Finnish Calender


Finnish pupils prepared calender pages to introduce life, Finnish culture and living environment around the year. Some examples of the calender pages are available.

TAMMIKUU - JANUARY

School started after Christmas on 7th of January. We had almost three weeks Christmas holiday. January is a long and dark moth. Days are very short. In the middle of January the time between sunrise and sunset is only for hours and a half. Many of us had cough and flu. Sanna was ill almost all January. Many pupils from our class went too see the Titanic-movie. It was great. Aleksi plays in an icehockey team and he had several games.

In January we made a teamwork titled: Who am I ?   We worked in groups and found out things about the parts of body, skeleton, breathing system, digestion and blood circulation.On art lessons we have made comedy and tragedy masks connected to our history subjects. On P.E lessons we have played basketball with only one basket. On February 13th there will be basketball competitions between different schools. We have skated, too. We think we are quite good ice-skating. The temperature in January changed a lot. One day it was -30 C degrees and next day it was near the zero and raining.

HELMIKUU - FEBRUARY

It was a cold month. We had a lot of snow. The temperatures varied usually between -10 and -30 C. On the first week of February we had guests from Germany and Sweden. The teachers from our partner schools visited us. Renate from Germany arrived by plane to Kemi airport and Conny and Margareta drove by car from Luulaja, they arrived there first by plane. It was really cold when they came, about -30 C. Our guests visited of course the Snow Castle and the Jewell Gallery. And they had also a reindeer drive. There they sat on the a reindeer sleigh and they had to have a lot of cloths on: overalls, boots, warm scarves, warm mittens and woolly hats. They visited the school every day and participated in the lessons. It was nice to have them here; welcome again.

In the end of February there was a skiing competition in our school. Quite many participated in that competition. The first three in every age group got golden, silver or bronze medals. The pupils in grade 3-4 had to ski 2 kilometres and in grade 5-6 they had to ski 3 kilometres. After skiing they had warm juice. And those who didn't ski watched the competition and supported them. On the 5th of  February the children who arrive school next autumn announced at school. They came with their parents to give some information for the next term. The local newspaper made a piece of news about that happening.

MAALISKUU - MARCH

The days are still getting longer. The sun often shines and it's nice and bright. The temperatures changed heavily. At nights it can be -30 C and in day time -5 C. We have a week's skiing holiday in Finnish schools in March. Many people go cross country skiing, downhill skiing or snowboarding to fells in Lapland.

Henry went to mount Ylläs, Henna went to Salla, Nea went Luosto, Jari and Janne went to Isosyöte with their families. These places are skiing resorts, with spas. Aleksi went to China with his family. It was really interesting. The rest of our class spent their holidays in Keminmaa.

Most of us visited the World's Greatest Snow Castle in Kemi. It's a of 30 000 inhabitants ten kilometres from our village. This was the third time the castle has been made there by the sea. There's a chapel, a restaurant, an art gallery, childrens world,an ice labyrinth and a stage for different performances. There is a quarter pipe for snowboarding, too. Already 300 000 tourists have visited Snow Castle this year.

One thing which is very popular among Finish winter activities ice fishing. We make a hole in the ice and fish through it. Many people think is a great fun sitting on the ice when the sun is shining and wait for the fish to grab the bait. Henry and Aleksi sometimes go ice fishing with their families. Aleksi got a perch and Henry five perches some time ago. Many real fishermen do winter fishing by drawing their nets under the ice in the rivers, lakes and sea. As you may know there are thousands of lakes in Finland and lots of rivers, too.

HUHTIKUU - APRIL

It isn't dark any more. The days are longer. The snow melts little by little. Still we can ski and it's nice because it's warmer and the sun shines. In the beginning of April many classes do small skiing trips. They have something to eat and drink with them for example sausages and juice.

We had Easter vacation on the 10th-13th of April. At Eastertide many people send Easter cards. Before Easter we grow Eastergrass and paint eggs. We have pussy willows in the vase on the table and often colourful feathers with them. Some children dress like witches a week before Easter and they visit from door to door saying a little poem and wishing Happy Easter. Often they also give a decorated pussy willow to the host and hostess. And the host and hostess give something good for example chocolate eggs, sweets and coins to the children. At Easter we eat roast mutton and "mämmi", which is a Finnish Easter pudding. It doesn't look nice but it tastes good.

