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And finally, the moment we'd all been waiting for....meeting Santa!!!!!!</div>
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This is actually a contraband picture...and I love it! It is such a reflection </div>
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our girls and their respective personalities. </div>
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Lydia - right up there in Santa's face and Ruthie shy, but still so happy to be there.</div>
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I know you can't see their faces in this pic, but I think I like it even more than the one we paid 30 Euro for.</div>
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Said 30 Euro picture. </div>
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And finally, we crossed the arctic circle line. </div>
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Jerod: Before the arctic circle.</div>
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Jerod: After the arctic circle.</div>
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I think the Wisconsin Dells of Lapland was pretty darn magical, especially for the girls. Touristy? Yes. But who would have ever guessed our family would be in the arctic circle? Not me. Definitely an experience of a lifetime. And we didn't know on this day, but the best of our Lappish trip was yet to come!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09006923080987846281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874597006996376457.post-2428358721272226492017-03-27T04:48:00.004-07:002017-03-27T06:39:25.699-07:00Binge Blog #3: Birch TreesThose of you who have been following me on facebook have probably figured out by now that I have fallen in love with the birch trees in Finland. They are everywhere you look and they are beautiful. Large expanses of tall, white, straight trees are a common sight, and stunning one! The combination of pine or spruce trees and birch is also gorgeous.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: small;">These birch trees are right outside our kitchen window. We walk by them everyday. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Taken on a hike while our friends Hans and Sonja visited.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Image result for birch forest" height="241" src="https://previews.123rf.com/images/lenikovaleva/lenikovaleva1204/lenikovaleva120400014/13278819-April-blue-sky-in-beautiful-birch-grove-Stock-Photo-birch-trees-forest.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gah! I can hardly stand it!!!! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">(OK, I didn't actually take this picture, but I've sure seen this scene a lot!)</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A wall of birch "wall paper" at the Forestry Museum in Rovaniemi. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">One of our goals in coming to Finland was to find a piece of artwork to bring home and put up in our living room. There's a big, empty space just waiting for some Finnish beauty. We have looked and looked and just haven't found anything. So I decided to make my own... I'm calling it my "art project." I think we will choose 9 of the following pictures (and possibly more to come) and hang them in a 3 x 3 collage with simple frame. I'm having so much fun watching the birch trees as I walk around town, looking for my next close up.</span></div>
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src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4XXvBwcI0CqkmPvAv7gjOdg26NDzcirMjRDgpwEnDCADWKPiEW01X762PwXJgiXsL1K5RbpMQr6K148OmdkmjcEzBTUWbK_qh_VOC1mgUuA7uzTvYjMPjbO4wi43fr-PJNj65wLb3RRY/s320/green.jpg" width="220" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioH3qlH54T7w_Aea5jQJ8wmf-Y5T1cLEEE9Z5SC1WbkxOf0objeM50zJCUdfnrPmfZHZ7-iFVpqC60b5EFaK_EghKCmTz1zJtSFTygK7XSaCCN8VoJWiXF-_roEpIi5DRCm4qFgTs9oN0/s1600/FullSizeRender+%252815%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioH3qlH54T7w_Aea5jQJ8wmf-Y5T1cLEEE9Z5SC1WbkxOf0objeM50zJCUdfnrPmfZHZ7-iFVpqC60b5EFaK_EghKCmTz1zJtSFTygK7XSaCCN8VoJWiXF-_roEpIi5DRCm4qFgTs9oN0/s320/FullSizeRender+%252815%2529.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Which ones are your favorites?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Stay tuned for my next art project: <b>Moss on Rocks. </b><b> </b></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09006923080987846281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874597006996376457.post-91665742915166428342017-03-27T02:33:00.000-07:002017-03-27T06:44:20.644-07:00Binge Blog #2: Salmiakki <br />
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<b>Facebook Status, Feb. 7:</b></div>
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My name is Rachel and I'm addicted to Salmiakki</div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I know in my last post I said that people are Finland's most valuable resource...but I beg to differ. I'm pretty sure salmiakki is Finland's most valuable resource. What is salmiakki, you ask? Here's what wikipedia has to say about that:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="font-size: 14px;">Salty liquorice</b><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">, also known as</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> </span><b style="font-size: 14px;">salmiak</b><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">or</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> </span><b style="font-size: 14px;">salmiakki</b><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">(in</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finland" style="background-image: none; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none;" title="Finland">Finland</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">), is a variety of</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquorice_(confectionery)" style="background-image: none; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none;" title="Liquorice (confectionery)">liquorice</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">flavoured with</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonium_chloride" style="background-image: none; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none;" title="Ammonium chloride">ammonium chloride</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">, common in the</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_countries" style="background-image: none; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none;" title="Nordic countries">Nordic countries</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">, the</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands" style="background-image: none; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none;" title="Netherlands">Netherlands</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">, and</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Germany" style="background-image: none; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none;" title="Northern Germany">northern Germany</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-thecrimson_1-0" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salty_liquorice#cite_note-thecrimson-1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; text-decoration: none;">[1]</a></sup><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Ammonium chloride gives salty liquorice an astringent, salty taste</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salty_liquorice#cite_note-2" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; text-decoration: none;">[2]</a></sup><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">(hence the name), which has been described as "tongue-numbing"</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salty_liquorice#cite_note-3" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; text-decoration: none;">[3]</a></sup><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">and "almost-stinging".