On the top.. or are we?

I've been doing some research of Finnish education. 

'' Finland has become the go-to place for education reformers all around the world '' was said in one article  I read. '' What the U.S. can’t learn from Finland about ed reform '' I am a finn but I never knew that in Finland education is that quality and I didn't have anything to compere to. 
I found a list of things that are good in Finnish education: Well-being of children, funding of schools, education as a human right. 

In my opinion we Finns are very lucky people because in Finland comprehensive school is possible to everyone. Education is possible to everyone no matter your background. We don’t have to pay for our education either so it doesn't matter if your family is poor because you can and you still have to educate yourself. After comprehensive school you can do what ever you want to do but of course there are different limits on that also. You can go to work but nowadays it is very hard to find a job where you wouldn't need any education except comprehensive school. Most people apply to some high school or trade school where education takes usually three or four years. After high school or trade school you can go work or educate yourself more. In Finland many children usually want to be a doctor, a vet or a teacher. Those careers are very respected and require high education.

Finnish children start school at the age of seven. That age than in England for example. But in my opinion that is maybe the best age when a child can go to school because she or he is mentally and physically ready. I don't think that a four- or five-year-old child is that ready yet. There was one article: '' What Makes Finnish Kids So Smart? '' There were few facts about Finnish kids: that Finnish teen are among the smartest in the world, the Finns won attention with their performances in triennial tests sponsored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group funded by 30 countries that monitors social and economic trends,  Finnish youth, like their U.S. counterparts, also waste hours online. They dye their hair, love sarcasm and listen to rap and heavy metal.

Even though our school days aren't that long comparing to other countries, it doesn't mean that we are lazing around. In many other countries they have cheerleading groups, football teams, orchestras etc. But in Finland we don't have that kind of hobbies at school but we do those things in our free time. And that's one thing that makes our school days shorter. 

 I think one thing that affects having enough strength to get through whole semester is our long summer holiday and other shorter holidays for example Christmas holiday and autumn holiday. Our summer holiday lasts two and a half months so it's a very long holiday. Many young people have a summer job which means that we don’t just lie on the beach our whole holiday we are also working. But of course we do have a lot of free time. 

Finnish Street dance Championships

Last week's Friday I went to Tampere to compete at the Finnish championships. We drove there by car with some of my dance crew dancers Siri, Oona, Ida, Sofia and Emma. I was very excited because this competition was something I had waited for a long time and trained a lot.

When we were at Tampere we went to sports hall called Pirkkahalli where the competition was arranged. We didn't have any competitions on Friday but there were already competitions on. So we went to watching them. There were really good dancers. It was really amazing to see so many people who love dancing as much as I do. At 8 o'clock we went to our dance teacher’s cottage to train even more and to sleep because the next day we had to wake-up at 5.30 o'clock because our competition started so early. Here is a photo of the cottage where we slept... we didn't have that much space.

 There was a lot of audience as you can see.

Here are some photos from the competitions.

Our dances went well. I am really proud of myself and our whole crew. In the showcase category we came 9^th out of 50 group. And in the formation category 12^th out of 30. And with showcase we won circa 40 crews and those who were at the top 6 were all almost professionals or almost professionals. It was really amazing to get that far!

Rainy or was it sunny?

Last week the weather was strange, it has been really warm and sunny but the next day it could be cold, dark and rainy. I started to think if the weather really affects to our moods significantly? Well I can't tell you the right answer but I've noticed that it really does affect to my mood because when it was sunny, bright and warm I felt happy but the next day when it was cold, rainy and dark I wasn't feeling so happy infact I felt miserable.. What do you think, does the weather really impact our moods? 

It's raining men!... hopefully not.