TOUKOKUU - MAY

On the last night of April the students all over Finland celebrate the beginning of summer. The "Maiden of Finland" is a tall lady. In the south of Finland it's already summer at the beginning of May. Here in the north we still have some snow. The first of May is a labour festival. People have parades and many kinds of happy parties. Children have balloons, serpentines and noisy toys. Homes are decorated with funny balloons and serpentines. We drink mead and eat May Day fritters. We have great fun and look forward to the summer.

During the first week in May the snow melted quickly. The temperatures changed from 5 to 15 C degrees. Now we can go riding bikes, roller blading and roller skating again. The breaking of the ice on the river Kemijoki took place on May 10th this year. On Mother's Day May 10th there was a heavy thunderstorm and the rain melted away the last snow. We made lovely cards for our mothers at school. We always celebrate Mum's Day on the second Sunday in May. In the morning we make the breakfast and take it into the Mum's bedroom. We sing to her and give presents. Later we go to visit our grannies. This is one of the official flag-raising days in Finland.

In May the weather is already nice and warm. The days are long and light. On May 15th for example the sun rises before 4 a.m. and sets at 11 p.m. The long and dark winter is over. Most of the migrating birds are back again. We have seen many swans flying to the north. They are really beautiful birds. They nest in the wilderness of Lapland. The swan is the national bird of Finland.

On May 21st - 24th we have a holiday because the Ascension Day is on Thursday. The end of the spring term is hard because of many   tests we have at school but soon school is over and our summer holiday starts on June 1st. Welcome lovely summer! We wish relaxing and happy holidays to our Comenius partners, too.

KESÄKUU - JUNE  AND HEINÄKUU - JULY   

Now we have our summer holiday. The trees get leaves and flowers are blooming. In the end of June we have Midsummer celebration. On the Midsummer Eve we have a Midsummer bonfire. In Finnish it is "kokko". It is a pile made of old things for example boats, boards, branches and so on. On that day the sun won't set at all, it's very light all night long. People go and watch the sun in some high place for example a hill.After Midsummer the days will shorten little by little. Usually after Midsummer we start swimming time. The water is warm enough. In the river Kemijoki the water is always rather cold but it's refreshing.

In July Finland and Keminmaa are very beautiful. The flowers are blooming, everything is green, the sky is blue, the clouds are white and lakes and rivers are bright blue. We swim usually in the river Kemijoki or in the lake Kalli. Many of us ride a bike a lot in summertime and some play football or tennis or badminton. Of course it's nice to read books, not schoolbooks.

DEAR FRIENDS IN GERMANY, SWEDEN, DENMARK AND NORWAY, HAVE A NICE SUMMER HOLIDAY!!!

 
ELOKUU - AUGUST

The weather in August was unusually warm. The sun was shining and we could go swimming in the river Kemijoki and Kalli. Usually in summer we have a lot of mosquitoes. This summer was so dry that we only had a few mosquitoes. We were really lucky and so were the tourists camping on the fells and forests in Lapland.We started school on 13th of August. The weather was still lovely warm. Our class got a new, nice class teacher. Her name is Tarja Kotila. We made good promises for the new term to be nice and hardworking.

In August we have an annual Night Rowing Competition on the river Kemijoki. This year it was on Saturday night 9th of August. There were lots of people watching on the river banks. The boats from Keminmaa were competing with the boats from the neighbouring counties. Our neighbour Tornio won this time.

There was a fishing competition going on, too. People were fishing from the river banks with the fishing rods. There were different age groups. The best anglers got prizes. There was a weight lifting competition as well. Afterwards people were dancing and having a good time outdoors.

SYYSKUU - SEPTEMBER

Berries and mushrooms ripened. We picked blueberries and lingonberries. Here many people pick mushrooms and all kind of berries. In the beginning of  September we pick potatoes up, too. Children help with that work. Birds migrate and for example you can see swans resting on the fields or in the river. You can see even cranes. We had track and field competition of our school in the beginning of September. Anssi from our class won many sports among other things shot-put, long jump and running. Keminmaa jogging-event was in September. People jogged in Kalli hill.

On Saturday 24th of September we had a school day. Farmmarket was also in September. People sell there all kinds of products from the countryside. We made a field trip by bus to the northern part of Finland, Peera on the 17th - 21st of September. Some parents were with us and of course our class teacher Hannu Lantto was the boss of the trip. It was very nice and interesting. We slept in cottages and climbed up the fell. We visited also Norway.