</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-thecrimson_1-1" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salty_liquorice#cite_note-thecrimson-1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; text-decoration: none;">[1]</a></sup><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Salty liquorice is an</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acquired_taste" style="background-image: none; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none;" title="Acquired taste">acquired taste</a><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-thecrimson_1-2" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salty_liquorice#cite_note-thecrimson-1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; text-decoration: none;">[1]</a></sup><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">and people not familiar with ammonium chloride might find the taste physically overwhelming and unlikeable.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salty_liquorice#cite_note-4" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; text-decoration: none;">[4]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-thecrimson_1-3" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salty_liquorice#cite_note-thecrimson-1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; text-decoration: none;">[1]</a></sup><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Salty liquorice candies are almost always black or very dark brown and can range from very soft to very hard and may be brittle. The other colours used are white and variants of grey. Salty liquorice is also used as a flavouring in other products, such as ice creams and alcoholic beverages.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I LOVE THIS STUFF!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have never been a fan of black licorice, but Salmiakki is not black licorice. It is similar, but not the same. The first time I tried it here, I was hooked! Full disclosure, some of it is actually pretty disgusting, but the stuff that is good is SOOOOOO good! Here are some of my favorites:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Image result for salmiakki fruit candy" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS-tcbxQVCFfKN9K_9fmypDOX8PV9yCSufTQDyyBhSlbFkIa8k_Lw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">I've eaten a lot of these bags...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mmmm...crunchy filling inside the soft candy.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Image result for salmiakki fruit candy" height="179" src="https://www.gambrelsofthesky.com/blog/2015/img/dropje.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /><br />
Salmiakki comes in all kinds of fun shapes and flavor combos.<br />
See that one in the middle with the pink filling?<br />
That's my favorite. MY FAVORITE!!!!!!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Then there's Salmiakki liquor. I LOVE this stuff too! I was introduced to this drink by a bunch of college musicians at a bar. As we were waiting to be served the conversation went something like this:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Them: You have to try it. It's awful. All Finn's drink this, but it tastes terrible. You have to drink it all in one shot. And you aren't allowed to make any bad faces. It's terrible.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Me after taking the shot: I like that!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Them: Yeah, it's actually pretty good!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit" , "serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Kippis! (That means cheers!)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit" , "serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">A funny memory from the same night I was introduced to Salmiakki:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit" , "serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><b>Facebook Status, Feb 3:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><i>This afternoon one of the singers in the choir I'm working with
invited me to her show tonight. She goes to the music high school in town and
this show was a school performance. I asked her if I could bring my family and
she said probably not because it was at a bar and all of her teachers would be
there drinking. When I got there it was indeed a bar, and the teachers there
were actually guidance counselors from all over Finland who were attending a
three-day professional development conference.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><i>So there I stood, drinking a glass of wine, as a band of high
school students (who were very good, by the way) performed for a bunch of
teachers who were drinking and dancing. They closed their set with "Sex
Bomb."<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><i>All I could think was, "this would never happen in
America." And, "why is no one here to witness this moment with
me?"</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Although I love salmiakki with all my heart, I recommend staying away from the Salmiakki McFlurry. It is no good. Trust me on this one.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09006923080987846281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874597006996376457.post-78053427449135045062017-03-27T01:20:00.001-07:002017-04-23T02:03:37.536-07:00Binge Blog #1: People: Finland's Most Valuable ResourceIt's been a while since I've posted. I've realized I'm much better at posting quick thoughts/pictures/stories on facebook and than I am at blogging. Apparently I like to sit down and pump out a whole bunch of blog posts at one time rather than writing periodically. Binge blogging - is that a thing? I'm going to make it a thing. So today I'm going to attempt to update my blog and use my facebook statuses as the topic for each post. <br />
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<b>Today's topic: People: Finland's Most Valuable Resource</b><br />
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Facebook Status, January 7th</b></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Today we are meeting
with the director of teacher education at the University of Helsinki. I asked
him about they reformed their education system.
I will write a more detailed answer on my blog, but I want to share interesting
reason behind the reform. In the 70s a political decision was made that Finland
was a small country who's only resource was their people. They have no oil or
other major export. Because the people are<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i><span class="textexposedshow"><i>their most important resource, education is the most
important priority of the country. So the decision was made that all students
will receive the same basic education. Because of this private schools are no
longer allowed in Finland. This makes all public schools very similar. Thus,
school choice is not a thing here, and all schools are funded the same,
regardless of the socio-economic status of the city/ neighborhood.</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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The idea that people can be considered a country's resource is an interesting one, and I like it. This status was of course written in the context of a question about their education system, but after almost three months in Finland, I see other ways in which the idea plays out in Finnish society. Let's explore a few of those.<br />
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<b>1. Education.</b><br />
Education is free for all Finnish citizens - from birth and all the way through PhD studies. I've heard the phrase "there is no dead end" used many times to describe the Finnish education system. Here is a helpful visual aid from the Finnish National Association of Education website to see the Finnish Education model:<br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-bda20f33-0e9d-05e0-3f52-117d36a8197e"><img height="508px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/96xNCKuR7eE0UasxbwJZKQyeb5npCb3EPB3ARYtgPUT_9ke3KARsHoe7LG8rt8m-NIoUeB4pSrebQXD4eZzh3YooYhnmRMDvXfVGOpOcO27gkd7I1NabEzVC5oFKciewvcEu9PlEPWM" width="407px;" /></span></div>
