Finnish Independence

December has been a very busy month for me therefore the posts will be coming a little later than the events themselves.

On December the 4th the Finnish kids at the school celebrated the Finnish independence that was on December the 6th. I was in charge of raising the Finnish flag together with another IB2. Our one rule was not to get the flag stuck between the rope and the pole and we practiced for it the day before. Everything went perfectly during the practice the day before but on the actual event we, of course, succeeded in getting the flag stuck between the pole and the rope. The rest of the celebrations went great and I together with another student performed Finnish "sanalaskuja" as a part of the celebration. Väinämöinen and Aino were hosts ended the celebrations with inviting everyone to eat morning porridge together.

Swiss jump

During the Waterloo market this autumn we received a free trial at Swiss jump Waterloo which is a kind of exercise session on trampolines where you train the whole body. The workouts are fun and challenging and after the first try I have continued going there every Wednesday. If you have the chance to try something similar you should as this is a very fun way of working out and suits all kinds of different people, both men and women, at our practices the age and gender group is quite mixed. Read more about Swiss jump here.

Nordic Christmas calendars

Last week I helped out at an event here at the school where all the nordic Christmas tv calendars premiered.  There were a few hundred kids with their parents who came to see the December 1st episodes. In one room the Finnish and Norwegian calendars played and in another room the Swedish and Danish. During the night popcorn, hotdogs and gingerbread were served and a letter corner was set up for the kids to send personal letters or pictures to the tv channels of all the different countries.

The director of the Finnish christmas calendar personally attended the event and I think the calendar this year is a funny story and definitely worth watching. The Swedish calendar is a good idea with involving education in the calendar and telling the history of Christmas. The Danish Christmas calendar seemed very adventurous and had the perfect christmas mystery plot. The Norwegian calendar has received a lot of criticism from the Norwegians who prefer the traditional Christmas calendars about the blue and red Christmas elves in the mountains. But apparently the new calendar was not a disappointment even though it was a break from the traditions.

Finnish Calendar: Kadonneiden lahjojen tapaus Watch here

Danish Calendar: Absalons Hemmelighed (2006) Watch here

Norwegian Calendar: Julekongen Watch here

 Swedish Calendar: Tusen år till Julafton Watch here

Another day off school

Today was the second day all Brussels area schools were closed due to the threat level in Brussels being at its highest, 4/4 and the government wanted to minimize the risk of something happening and therefore closed the schools Monday-Tuesday to not have as many people in the traffic. It feels surreal that drastic measurements like this have to be taken and I never imagined having to stay home from school due to terrorism and fear of attacks happening. Our principal was on Swedish television commenting the situation.

    Here in Waterloo there has been no direct threat. We have been living our lives as normal. Shops are open and we even went to the movie theatre to watch the newest Hungergames movie. But inside Brussels the situation is slightly different as the city is under lockdown. There are military patrolling the streets and police everywhere and several shops and restaurants will be closed until Monday in addition to all major events being cancelled. In Waterloo there has been more security than usual, police are driving around and I was forced to leave my backpack at the entrance when I went to the supermarket. 

    What I feel is most important is that we don't live in fear. We feel safe here at the castle and I do not worry at all that anything would happen here at our boarding and school. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3331781/Soldiers-stay-streets-Brussels-WEEK-schools-metro-remain-closed-terror-attack-fears-EU-staff-warned-stay-home.html

Danish Christmas market

Annually the danes host a Danish Christmas market at the school campus. Several thousands come to shop all the Christmas essentials like different foods and decorations. The sports hall was filled with booths where you could buy or eat anything that had to do with the Danish Christmas traditions. The event really got the christmas spirit going.

This year though the market was slightly different because of the raised threat level in Belgium from 3/4 to 4/4. Armed police were patrolling the whole campus, even up in the corridor right outside my bedroom and police were stationed in the window above the main entrance. We were not especially under a threat but as it was a big event precautions had to be taken.

A moment of silence

For the events that happened this Friday we had a moment of silence for the victims of the Paris attacks, at the school. Students dressed in black and lit candles. During the moment of silence it started raining, students stood in the rain and hugged each other. Living only a couple of hours away from the place of the events feels strange as it is so close.

Condolences to all those who lost their lives, friends or families this weekend.

Cinema Wellington

In Waterloo there is a small cinema where we sometimes go to watch movies. The tickets are much cheaper than in Finland, for instance last week when I went to the movies with a couple of friends, we payed 4€ for the tickets. There is one problem though. The Belgians tend to dub the english movies and the original movies in english are only shown at certain times during the week.

School trip part 4

On Friday morning we packed our things and left the hostel in Luxembourg. After a few hours in the bus we arrived at an adventure park in northern France where we got to climb up a hill and conquer obstacles up in the trees. After that we drove back home to SSB.

School trip part 3

After visiting the Maginot line on Thursday we went back to Luxembourg. There we got a tour around the city to learn about the history of Luxembourg city.
     The whole city is built on a hill and is surrounded by fortresses. The oldest parts of the fortresses date back to the roman times. Under the whole city there are casemates, which are old tunnels built in the mountain in order to be able to protect the city. Soldiers would stand inside the casemates and could see the enemies before they saw the soldiers.
     One of the things I found interesting was the myth of Melusina:

In the beginning when there was nothing on the hills of Luxembourg, a man called Siegfried decided the place was so beautiful that he decided to settle there. Others thought Siegfried was a fool deciding to live in the middle of nowhere and told him he would never find a soulmate out in the wilderness. 

But one day when Siegfried sat on the mountains he heard the most beautiful singing from the river down below. He went down to see who it was and discovered the voice belonged to a beautiful lady who was sitting on a rock in the middle of the river. 

Siegfried fell in love instantly and asked the girl to take his hand in marriage. The lady, who had introduced herself as Melusina agreed to marry him on the condition that she would be left alone every Saturday. 

Siegfried agreed to the conditions and the couple got married and had several children and lived happily. Melusina was left alone every Saturday and all was well. Until one day... 

Siegfrieds friends had started wondering what Melusina was doing every Saturday locked up in her room and confronted him about it. Siegfried claimed it was none of his business and he trusted his wife fully. But the doubt was planted in his head and he too became suspicious. 

Therefore, on a Saturday, while Melusina was locked up in her room Siegfried went to see what she was doing. When he looked through the keyhole in the door he let out a scream, for Melusina had a shiny long fishtail. Melusina heard the scream and realised that Siegfried had discovered her secret. Melusina jumped up and went out and dissappeared into the river forever.

Although Melusina disappeared into the river she still loved her city and swore to protect it. Now and then when the city has been in danger, a woman in a white dress has been seen walking on the walls of the fortress and waking up the guards when enemies have been approaching.