#5 - Bare Essentials and Dark Overtones
2/13/15
Among Finnish teachers and by American standards, I am overdressed by wearing khaki pants and anything outside the blue, brown or grey spectrum. The denim market is alive and well in Finland. The only time my attire was not noticeable was when I finally accepted one of the several invitations to “go to sauna” - a Finnish tradition. In Finland there is approximately one sauna for every five people. Essentially the experience consisted of fifteen minutes or less in a 200 degree room, a walk outside in the 30 degree cold, and repeat as necessary. When it was over, I wondered why I even wrestled with the decision in my head in the first place as it was quite refreshing, both mentally and physically.
Regarding daylight, there is very little of it here this time of the year. In many ways I feel like I have started winter all over again. It is in fact, coming to an end here in Helsinki and most Finns are looking forward with anticipation to longer and warmer days. According to timeanddate.com, at this time of the year Helsinki is gaining 5+ minutes of daylight everyday as oppose to Baltimore’s 2+ minutes. By the end of my four week stay I will have experienced more than a 90 minute increase in daylight!
Among Finnish teachers and by American standards, I am overdressed by wearing khaki pants and anything outside the blue, brown or grey spectrum. The denim market is alive and well in Finland. The only time my attire was not noticeable was when I finally accepted one of the several invitations to “go to sauna” - a Finnish tradition. In Finland there is approximately one sauna for every five people. Essentially the experience consisted of fifteen minutes or less in a 200 degree room, a walk outside in the 30 degree cold, and repeat as necessary. When it was over, I wondered why I even wrestled with the decision in my head in the first place as it was quite refreshing, both mentally and physically.
Regarding daylight, there is very little of it here this time of the year. In many ways I feel like I have started winter all over again. It is in fact, coming to an end here in Helsinki and most Finns are looking forward with anticipation to longer and warmer days. According to timeanddate.com, at this time of the year Helsinki is gaining 5+ minutes of daylight everyday as oppose to Baltimore’s 2+ minutes. By the end of my four week stay I will have experienced more than a 90 minute increase in daylight!
After meeting several teachers and sharing lesson ideas at my host school (Isokaari 19), an English teacher asked if I would be interested in sharing my Edgar Allan Poe unit to her seventh grade English class. Ironically, it was the same group of students that I was collaborating with in Art class. It was a great opportunity to get to know them individually.
The class was just learning poetry and specifically, how to rhyme words. Their ability to understand the biographical information and the story line of Poe’s, The Raven, was on par with my own seventh grade art students when I teach this art unit back home. The ability to write poetry, however, was understandably more of a challenge due to their comprehension of the English language - all students in Finnish schools take English, Swedish, and in most cases, an additional language in school. As I do with my students back home the students drew their interpretations of The Raven, while others put forth their best attempts at writing a poem that focused on rhyming words with, “more”, as in “Nevermore”.
This same teacher, Manna, later invited me to speak to her 2nd year (11th grade, 16-17 year old) class that focused on, Culture. With such a broad term, I asked what point or goal she would like me to focus on with the students; her response was simply; “I trust you”. She remarked that she liked what I did with the Edgar Allan Poe lesson, and that this would be a great opportunity for her students in the Culture course to have an American perspective. This was a bit more open-ended than I was comfortable with; however, I decided to use the occasion to speak about my own personal interests in media culture and how images can impact our perspectives on race, culture, and gender. As a side note, I was generally surprised at the willingness of the teachers to allow me to work with their students. I think most American educators would agree that the pressure to fill the school day with specific content would prevent them from allowing such an experience to occur in their own classroom.
During my presentation to the "Culture" class, the students remained silent and politely listened. I scanned the room from time to time to check for facial expressions that gave me a sense of their understanding. I left fifteen minutes at the end for open discussion and nervously waited to see if the whole lesson was a bust. I was fully aware that many of the images I presented were rooted in the context of American culture, and I was uncertain as to how much of the content would actually translate. One student raised his hand to comment and others followed suit.
The class was just learning poetry and specifically, how to rhyme words. Their ability to understand the biographical information and the story line of Poe’s, The Raven, was on par with my own seventh grade art students when I teach this art unit back home. The ability to write poetry, however, was understandably more of a challenge due to their comprehension of the English language - all students in Finnish schools take English, Swedish, and in most cases, an additional language in school. As I do with my students back home the students drew their interpretations of The Raven, while others put forth their best attempts at writing a poem that focused on rhyming words with, “more”, as in “Nevermore”.
This same teacher, Manna, later invited me to speak to her 2nd year (11th grade, 16-17 year old) class that focused on, Culture. With such a broad term, I asked what point or goal she would like me to focus on with the students; her response was simply; “I trust you”. She remarked that she liked what I did with the Edgar Allan Poe lesson, and that this would be a great opportunity for her students in the Culture course to have an American perspective. This was a bit more open-ended than I was comfortable with; however, I decided to use the occasion to speak about my own personal interests in media culture and how images can impact our perspectives on race, culture, and gender. As a side note, I was generally surprised at the willingness of the teachers to allow me to work with their students. I think most American educators would agree that the pressure to fill the school day with specific content would prevent them from allowing such an experience to occur in their own classroom.