All of this is free. All of it! That is amazing! This one fact continues to shock me. Can you imagine what a difference it makes in a person's life to get a free education?! And you can go back as many times as you want! You an keep getting degrees until you die. Not only is college free, but the government actually pays students a living stipend in the hopes that they will not have to also work while studying. As you can see above, after the basic education, students can choose to either go to a general upper secondary school (high school) or go to a vocational institution. Contrary to my assumptions, choosing one track or the other does not lock you into one "side" of the system. It is quite common, especially in music education, to get degrees from both sides, even simultaneously. (Look for more details on this in the Binge Blog post about Music Education.)<br />
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I have been told that you cannot get a job without a degree. Period. This has a few implications. First, everyone is trained in something - whether that be bus driving, hotel cleaning, retail work, hospitality, a trade like carpentry or plumbing etc. Because everyone one of these jobs requires training, they are more respected. And these jobs all also pay better. Even a job like a baristas or a gas station clerk pays enough for a person to make a living. I don't have an exact figure to give you, but this is what we have heard over and over again. <br />
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<b>2. Immigrants</b><br />
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Did you know that if you move to Finland, they will pay you to take Finnish language courses. This is because you basically cannot get a job if you don't speak Finnish and they want people to be successful, contributing members of society. This seems like putting your money where your mouth is - quite seriously. My fellow Fulbrighter, Tiffany, is studying topics related to immigrants and refugees in Finland. In talking to her I have learned that beyond language courses, immigrants also take courses in Finnish culture that help them acclimate to life here. These courses last two or three years, and culminate in a job shadowing or internship experience to help them enter the work force. <br />
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Another fascinating thing Finland does that I think is SUCH a good idea is how they handle non-Finnish speaking students. When a student enters school with a different mother tongue than Finnish, regardless of their grade, they are placed in a "preparatory course" where all they study is Finnish language. The preparatory course last for exactly one year. They spend time teaching students to become proficient in the language and <i>then </i>put them back into the regular classroom where they can learn using their new language, Finnish. Although they spend a year in this program, they are not "segregated" or kept away from their Finnish speaking classmates. There is a sort of gradual release that happens as their skills improve. For example, they may begin attending regular classes like physical education or arts and crafts, where the instruction is more hands on. And as their skills grow, they spend more and more time outside of the preparatory course. This is simply brilliant. America, can we please adopt this model?<br />
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<b>Facebook post from Feb 7 related to this:</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;">Feb. 7 I had an "aha" moment today while observing a
choir rehearsal, which was all in Finnish. I was able to follow along ok
content wise. What really tripped me up was every time the conductor told them
where in the music to start, I couldn't understand the directions. So the choir
would turn their music to the right page and start singing. Meanwhile, I'm
desperately listening to their singing and flipping (flailing) through the
music trying to figure out where they were. Someti</span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;">mes I figured it out, sometimes I
didn't.</span></span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>If I were a second language
student, this would have meant that even in a situation where I could
contextually figure out how to do what the other kids were doing, I would have
missed about half of the opportunities to apply and practice the learning. All because
I didn't know which page to turn to.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>These are things to remember when
I return to teaching. It is very powerful being the student who doesn't speak
the language for a turn.</i></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>3. Parenting in Public</b><br />
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Being a parent in Finland is so much easier in many ways than parenting in the USA. For example, just about every single public bathroom I've been in has a potty chair. I don't know the details of how or when these get cleaned...but nonetheless, they are there. We are really beyond the need for potty chairs in our family, but I can remember a time not that long ago when the knowledge that there was a potty chair wherever we went would have made leaving the house a little easier. Actually, as a side note, Finnish bathrooms are CLEAN! Much cleaner than public restrooms that I'm used to. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjxrYUsrMQFzrE1f1NsvnrIV4Vsf_zR_C0xJfTqXLjUfIvefq3satljLEUtWX6n_QBG3y_LO2GWz0hzDM39j11cJhH5KN0-g0JzydfBDuhZy2nNjHMS7Wa-pCHYRwD70llQ-NV647d8-s/s1600/IMG_8019.JPG" imageanchor="1"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq6gxlBt1GCpnerg18Uf1oe7BgtKLWfmStnYRsGyjYT-XyVdQZrjvlVB8nJuU3AeN_KfMlBM0NBmNM2LtxgZ4fs2N_psgQq71J6Z15XAeoYAlQgnrmF-ClGScskDT2J0pOfZABKC04_w0/s1600/IMG_8018.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq6gxlBt1GCpnerg18Uf1oe7BgtKLWfmStnYRsGyjYT-XyVdQZrjvlVB8nJuU3AeN_KfMlBM0NBmNM2LtxgZ4fs2N_psgQq71J6Z15XAeoYAlQgnrmF-ClGScskDT2J0pOfZABKC04_w0/s200/IMG_8018.JPG" width="200" /></a><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjxrYUsrMQFzrE1f1NsvnrIV4Vsf_zR_C0xJfTqXLjUfIvefq3satljLEUtWX6n_QBG3y_LO2GWz0hzDM39j11cJhH5KN0-g0JzydfBDuhZy2nNjHMS7Wa-pCHYRwD70llQ-NV647d8-s/s200/IMG_8019.JPG" width="200" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Bi2C3KUVyDEyEJIf5qykCsGIfuz8IImkbqwGgSfdKBb1yrZWVAxaDLjGlUB1cONYScb61_VvBqYzvseNOiEm-bNmrUR_M1sndzRgDy4sCDIKqEJfSV4Ga5spdrJHVF4VZ-Sjl3R6MYY/s1600/IMG_8017.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Bi2C3KUVyDEyEJIf5qykCsGIfuz8IImkbqwGgSfdKBb1yrZWVAxaDLjGlUB1cONYScb61_VvBqYzvseNOiEm-bNmrUR_M1sndzRgDy4sCDIKqEJfSV4Ga5spdrJHVF4VZ-Sjl3R6MYY/s200/IMG_8017.JPG" width="150" /></a><br />
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Our grocery store has a FREE play area that is AMAZING!!!!! Yes, I'm shouting! This is a game changer for family grocery shopping. The girls love to go, and the hope of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rachel.h.lucius/videos/vb.619145633/10158167802615634/?type=3" target="_blank">play area promise land </a>is a great motivator for good behavior while shopping. <br />
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Public transportation is another way that Finland considers parents. On city buses, children under 6 are free. Our girls ride for free - this is a big money saver. And on trains, ferries, other activities that require tickets, children's tickets are much cheaper than adult tickets. I think Lydia, being 3, has traveled for free basically our entire time here. <br />
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Then there is the play car on the train. This was pretty much heaven on earth as traveling parent - 9 hours with almost no complaining. And to ride in it cost no more than a regular ticket. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRt3Dnc5xwYIXKErsse-7QRSZooD-lxuywcO9rz7UQV9CsfVfU10_MtNX04jlTC8NfDq2YsaDJtG2tMqwCoWCnFzrkCCoLFL_iRa7x2dxOycywN-asbjA1NYYq4Ux2iI3C78Qd0LAFQtI/s1600/IMG_7912.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRt3Dnc5xwYIXKErsse-7QRSZooD-lxuywcO9rz7UQV9CsfVfU10_MtNX04jlTC8NfDq2YsaDJtG2tMqwCoWCnFzrkCCoLFL_iRa7x2dxOycywN-asbjA1NYYq4Ux2iI3C78Qd0LAFQtI/s1600/IMG_7912.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRt3Dnc5xwYIXKErsse-7QRSZooD-lxuywcO9rz7UQV9CsfVfU10_MtNX04jlTC8NfDq2YsaDJtG2tMqwCoWCnFzrkCCoLFL_iRa7x2dxOycywN-asbjA1NYYq4Ux2iI3C78Qd0LAFQtI/s1600/IMG_7912.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRt3Dnc5xwYIXKErsse-7QRSZooD-lxuywcO9rz7UQV9CsfVfU10_MtNX04jlTC8NfDq2YsaDJtG2tMqwCoWCnFzrkCCoLFL_iRa7x2dxOycywN-asbjA1NYYq4Ux2iI3C78Qd0LAFQtI/s1600/IMG_7912.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09006923080987846281noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874597006996376457.post-47664017186153214222017-02-13T01:26:00.000-08:002017-12-07T06:43:38.301-08:00"In Finland, you can do dangerous things if you think you can." - Ruthie, 5 years oldWhile eating breakfast and getting ready for the second day of school, out of nowhere, Ruthie says, "In Finland, you can do dangerous things if you think you can." She went on to explain how there was a train on their playground that is really big. She wanted to climb onto the top of it, but didn't think she could. She kept trying and got to the top. Then when she was on the top, she realized how high it was and didn't think she could get down, but then she "found a way."<br />