LOKAKUU - OCTOBER

At the beginning of October the temperature was near the zero. In the middle of October we had our first snow. First it was sleeting. The snow was wet and we could make snowballs. We are not allowed to throw snowballs on the school yard during the breaks. Still some pupils do it every now and then. Teachers are angry about it and we have to stay after school. Such is life.

After some days of snowing everything looked so beautiful when the trees and bushes were white and frosty. There was about 10-15 cms snow on the ground. We were happy about it. We love snow and all winter activities. We can go cross-country skiing, skating and playing ice-hockey and ice-ball. There is a small slope at Kalli where we can go down-hill skiing and snowboarding.

The days are getting shorter and darker, again. On the 30th of October the sun rose at 8.06 a.m. and set at 4.08 p.m. But we don't mind because there are lots of electric lights everywhere. Sometimes we make snow castles and put candles inside them. They look great in the dark night! When it gets colder we can sometimes on cold and bright winter night see the Northern Lights. They are moving amazingly bright and colourful high up in the sky.

This year we had only two days autumn holiday on Thursday 23rd and Friday 24th of October. At that time the temperature  was about -15 - 20 C. There was some snow on the ground. Some boys from our class went snowboarding. Some of us went ice-skating. Nea and Tiina went to Levi fell. There is a skiing resort with a spa. They went swimming. Jenna went with her family on a boat cruise from Helsinki to Stockholm. Antti visited his granny. He told he made a hut in a tree. The others stayed at Keminmaa relaxing and having a good time with their friends.

MARRASKUU- NOVEMBER

It was very dark in November. We didn't see the sun every day. It snowed but it melted away again. On the first of November it was All Saint's Day. On that day people usually take memorial candles to the graveyard. They want to remember their dead relatives and friends.

We celebrated Father's Day on the 9th of November. It is always the second Sunday in November. On that day we gave the card made by ourselves to Dad and some presents. In the morning we made him breakfast and had some cake together.

In the middle of November we had a local radio program week in our commune. We had to make programs by ourselves. Ours told about Comenius and the correspondence between Germany, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and France. The pupils were interviewed about writing letters and studying foreign languages. Of course we had also a lot of music. The class teacher Hannu Lantto was at that time in Russia in Mujejärvi because we have also a forest project with some Finnish and Russian schools. He was there planning our project and introducing the schools there. Our headmaster phoned during the program and interviewed him about the journey.

JOULUKUU - DECEMBER

At Christmas we have lots of snow and it is the coldest time in Finland. Normally the temperature is about -15 - 30 C. Sometimes it can be even colder. Christmas time is the darkest time of the year in Finland. Then the sun does not shine at all. This time is called "kaamos". It starts at the beginning of November and lasts to the end of January. If the sky is clear and it is very cold we can see beautiful northern lights in the sky. These lights are colourful - emerald green, red, yellow and violet. It is really an amazing spectacle! Our winters are long, cold and dark but we want to emphasise that our summers are warm, light and really beautiful - only too short.

This year on the 6th of December we celebrated our 80th independence anniversary. This is why we had special independence celebration at school. We heard the speech of an old war veteran. He told about the hard times Finland had 80 years ago. We are really grateful and we appreciate the hard work and fight our ancestors carried out for us.

On the morning of Christmas Eve we go to the church. After that we eat rice porridge. Then we sing Christmas songs together. In the afternoon we have Christmas dinner and we enjoy our Christmas time. After that Santa Claus comes with his reindeers and gives presents to us. Then we open the presents and play with them. Then our parents have their own parties and kids go to the bed. Santa lives in Korvatunturi but he has an office on the Arctic circle in Rovaniemi. Rovaniemi is very close to Keminmaa.

We want to tell you something about Finland. There are about 5 million inhabitants in Finland. Our capital is Helsinki. Turku, Tampere, Jyväskylä and Helsinki are bigger cities, too. Finland is a republic and we are part of the European Union. Our president is Martti Ahtisaari.  There are large forests, thousands of lakes and many, many beautiful rivers in Finland. We often say our forests are "the green gold" of Finland. Wood industry is the main source of livelihood. We have some farming, too. Our country is well known for its rising high-technology.          

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