During my presentation to the "Culture" class, the students remained silent and politely listened. I scanned the room from time to time to check for facial expressions that gave me a sense of their understanding. I left fifteen minutes at the end for open discussion and nervously waited to see if the whole lesson was a bust. I was fully aware that many of the images I presented were rooted in the context of American culture, and I was uncertain as to how much of the content would actually translate. One student raised his hand to comment and others followed suit.
The discussions were pleasantly enlightening, and at one point tense. One girl openly commented on the pressures to look and behave a certain way, and how imagery definitely dictated this behavior. Her comment was followed by a boy who stated that he believed Finnish women are treated more equally in terms of jobs and pay scale, unlike other countries. There was some strong opposition to his remarks from other female students and in particular, his teacher who asked if he honestly believed female teachers were paid more than their male counterparts.
The conversation shifted gears to the topic of race; specifically black representations. A student asked if the racial, stereotypical imagery still existed in American culture. I made references to current imagery and provided some historical context to names like the Redskins, Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben’s. The latter was familiar to the students and prompted one student to exclaim, “So Uncle Ben is not the owner of the company?” Apparently he was not the only one who shared this sentiment.
The students were aware of similar images within Finnish culture albeit, not of their negative undertones. Unbeknownst to me, there was a popular Finnish candy that had recently changed its name due to its negative connotations. Unfamiliar with this issue, the Finnish teacher led the discussion and asked the students what they thought, showing them images she quickly pulled from the internet. The former name of the candy was, “Negro Kiss” (translated) and included images on the packaging that are reminiscent of Americana, “Sambo” imagery. I was also informed that the candy was commonly referred to using an alternative word for “Negro”. While the name for this particular chocolate candy has since changed, the stereotypical imagery remains and is available at local stores. Similar imagery also exists with a popular, black licorice Finnish candy. My understanding from the discussion was that most Finns do not recognize the derogatory nature of these images, however many stated they could understand how it is or would be interpreted as negative.
The opportunity to speak to these students and hear their perceptions about race, culture and gender was invaluable. The students politely thanked me as they left the classroom and headed off to lunch. The teacher was also appreciative and shared a few insights about the student conversations; although our conversation ended abruptly when she realized she had lunch-duty. Even Finnish teachers are not immune to "duties"!
I packed my computer into my bag, looked around the empty room with a sense of satisfaction and made my way to door, only to find myself locked inside. The lock to the classroom door had tape on it so I assumed it was a bit finicky. However, after trying every combination of turning the handle and lock, I was having no luck. I was getting nervous and tried knocking. After a few minutes, I received knocks in return accompanied by giggles. This exchange continued for some time, and I realized that the giggling students on the other side had no ability to open the doors either without a teacher’s key card. Apparently, they were enjoying my predicament too much to not notify a teacher.
Ten frustrating minutes had passed before I realized there was button on the door. I pushed the button, turned the knob and was instantly faced with my hecklers. Apparently buttons on doors are common, the exception of course being my apartment. After being locked in the classroom it seemed like a good day to skip the public transit altogether and walked the five miles back to the apartment on a rare sunny day.
The conversation shifted gears to the topic of race; specifically black representations. A student asked if the racial, stereotypical imagery still existed in American culture. I made references to current imagery and provided some historical context to names like the Redskins, Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben’s. The latter was familiar to the students and prompted one student to exclaim, “So Uncle Ben is not the owner of the company?” Apparently he was not the only one who shared this sentiment.
The students were aware of similar images within Finnish culture albeit, not of their negative undertones. Unbeknownst to me, there was a popular Finnish candy that had recently changed its name due to its negative connotations. Unfamiliar with this issue, the Finnish teacher led the discussion and asked the students what they thought, showing them images she quickly pulled from the internet. The former name of the candy was, “Negro Kiss” (translated) and included images on the packaging that are reminiscent of Americana, “Sambo” imagery. I was also informed that the candy was commonly referred to using an alternative word for “Negro”. While the name for this particular chocolate candy has since changed, the stereotypical imagery remains and is available at local stores. Similar imagery also exists with a popular, black licorice Finnish candy. My understanding from the discussion was that most Finns do not recognize the derogatory nature of these images, however many stated they could understand how it is or would be interpreted as negative.
The opportunity to speak to these students and hear their perceptions about race, culture and gender was invaluable. The students politely thanked me as they left the classroom and headed off to lunch. The teacher was also appreciative and shared a few insights about the student conversations; although our conversation ended abruptly when she realized she had lunch-duty. Even Finnish teachers are not immune to "duties"!
I packed my computer into my bag, looked around the empty room with a sense of satisfaction and made my way to door, only to find myself locked inside. The lock to the classroom door had tape on it so I assumed it was a bit finicky. However, after trying every combination of turning the handle and lock, I was having no luck. I was getting nervous and tried knocking. After a few minutes, I received knocks in return accompanied by giggles. This exchange continued for some time, and I realized that the giggling students on the other side had no ability to open the doors either without a teacher’s key card. Apparently, they were enjoying my predicament too much to not notify a teacher.
Ten frustrating minutes had passed before I realized there was button on the door. I pushed the button, turned the knob and was instantly faced with my hecklers. Apparently buttons on doors are common, the exception of course being my apartment. After being locked in the classroom it seemed like a good day to skip the public transit altogether and walked the five miles back to the apartment on a rare sunny day.