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This may be one of my favorite moments of our trip so far. It took Ruthie one day of being in Finnish school to figure out this tenet of their culture. "You can do dangerous things if you think you can." There is no protecting children from every possible harm here. Kids are allowed to experiment and find their own limits. When they fall or struggle, they learn about these limits and how to avoid crossing them. </div>
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The playground at their school is a sheet of ice. I am not exaggerating. I almost fall every time I come to pick them up. This does not stop anyone from going out to recess. We all have figured out how to walk safely on the ice.</div>
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Across the street from Ruthie and Lydia's school is a primary school. On their playground they have a huge pile of ice and snow. Every morning I when I drop my girls off at school I see the kids running all over this thing. They chase each other, they pretend to be mountain climbers, they jump off of it. The students at my school are not allowed to do such things. </div>
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I am really liking how Finnish society is making my girls tougher. They are forced to get outside their comfort zone and try things. They have learned how to walk for quite a ways without complaining - it wasn't easy, but they do it. Ruthie can probably walk a mile to the store, and a mile back. Lydia's not quite up to that, but she now walks the 7 minute walk to the bus stop, and the very steep uphill climb home from the bus stop everyday. This would not have happened back home. I think in Minnesota we were unintentionally making them kind of whimpy kids. It's been really fun to watch them learn and grow in this way. Ruthie is skating and skiing like a champ, and Lydia is constantly leaving whatever trail we are walking on to climb up huge hills and then slide down on her butt. </div>
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I assume the reason this type of risk taking isn't encouraged as much in public schools in the US is for liability reasons. Our society is quick to sue. But it is a shame. Yes, there is risk involved in trying something new and something a little bit dangerous, but there is so much to gain: confidence, pride, understanding of limits, understanding of your own body, knowledge of the world around you, and FUN! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruthie, showin' us how it's done.</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09006923080987846281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874597006996376457.post-53099507393366009192017-02-13T00:45:00.000-08:002017-02-13T10:50:00.834-08:00Body PositivityOne of our neighbors and good friends at home in Minnesota is a therapist and dancer who talks about body positivity frequently. I love what she has to say about embracing who you are and loving yourself. I've always appreciated her perspective on this, but Finland has made me confront this issue head on. <br />
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My first experience surrounding this issue was when my advisor, Sanna, invited us to her house for "dinner and sauna." For those of you that don't know, sauna is a HUGE part of Finnish culture. Huge. Dinner and sauna is a very traditional way to spend Saturday evening. <span style="background-color: white;">Anecdotally, people say that all of Finland shuts down on Saturday nights for sauna. </span>We had been warned that Finn's like to sauna naked. So of course, being the good American that I am, I asked, "should we bring our swimsuits?"...to which Sanna laughed hysterically and responded with a big smile, "No swimsuits! You can wear a towel if you want to, but we won't be wearing any." She then went on to explain that men and women always sauna separately. First the women and children go in, then the women get the kids all showered up, yell upstairs to the men to come dress the kids, grab a beer, and go back in the sauna for "peace and quiet." Then when the women are done, the men get their turn alone in the sauna. <br />
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I was so excited to go to her house and experience this tradition, but I was also kind of nervous. We had a lovely dinner, and then it was time for sauna. Just like she had told me, she and I went downstairs with the four little girls. I was definitely keeping one step behind everyone so that I could follow procedures appropriately. But the second we stepped into the dressing room, all four little girls started stripping without hesitation. For those of you that know my daughters, this is not surprising. It was surprising to me that her daughters seemed to not care one bit that there was a new adult in the room with them. Then Sanna started undressing...so I decided I had better follow suit. And here's where things changed immediately for me. No one in the room (besides me) was being weird about it, so it was instantly not weird. They have an incredible sauna "complex" that includes a dressing room, and large "wet room" with multiple shower heads, and the sauna - it's amazing!We took our pre-sauna shower and then headed into the sauna. I couldn't believe how relaxed I felt being nude in such close proximity to these new friends that I barely knew. And I attribute the relaxed feeling to the fact that I was surrounded by five other people who thought nothing of it. It's that simple. <br />
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Jerod and I had a conversation that went something like this after our sauna experience:<br />
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Me: "I can't imagine being naked with my colleagues at home. That would be so weird."<br />
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Jerod: "Well, you pretty much have been. We've been swimming with some of them."</div>
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Me: "But that's different. They had swimsuits on."</div>
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Jerod: "Just bikinis."</div>
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Me: "But that's still different."</div>
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Jerod: "Yeah, it is. But not really."</div>
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Me: "You're right."<br />
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A few side notes about going to saunna: After we got the girls showered and went back in for our adult sauna, I was asking lots of questions about the tradition of sauna. I asked about ice swimming. Sanna said she didn't typically do that, but she has and she described it as magical. To give me a taste of what that feels like, we stood outside for a few minutes. It felt GREAT! I was surprised how good it felt to stand outside with my whole body soaking wet, with only a towel on in the freezing cold. It didn't feel cold because our bodies were so hot from the sauna. And it was really cool to see the steam rising off of us. I'd also heard about the tradition of hitting one's self on the back with birch sticks . It has always sounded rather masochistic, but she described it in a very different light. This is something that is only done in the spring when the branches are young and soft. They tie a bundle of long, soft twigs together and then soak them in water until they are really soft. Then they sort of fling the bundle of soaking branches over their shoulders and it thwacks their back. She said it feels heavenly - kind of like a towel, or a massage. I hope I get to try it before we leave. Another thing I learned that I thought was interesting was that historically many political decisions were made in the sauna - particularly between Russia and Finland. But if you'll remember, men and women don't sauna together, so this was an issue. It meant that women were left out of the decision making process. I guess that doesn't happen anymore. <br />
