Since December, all of the students in second year lukio (high school) have been learning traditional dances together after school. The second year students (like me) are one year younger than the graduating third year students. These students, called "Abi's" celebrated their graduation this past week. On Wednesday, they all dress up according to that year's theme and are allowed to 'make fun' of the younger students in the school. This includes drawing on faces with lipstick, demanding students to serve them food, making them sing songs or words of praise. If the younger students obey, the abi's give them candy.
Now, on Friday, the second year students (me) get to do the same thing to the younger students, since we are now the oldest in the school. I went around drawing "Kanada" on the foreheads of little students with red lipstick :)
The actual dances were on Thursday and Friday. Thursday night was a dance for the parents/families at the school. Here are 3 pictures from Thursday night. First is me and my dance partner, Tiina Lehti, who was a Rotary Exchange student to Brazil last year.
Here is a great shot of some of my good Finnish friends: (from left), me, Juha Leppänen, Simo Loikanen, and Jaakko Alanen.
This was taken during the second dance. There were 9 dances, including waltzes, a rag and a walk.
On Friday morning, we 'made-fun' of the younger kids and then danced for them at the school. After that, all of the dancers enjoyed a fine lunch at school together before heading to the "Suurhalli" or "large hall" in Lahti where all of Lahti's high schools dance together. The Suurhalli is huge, and there were so many people watching!
Here is a decent shot of our section of the Suurhalli. There were thousands of people in the stadium! I am actually in this picture at the left of center, facing left. This is also during the second dance.
One more from the Suurhalli, I am dancing with the girl in the gold dress, 2nd from the right. (Tiina had to leave after the second dance to go on the "abi cruise" where all the abi's go on a cruise to Stockholm, Sweden!)
After the Suurhalli dances, about 27 of us went to a nice restaurant for dinner. There were also a few 'free' dances after each dance session so I got the chance to ask some girls to dance :) although they are mainly for parents to dance with their kids.
These days were very special to me. It seemed like, for the first time, I had something in common with all the Finns, especially when dancing in the Suurhalli, with all the lukio students from Lahti. There was a great sense of achievement, since we learned all these dances over 2 and a half months, and there was also a great sense of community. We were the second-year students, the dancers. Everyone was focused on us for these dances, we were in the spotlight all together. I strengthened old relationships and made some new ones. And I feel more like a Finn than ever!
I'm speaking Finnish more and more all the time, I can say almost anything I want, albeit in a drawn-out manner sometimes. I can understand others better and better all the time. Things are good, and Canada feels so far away...
Stay tuned, I'll be posting some footage from the dances once I receive my Vanhat Tanssit DVD! I also have my video performance of "Finlandia" at my school's Independence Day assembly ready to post in the next few days!
2 comments:
Wohoo! :D Hienoja kuvia Dante! Todella upeeta, että osallistuit tansseihin. Moni vaihtari on varmasti samaa mieltä siun kanssa, että vanhojen tanssit on yksi parhaista kokemuksista vaihtovuoden aikana.
Simo here.
It's Loikkanen, not Loikanen. Nothing else to add there. :D
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