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ACTIVITIES IN FINLAND
The 5th LTTA will be organized by the northernmost partner in Lappeenranta. Finland is a country with long and cold winter period, which has not only shaped our physical existence but has also had a strong influence on our culture. Survival in extreme weather conditions has placed a strain on our very existence, and our cultural practises and customs have been created mostly to serve that purpose.
The second aspect that has had a strong influence on our heritage is the fact that the whole country has been a battlefield between Sweden and Russia. We were first ruled by the Swedish for more than six hundred years and after that by the Russians about a hundred. Culturally this has determined Finland as a mixture between eastern (ie. Slavic) and western (ie. Scandinavian) traditions. Lappeenranta is located by the Russian border in the South-East. Consequently, our cultural values and traditions have been more strongly influenced by the eastern practices.
Our plan is to introduce our partners to the special characters of our area through organizing the meeting in winter time. We will show our partners traditional winter activities. They will consist of both outdoor sports and indoor chores that consisted of different types crafts and, of course, of preparing the daily meals. Partners will be able to walk on a frozen lake and perhaps even ski, skate and have a ride on sleigh carousel or a kick sleigh. Furthermore, we will try to offer a chance to see a local ice hockey match. Partners will also learn to prepare a Finnish semla, a traditional sweet treat eaten in February. Also we will acquaint our partners with traditional housing through visiting a merchant’s house whose founder was originally a freed slave from Russia. Another very typical aspect of Finnish housing tradition is the sauna. A visit to a sauna will definitely be part of our programme.
Finland coordinates the making of a booklet about National Costumes. We plan to release the booklet in Finland and organise an activity where partners can show their costumes and even perform an easy folk dance, letkajenkka or similar, wearing the costumes.
These activities are related to regular activities in Lauritsala school as during the winter time, most typically in February, sports lessons consist of skiing, skating and sleighing as well as ice hockey and similar games on ice. Furthermore, in home economics lessons our students learn to bake traditional dishes like Finnish semla. Similarly, they visit museums during history lessons. During our LTTA we try to involve as many as possible from Lauritsala school in the programme.
After the LTTA we expect our partners to be more familiar with the conditions where we live and where our school operates. We also believe strongly that have been able to find similarities and differences in relation to their own traditional background.
The activity also includes teachers' meetings to plan, talk about possible problems and evaluate.