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Back to body positivity. The next place where I encountered this comfort with bodies and nudity was at the swimming pool in town. In America, my experience in locker rooms is that most people walk around covered up with their towels, except for those few weird old ladies that are totally cool exposing themselves. Not so in Finland . Everyone is naked. Everyone. Different ages, different sizes, different body types, different amounts and lengths of hair in various places - none of it seems to matter. You know those signs in locker rooms about showering before entering the pool? And you know how in America most of us ignore them, or at best, we splash a few drops of water on us? Also not so in Finland. People shower with soap and THEN put on their swimsuits . Then they do it all over again when they are done swimming. All of this to say, there's lots of naked time in those locker rooms, and everyone is completely chill about it. It is so different to me. It is good though! <br />
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I can't say for sure that this next part is true, but I do think all of this seems to translate into a comfort level with bodies in the rest of society. I have noticed people seeming more comfortable wearing clothing that is typically reserved for skinny people in America.<br />
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Why are we so weird about our bodies in the US? Why is it okay to be basically naked as long as we cover up the parts of us that have hair or slightly darker skin? Why are we so obsessed with bodies, but at the same time shame people for showing them? And why does everything around this feel so sexualized in America? It doesn't have to be that way. There are still limits here - unless you are with your immediate family, men and women stay separate. But beyond that, it's just your body, and it is no big deal. There is no need to hide it or feel ashamed of it. That's definitely an ideal that I would like to take back home with me. So consider this your warning if you ever get invited over to our house for "dinner and sauna!" ;-)</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09006923080987846281noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874597006996376457.post-17393243853989632672017-01-20T04:21:00.000-08:002017-01-23T04:18:38.471-08:00AdjustingThis past week and a half has been unlike anything I've ever experienced. Ever. The amount of learning and adjusting we've had to do is amazing. I honestly hardly know how to put it into words. While reading former Fulbright blogs, Jerod and I noticed that there were a lot of explanations about seemingly mundane things. Now we get why they were writing about those things. When you are in a new country and you don't know anyone or speak the language, those things are a BIG DEAL!!! <br />
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Let's take our first trip into town as an example. It was our second day here, we had only a few food items in the house and getting to the grocery store was necessary that day. Lydia was still sick, and I wasn't feeling very well either. But of course I wasn't about to send Jerod into town alone, when we had literally no clue which end was up. So we bundled up and headed down the path across the street from our house that we <i>thought</i> lead to the bus stop. We made our best guess about which stop to go to. Then we waited. And waited. And waited. It was cold and the girls were not diggin' hanging out at the bus stop. So we walked across the street and found a dental supply store that was open. We went inside and asked the lady if she knew when the bus came. She pointed out the window - there it is! We all turned to see the bus roll away. So we went and waited some more. Finally the bus came . We got on and the conversation with the driver went something like this:<br />
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Us: Does this bus go into town?</div>
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Driver: Yes.</div>
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Us: And can we buy a bus pass in town?</div>
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Driver: You do not have a bus pass?</div>
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Us: No. We just arrived in town.</div>
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Driver: 6 Euros please.</div>
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Us: ............... Do you take American money?</div>
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Driver:.......................Just get on.</div>
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Thank goodness for kind people. That act of letting us ride into town for free was HUGE, and not to be underestimated. As in, had he not let us get on the bus, I think it would have been a moment of crisis for us. We were tired, had no idea where a store with food was, really had no idea how far or close we were to town, couldn't plug in our computer because we didn't have an adapter, had no working cell phones, and no one to call even if they had worked. </div>
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Every little thing we've had to figure out has been a big deal. And for the first few days, the agenda for each day was small. </div>
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Day 1: </div>
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Find Food </div>
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Get bus pass</div>
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Day 2: </div>
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Buy SIM cards for cell phone</div>
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Find the REAL grocery store </div>
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(The one we found on day 1 had the food selection of a glorified gas station.)</div>
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Day 3:</div>
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Find the girls' school</div>
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Buy an adapter to plug in the computer</div>
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Find beer</div>
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That first week was tough. Not bad, just tough. Jerod and I each had one day of freaking out, but luckily we are good planners and chose not to do this on the same day as each other. There was just so much to figure out. In addition to the things listed above, which were the really big things, there were also a ton of small things. Like, what do these strange symbols on our stove mean? And how do miles compare to kilometers, or how does celcius compare to fehrenheit, or kilograms to pounds? Where does our recycling go? How in the world does one read these very confusing bus schedules (that are all in Finnish)? How do you lock the front door? Why does the drier keep beeping? (Because in Finland, you have to empty out a tray of water after every load.) Also, jet lag was tough. We were not prepared for how long it would take us to adjust. </div>
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Our second week has been a little easier. This week has been less about figuring out the big and little questions, and more about adjusting to our new life. At our orientation in Washington D.C., we were told not to feel like we had to hit the ground running when we arrived in our new countries. Rather, we should take a week or two to get situated and find our way around town. This sounded so luxurious to me, I mean I am getting paid to be here after all. But now I totally get it, and thank goodness we were not forced to start work right away. </div>
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Here we have no car and use public transportation to get everywhere. This alone has been a big thing to adjust to. For the first week we just showed up at the bus stop and hoped a bus would come. We finally found a website that explained the schedule, which has proven to be accurate <i>most</i> of the time. But we have to plan much differently when we can't just hop into our car. </div>
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Not having a car really affects grocery shopping. You shop differently when you have to carry home everything you buy. We shop everyday for food. Anytime either one of us goes into town, we pick up a few things. And we don't buy things that we don't need, because that will just make our bag heavier. This also means that we are way more aware of not wasting food. I know I'm hardly growing all of my food or raising chickens, but I already feel much more connected to my food. It is just so different when you are intentional about EVERYTHING you buy.<br />
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The day light, or lack there of, has also been an adjustment. When we got here the sun came up at about 9:00 and set by 3:00. We can already see that the days are getting slightly longer - we are gaining almost ten minutes of daylight each day. The combination of jet lag and and long nights has meant a lot of sleep for us, which has been good. We are starting to feel normal again.</div>
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Our house is little. This has had an affect on many things. We need to keep our stuff organized, which is not a strength of ours, because there's just not much space. But its been easier to do because we have less stuff. And even though we packed a fraction of our belongings to bring to Finland, we already feel like we don't need everything we brought. Being in a small house also means there aren't as many ways to escape from each other. We've spent a lot more time together as a family and a lot less time watching tv. That has been a really good change for us. </div>
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We spend WAAAAAY more time outside than we did in Minnesota. I'm loving this. We walk to the bus stop, we walk around town, sometimes we walk into town (Jerod and I do, not the girls.) Speaking of walking, this has been a big change, and it's been a hard one for our girls - especially Lydia. On the agenda for the next few days is finding a stroller, because her little legs just can't handle it if we have to walk more than 10 minutes or so. Ruthie struggled the first few days with this, but now she's doing way better with it. I think Finland is going to make our girls a little tougher! Being outside so much also means that proper clothing is important. After a very sad trip ice skating, we realized that Lydia's gear just wasn't doing the job. We invested in some good mittens and an awesome snowsuit for her, and now things are much better. Finland also has really cool sleds and ski scooters. The girls have had so much fun playing on these! There's a great sledding hill just at the end of our street that is so fun!</div>
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Our sauna! It is AMAZING!!!! I love it. I want one. Everyone should have one.</div>
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Gosh, I'm sure there's so much more to tell about, but that's a lot for now. Here are two final things. </div>
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1. They don't shovel the sidewalks in Finland. They simply put gravel on top of the snow. When I asked my adviser why the sidewalks weren't shoveled she said, "What do you mean? Why isn't the snow removed completely?" When I told her that in Minnesota each home was responsible for shoveling their own sidewalk she said, "But why? It isn't slippery to walk on." And she's right, it's not. People walk and ride bikes on these sidewalks all the time here, and it's just find. I don't have a good answer for her. This seems like an easier solution to the snow than what we do. </div>
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2. A carrot sharpener. I've only yet taken a picture of it because I thought it was funny, but I think I may have to go buy one. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09006923080987846281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874597006996376457.post-47724315205260687102017-01-20T02:25:00.002-08:002017-01-20T02:28:25.115-08:00Journey to Jyväskylä<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It has been a long season of preparing to live in Finland. We went to bed on Saturday night feeling ready for our big trip...and then Lydia threw up. What timing. In the interest of not paying $,16000 per ticket to reschedule, we decided to stay the course. </div>
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We flew Minneapolis, to Chicago, to London, to Helsinki. Our first flight was great, but while we were waiting in Chicago, Lydia wasn't looking so great again. I was holding my breath that she'd be alright, but as we were boarding the flight, she threw up again...right in front of all the other passengers. I stood there, holding my 3 year old over the garbage can, pretending that the hundreds of people standing around me, waiting to get on the same seven hour flight as us weren't seeing what was happening. No one said anything, so we got on. And then as the plane was taking off I had this sinking feeling of, "what have I done?" It was like the reality of moving across the globe with my family was finally sinking in. The romance of the entire situation was somehow lacking from this scene. </div>
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Luckily things perked up. We made it to Heathrow airport, had some coffee, let the kids play a bit, and enjoyed people watching. Europe has some fun fashions! At Heathrow, I took a little walk to buy some plug in converters for our electronics. While checking out at the drug store in the airport, I was totally struck by the workers there. They looked happy and even proud to be doing their jobs. When we had been in Chicago, I ordered some food from a restaurant in the food court. I observed the workers looking tired, miserable, and not terribly put together. The funny thing was though, I didn't even really process that observation until I was buying tooth brushes and converters in London. It made me wonder why there was this juxtaposition. Do service jobs pay better in Europe? Are these jobs more respected? I don't really have an answer, but the contrast was striking. </div>
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And then...then we boarded our Finnair flight to Helsinki, and I swear to you, I think angels started singing. The plane was spotless, there was gentle music playing, everything was bright, and these two lovely people greeted us on our screens throughout the flight. Look how much they love their jobs!!! For real though, the Finns are a beautiful bunch of people. And it was a lovely flight!</div>
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Once we landed in Helsinki, w e took a cab to our hotel. The driver spoke not a word to us, but was rocking out to a Backstreet Boys cd, circa 2000, so that made up for the lack of conversation. It was especially fun to watch him play air drums on the stick shift as he drove. </div>
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We had not the greatest night of sleep ever and were wide awake by 5:00 am or so. Fortunately for us, Finnish continental breakfasts are AMAZING! I wish we could eat like this everyday!!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1wwbQQNd1Os-WmIcavNtgL0Xw9pXpyRXKJiC2cfDZym0nCJ9cpR2Ah2M6B4TzLbwhMsngfyZn5_ydb9TH0wNxq3acDajgirLD1sv2ymSTzygWDmxr88xmOhGNt0rMNxo7BUJ5lu_E8k4/s1600/IMG_6882.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1wwbQQNd1Os-WmIcavNtgL0Xw9pXpyRXKJiC2cfDZym0nCJ9cpR2Ah2M6B4TzLbwhMsngfyZn5_ydb9TH0wNxq3acDajgirLD1sv2ymSTzygWDmxr88xmOhGNt0rMNxo7BUJ5lu_E8k4/s320/IMG_6882.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After breakfast we packed up and boarded the train to <span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.6px;">Jyväskylä, a university town in central Finland that will be our home for the next five months. The three hour train ride was awesome! I'm going to be taking this train route on a weekly basis to study with the Tapiola choir in Helsinki, and based on our first trip, this is not a bad thing! The scenery was beautiful, as were the houses. Those of you reading this who know me from my childhood will understand what I mean when I say Finland is like a whole country of "Taylors Falls." The land looks SO much like Minnesota, but the houses are all cute little houses that look very old. The only difference is that instead of all of the houses being white with green shutters, like they are in TF, they are all bright colors - blue, yellow, red. Beautiful! And it was so nice to sit at a table as a family where we could read, color, play with legos etc, rather than one of us driving, or all of us being crammed into airplane seats. I think I'm gonna get used to train life. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUeElZFQM4xQ72MrWgnNsQyzmlnBT3eFQpeG4wcXCmDJYxTrW83ZQ9iXwuX0ui3qD3Te3F24LhvU7fpfBx0EZPhtzCzB0atMPQ7Gc-fWJyNYuhZmrjw3EKcZb6Kgk3TTskDA_K15Jrias/s1600/IMG_6887.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUeElZFQM4xQ72MrWgnNsQyzmlnBT3eFQpeG4wcXCmDJYxTrW83ZQ9iXwuX0ui3qD3Te3F24LhvU7fpfBx0EZPhtzCzB0atMPQ7Gc-fWJyNYuhZmrjw3EKcZb6Kgk3TTskDA_K15Jrias/s400/IMG_6887.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN8xktbZ9R5DNppNdfVKKE5C4WztTjX6X8YG7lypHaAS6RJ7DsGmfAQrFOuYWHlmek_UWK2BM2_PJXaMc_kB6gRh-plv6kdijFiSLlS-sdDWNy8JpKbPb9Pr1mT01kcRNH3k0kFjLurSE/s1600/IMG_6888.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN8xktbZ9R5DNppNdfVKKE5C4WztTjX6X8YG7lypHaAS6RJ7DsGmfAQrFOuYWHlmek_UWK2BM2_PJXaMc_kB6gRh-plv6kdijFiSLlS-sdDWNy8JpKbPb9Pr1mT01kcRNH3k0kFjLurSE/s400/IMG_6888.JPG" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.6px;"><br />When we finally rolled into town, my adviser and the father of the owner of our rental house met us at the train station and drove us to our new home. It is ADORABLE!!!!! And to say the girls are delighted with the toys at the house is an understatement. It's a small house, and it is definitely going to encourage the simple lifestyle Jerod and I were hoping to embrace. I think we are going to like it here. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEpZ9ZJnC6HVulZY6Fk_B8hwdUHOlGulxmeXioVvyit6CtHDuk4_Uop2VufakSGUOr-Svtl71ZiBm5kpjjFbDoQ13p043qkqMu6z0W9UGRcxvvVGv76fMzsaCylqFHgWldcWFMi0uKmNE/s1600/IMG_6981.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: 13.6px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEpZ9ZJnC6HVulZY6Fk_B8hwdUHOlGulxmeXioVvyit6CtHDuk4_Uop2VufakSGUOr-Svtl71ZiBm5kpjjFbDoQ13p043qkqMu6z0W9UGRcxvvVGv76fMzsaCylqFHgWldcWFMi0uKmNE/s400/IMG_6981.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Home Sweet Home</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZPEwK4RfIu7SdsTK6yUkelgrMNXfdAHXpd677uuxA_24POBQvf1TmM-9OHHERhNuVRe_SMSFMLSLyAB_3hCIGibZY1gW71QnC0aGdNM_09LjOgRNC7lBaIzh1LWcn0btWD3HEsluteKg/s1600/IMG_6953.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; clear: right; font-size: 13.6px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZPEwK4RfIu7SdsTK6yUkelgrMNXfdAHXpd677uuxA_24POBQvf1TmM-9OHHERhNuVRe_SMSFMLSLyAB_3hCIGibZY1gW71QnC0aGdNM_09LjOgRNC7lBaIzh1LWcn0btWD3HEsluteKg/s400/IMG_6953.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our house at the top of the path we walk to the bus.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq1UCB9rDXGcgJwlKfmcMalgFV-Y4PP6SrXRCNSEmHVwNsACsaKpEtjDLw0tJFy34v3ms3l9QI6SkWrYG-hda9aJWU54XL9kVvMhPtQdSN_mYRXABvbW8hW0gPc-iKEBy3ElNMNEVaAhI/s1600/IMG_6979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq1UCB9rDXGcgJwlKfmcMalgFV-Y4PP6SrXRCNSEmHVwNsACsaKpEtjDLw0tJFy34v3ms3l9QI6SkWrYG-hda9aJWU54XL9kVvMhPtQdSN_mYRXABvbW8hW0gPc-iKEBy3ElNMNEVaAhI/s1600/IMG_6979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"> </a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5jFfPvDPkawg2BGwm3xPBcSzU2Tub-_DtKJ4R0inBlsEIcp23y9BT3PDUNx9ktk_isrhU_KARM6dsasnrDlHwHIjGYndRM_7yFtHcum4LOzsKzddEQDnASB-GPqzbeXIFthhWR_X_ppM/s1600/IMG_6976.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.6px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5jFfPvDPkawg2BGwm3xPBcSzU2Tub-_DtKJ4R0inBlsEIcp23y9BT3PDUNx9ktk_isrhU_KARM6dsasnrDlHwHIjGYndRM_7yFtHcum4LOzsKzddEQDnASB-GPqzbeXIFthhWR_X_ppM/s400/IMG_6976.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our bedroom and wardrobe - right off of the kitchen. #Finnlife</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsgRnkZRT2Czr_67BTMlKhkDiDMgBofwUPq-QJpmjDdJ4pNsi11ICfLRQoyjYBQA2T6djNp0ZnnKipnd93Vrgqn9KCnxNlgUzYttLIX7BrPgxNSZfDRUfi117dYOazd3tD_ZSj1p01r_0/s1600/IMG_6975.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; clear: right; font-size: 13.6px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsgRnkZRT2Czr_67BTMlKhkDiDMgBofwUPq-QJpmjDdJ4pNsi11ICfLRQoyjYBQA2T6djNp0ZnnKipnd93Vrgqn9KCnxNlgUzYttLIX7BrPgxNSZfDRUfi117dYOazd3tD_ZSj1p01r_0/s400/IMG_6975.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We love the big table in the kitchen. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSRqItGW91clUXm2_h0VVBi2SkqkHPWj6y48L-1Pip9BPbPppKU2uNFurZPfIC_ex5XFogarYbDyjN_9oAsznaP6ycWX7vc6gMOLFgQBX86yAOCGwDYCTsP3qw6LPhucNwoJmg3ZwRixI/s1600/IMG_6891.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; clear: right; font-size: 13.6px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSRqItGW91clUXm2_h0VVBi2SkqkHPWj6y48L-1Pip9BPbPppKU2uNFurZPfIC_ex5XFogarYbDyjN_9oAsznaP6ycWX7vc6gMOLFgQBX86yAOCGwDYCTsP3qw6LPhucNwoJmg3ZwRixI/s320/IMG_6891.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;">We also love the wood burning fire place!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOK4VJCpl3KDkUaJQI9kw895QtF0kxG4DpBdu_TeC6iyh0QzoR6iobN44070m18gTrTYrFVUyk_80okCyBskVUK0EVuG82p7f6CD7SqNSRRGY-2hyphenhyphene4bQzvgn4omol0_1sCUjsWSec_TM/s1600/IMG_6923.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOK4VJCpl3KDkUaJQI9kw895QtF0kxG4DpBdu_TeC6iyh0QzoR6iobN44070m18gTrTYrFVUyk_80okCyBskVUK0EVuG82p7f6CD7SqNSRRGY-2hyphenhyphene4bQzvgn4omol0_1sCUjsWSec_TM/s400/IMG_6923.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking into the kitchen from the living room.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.6px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOK4VJCpl3KDkUaJQI9kw895QtF0kxG4DpBdu_TeC6iyh0QzoR6iobN44070m18gTrTYrFVUyk_80okCyBskVUK0EVuG82p7f6CD7SqNSRRGY-2hyphenhyphene4bQzvgn4omol0_1sCUjsWSec_TM/s1600/IMG_6923.JPG" imageanchor="1"><br /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.6px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOK4VJCpl3KDkUaJQI9kw895QtF0kxG4DpBdu_TeC6iyh0QzoR6iobN44070m18gTrTYrFVUyk_80okCyBskVUK0EVuG82p7f6CD7SqNSRRGY-2hyphenhyphene4bQzvgn4omol0_1sCUjsWSec_TM/s1600/IMG_6923.JPG" imageanchor="1"></a></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPCQwoTcs_8lp7OLOHo_URmrg_6s-4GEop6s7K3MT1mE0jSJG_nCsg0dbctTf30QaNTSEoe8eXFjFqt1At1Qm5zja-U0Ys82SL3wtuFTDHysOB-ouBJyaTKmQ0KB1Wfjl3ExVs_4zUICs/s1600/IMG_6979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPCQwoTcs_8lp7OLOHo_URmrg_6s-4GEop6s7K3MT1mE0jSJG_nCsg0dbctTf30QaNTSEoe8eXFjFqt1At1Qm5zja-U0Ys82SL3wtuFTDHysOB-ouBJyaTKmQ0KB1Wfjl3ExVs_4zUICs/s400/IMG_6979.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sweet little play store upstairs.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-y0Z9Mb8UTmqjuBkZPaq1ySSLhlzrj-qWvCTVoFyjhTgg6L-fGw2QGHz4rg3tw3wBSVnaHiHy8jaeP5a4gYrEjSeguJY0dcmqJsY0W9phL5evk3Y3lnSUDOf3z4OyU3n-fnVOz9C7iYs/s1600/IMG_6978.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-y0Z9Mb8UTmqjuBkZPaq1ySSLhlzrj-qWvCTVoFyjhTgg6L-fGw2QGHz4rg3tw3wBSVnaHiHy8jaeP5a4gYrEjSeguJY0dcmqJsY0W9phL5evk3Y3lnSUDOf3z4OyU3n-fnVOz9C7iYs/s400/IMG_6978.JPG" /></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzFtPYOz_YBMF5kUHfKvDMNqrS1ROjufrW1lUKhUICWxo4SH9XkFSG-939TBos3Fs6z6073ZpaKX2K0L_8cGxXEL0q5oAWYCtUwPNFraKcfC3I88vwO8cT0K70l4gJa1TvYEmcCVjaUXc/s1600/IMG_6980.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzFtPYOz_YBMF5kUHfKvDMNqrS1ROjufrW1lUKhUICWxo4SH9XkFSG-939TBos3Fs6z6073ZpaKX2K0L_8cGxXEL0q5oAWYCtUwPNFraKcfC3I88vwO8cT0K70l4gJa1TvYEmcCVjaUXc/s400/IMG_6980.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Antique beds for the girls.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.6px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOK4VJCpl3KDkUaJQI9kw895QtF0kxG4DpBdu_TeC6iyh0QzoR6iobN44070m18gTrTYrFVUyk_80okCyBskVUK0EVuG82p7f6CD7SqNSRRGY-2hyphenhyphene4bQzvgn4omol0_1sCUjsWSec_TM/s1600/IMG_6923.JPG" imageanchor="1"><br /></a></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6P5f5X3dv_uEnEH1cgogryf3ju0kOQRm9AmTbpSgHiZtglcowhjp5FcjwNKCMTxW9kNZSShWH_YGxHPjEfd3FEJxEdHOBBbd_Fnq3jk1UbvBqdHwMhCpfkLFh1ndXZU7N4WN9Cmjla8c/s1600/IMG_6898.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6P5f5X3dv_uEnEH1cgogryf3ju0kOQRm9AmTbpSgHiZtglcowhjp5FcjwNKCMTxW9kNZSShWH_YGxHPjEfd3FEJxEdHOBBbd_Fnq3jk1UbvBqdHwMhCpfkLFh1ndXZU7N4WN9Cmjla8c/s400/IMG_6898.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Playhouse in the back yard.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx1Nnq1R3xsHGqM3Cnl_IBab-9eBS2y6XhrGem7WdSg9ZUlDZfwujj3bHeYytvKodJUh3YhdjDqML5wdk7OK3C7ExKj_zjXhtuhyMQXXJXrq0QEGCIljucXwDGD8LepoSmrYkCkzsQRRE/s1600/IMG_6896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx1Nnq1R3xsHGqM3Cnl_IBab-9eBS2y6XhrGem7WdSg9ZUlDZfwujj3bHeYytvKodJUh3YhdjDqML5wdk7OK3C7ExKj_zjXhtuhyMQXXJXrq0QEGCIljucXwDGD8LepoSmrYkCkzsQRRE/s400/IMG_6896.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cool swing set in our yard.</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09006923080987846281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874597006996376457.post-57998222624178363842017-01-03T11:42:00.000-08:002017-01-23T04:10:59.538-08:00The Future is Murky<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh26QTu7Je8ICJ9o4ir6ev-sxolpna4ls2P_2E9jAusxXiOGbieyP1zWy2B_r5vtup9iDHkH7fowS2ukQTA43BCbFF92cNPJRZBfw5fHbr6KgROtc2yytkfIovp-JoYDG74j5Jzj1j8CJw/s1600/Northern-Lights-Finland-007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh26QTu7Je8ICJ9o4ir6ev-sxolpna4ls2P_2E9jAusxXiOGbieyP1zWy2B_r5vtup9iDHkH7fowS2ukQTA43BCbFF92cNPJRZBfw5fHbr6KgROtc2yytkfIovp-JoYDG74j5Jzj1j8CJw/s1600/Northern-Lights-Finland-007.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">In five days, my family and I will board a plane and head to Jyväskylä, Finland. This journey began nearly a year and a half ago when I learned about the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Program. My husband, Jerod, had recently quit his job in corporate America to stay home with our girls full time, and I was feeling the itch to experience some sort of change or growth in my professional life. This opportunity appeared at nearly the perfect time in our family’s life for me to consider doing something this crazy. When I asked Jerod if he wanted to live abroad, he casually said, “sure”...so naturally, I applied. In the wise words of one of my good friends, YOLO! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The timeline went something like this:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">August, 2015 - I became interested in this possibility.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">September and October, 2015 - I spent a lot of time talking to colleagues and music educators getting advice on which counties I should explore and ideas about what my proposed project might look like. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">November, 2015 - I submitted the most beastly application I’ve ever completed.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">December, 2015 - I waited.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">January, 2016 - I waited some more.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">February 2016 - I waited a little longer, and then late in the month I learned that I was being considered for a finalist and that I would take part in a phone interview to discuss my application and project.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">March 2016 - I participated in my phone interview on March 2nd...and then I waited again.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">April 2016 - On April 5th, I received an email from the Department of State congratulating me on being selected for the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Program. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The time between April and now has been full of so many preparations. We had to: Find housing in Finland, find renters for our house in Minnesota, complete many house projects to be ready to rent our house, clean out closets and throw out a TON of stuff from our house, attend the Fulbright orientation in Washington D.C., visit the Finnish Embassy in person to secure our Finnish visas, research how to pack for an entire family for a five month trip abroad, find a long-term substitute for my teaching job, continue to declutter our house, make sure all of our prescriptions and doctor appointments were up to date, get credit cards with no international transaction fee, figure out how to buy Sunbutter for our 5 year old daughter, Ruthie, in Finland, find English schooling for both Ruthie, and our 3 year old daughter, Lydia, in Finland, make contact with the two youth choirs I will be working with during my stay, throw out more stuff from our house, and so on, and so on…</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now we are less than a week away from leaving and I can hardly believe it. I keep saying that I’m ready to finally get going, that this has been looming for so long and I’m anxious to rip the bandaid off and just DO THIS! But it strikes me every time I say it that I actually have no idea what all of this will be like. There is so much unknown. “The future is murky” has become my mantra - not only for my time in Finland, but also for what my life will look like after we return. I went into this thinking that the Fulbright was the final destination, but I have learned that for most people, the Fulbright is a stepping stone that opens many doors. And what are those doors for me? I have no idea. But the way everything has fallen into place at every step of the way gives me a sense of peace about the unknown. I’m confident that taking this wild risk is the right move for us to be taking, and good things will come from it, even if it is hard to know what that means. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana";"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">While I don't know what exactly lies ahead for me, here are a few things I am excited about and am looking forward to:</span></span></div>
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<li><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana";"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Seeing the Northern Lights.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana";"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Having a sauna in our house.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana";"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unplugging with my family for five months.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana";"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Visiting new countries - hopefully more than just Finland. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana";"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Learning how to live more simply.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana";"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Working closely with two world-renowned youth choirs: Tapiola and Vox Aurea. I can't wait to see what I learn!</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana";"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Going to Lapland to visit the REAL SANTA CLAUSE!!!! Maybe even staying in one of those glass igloos while we're at it...</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana";"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Being in Finland during 2017, which is the 100th anniversary of Finnish independence. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana";"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Experiencing life in a socialist country.</span></span></li>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One side note as we get ready to depart: Preparing to leave the country for five months has sure made us feel loved! It’s amazing how many people seem invested in this journey with us. All of the well wishes, help with the girls, requests for updates, people who are making us meals this week, friends who want to make sure to see us before we leave - all of it is amazing. It makes me so grateful to know that we have such a beautiful community of family and friends to return to on May 30th, 2017. Until then, we’ll be seeing all of you here on the blog, and on Facebook!</span></div>
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