Arrived in USA around 4:30PM Sunday

Arrived at JFK on schedule.  On the plane we had to fill out a form declaring any items we bought in Finland.  We had to wait in line to go through border control where US workers reviewed our form and asked questions about where we were and what we purchased.  The officer stamped the form and sent us on to baggage claim.

Mr. Palella offered to play his kantalele for the officer :).

We picked up our luggage and waited in a customs line where the officer asked more questions about what we were carrying.  He did ask me what I had in a shopping bag, and I had to confess that is was just full of chocolate!  At the airport in Finland, I still had a little currency in euros, so I needed to spend it before coming back to the US.  I bought CHOCOLATE, very yummy!

I guess he thought it way okay, because he let me come back into the country.  I would not enjoy living in the airport.

Our flight from JFK to Rochester was delayed, but for only an hour.  We were in a line of 25 planes waiting for take-off.  Patience is a virtue -- and chocolate makes everything better.

Finally arrived in Rochester around 11:10PM.  Feeling bittersweet, happy to be home, but sad to leave behind such an incredible experience and new friends.

I'll see you soon -- enjoy the rest of your summer.

Coming home . . . .

We spent a lovely day back in the city of Helsinki on Saturday.  There were other participants from our world village music here as well.  We all met for dinner and a walk around the city and park.

There was Ingrid from Norway, Kelly and Martha from the United States and then we ran into to Olga from Russia along the street and Danielle and her husband in the park.  Danielle has just moved to Finland this week from Toronto Canada.

Today we will be flying home.  It will be a very long trip.  We begin by leaving the hotel in Helsinki at 11AM by taxi to the airport.  Our flight leaves Helsinki at 17:15 (5:15PM here in Finland, but 10:15AM Eastern Standard time in New York).  We are scheduled to arrive New York (JFK airport) around 15:50 PM (3:50PM).  So, if you're thinking I made a mistake in the times, because how could it be possible to get home before we leave . . . .  do you remember the time zone difference for Finland?  Add 7 hours going and subtract 7 hours coming home. Can you figure out how long we will be on the plane?

Taxi to train station with Martha, Ingrid, Katherine, Rosie, and yours truly.   In the front of the van rode, Mr. Palella, Kelly and IJ.

At the train station in Valkeala.  Although I don't speak or read Finnish, most of the signs are in Finnish and English.

Train station in Helsinki

Birch trees in Finland grow much taller than in the Northeast part of the US.

Our last evening at the music village we had a wonderful dinner with all of our new friends from around the world.  Well, let me correct myself, this was supper (10:00PM), we had already had dinner at 6:00PM.  We were all commenting on how many meals we were served.  Although, it was actually very thoughtful of them, as they were thinking of the participants adjusting from many time zones.

Mr. Pallella, Kelly Jackson (a very nice music teacher from Atlanta) and I taught the group the American Folk song and dance, "Alabama Gal".

The group from Hong Kong taught us a song and dance from their country.

The Finnish had a couple of groups that told wonderful stories through song and dance.  Some of them I will be bringing back for you to learn.

This is a photo our kantale instructor Outi Sane, she is a wonderful musician.  Outi is with her 13 year old daughter, Ismaila (who also plays the instrument very well).  Mr. Palella and I feel very fortunate to have been able to learn from her!







The two ladies (Rosie and Katherine) from Great Britain performed the song "Soldier, Soldier".  It was very very funny.
This is a song that Mitzie Collins sings for 4th grade pioneer day.

We also learned a dance called the Mazurka -- by our Czechoslovakian instructor.
The mazurka is a beautiful piece of music and the dance is done with couples in a circle.  I have been playing Chopin (Polish composer) mazurka's recently on piano.  So perhaps, I can teach the mazurka this year as I play it for you in class.

We heard from several other groups and enjoyed the cultural music from around the world.

Our time here at World Village in Valkeala Finland has come to an end.  It was been a wonderful international music program.  Here are a couple of photos with some of my new friends from around the world.  We are getting back on the train this morning to Helsinki.  I have so many photos, but it takes too long to upload them all.

New friends from Hong Kong

 New Friends from Australia

Friends from Finland

Hot to Cold -- Berries along the road

More photos for you of the Finnish Sauna . . . . .

The sauna felt extremely hot last night, I must be getting wimpy -- the tips of my ears felt like they were burning and my hair was hot!  I was told I felt warmer this time because I went to sauna later.  I guess that makes sense, the fire had been going for hours.

Here is a photo of where we are staying.  Again, this is a a boarding school for high school students in this area.  It is really lovely.












The outside of the sauna . . .

 It faces the beautiful lake so you can jump in the lake after you are finished.

Inside the sauna.  There are three rooms.  A changing room (no photo) and the room pictured on the left is where you wash off before going into the "hot steam" room.
The colorful buckets are what you dip into the barrels of water and pour on your self.  There is a hot water barrel and a cold water barrel.
I had a little trouble mixing for a comfortable temperature.  Never appreciated how easy it is to adjust the temperature of water coming out of the shower or faucet.


Now you are ready to sit in the "hot steam" room.  The benches are where you sit and there is also a bucket for you to occasionally toss water on the heated rocks to generate more steam.  Just in case you're not hot enough (ha ha).  The washcloth consists of a bunch of branch from the nearby birch tree.

Picking raspberries with Hanna on our walk through the forest.  I started to tell her about picking berries with my daughter and she couldn't believe that we had to pay for berries.  She asked "don't you just go to the woods and pick them?"  I wish we were that fortunate!

Gliding over Finland

Getting encouragement from my new Finnish friend.

Putting on a parachute and learning how to pull the chord. (for emergency only)

Buckle up (not so easy)

I was told not to touch the control stick in the middle (Okay, no problem!)

Finnish countryside

More of the Finnish scenery - note the wing in left corner

Farm

Gliding through the air -- an incredible feeling!

Finnish Style

The young Finnish ladies dress in adorable dresses!  

Music Music Music

I began the day with porridge and berries!  Very tasty..... sounds like something from "Goldilocks and the Three Bears".

This week I will enjoy being the student.
This morning a teacher from the Czech Republic taught us some folk songs from her country.  We used stones as rhythmic instruments as well as chairs.

If you're wondering how we made music with stones and chairs, you'll have to wait until September to find out. :)

We worked more on african drumming today with an instructor from Senegal.  Senegal is on the continent of Africa.  The rhythms are fun to play, but tricky!  I need to practice them before I can teach them to you this fall.









We then went to a couple other classes where we worked with music that we will be hearing in concert this evening.  The singers are a group of Finnish women called "Philomela".  We heard a little sample of their music and they are excellent.  I can't wait to hear their performance later.

Just returned from Philomela's performance of "Time of the Wolf".  The performers were lined up and we (the audience) had to walk through them as they were singing to enter the room.  The chairs were set up randomly in the performance room in groups of two, facing different directions.
The performers sang walking around and through the audience.  It was live surround sound.  They also sang a cappella (without any instruments).  It was an exceptional performance and a very emotional experience.

Kantele -- Dinner - Sauna -- Supper

 Today we had our first lesson on the Finnish Kantele.  There are several options and I chose the Kantele with 5 strings.
We learned how to play a couple of chords and a Finnish folk song.
This is something you will be seeing me actually play in the music classroom next year.  (Unlike the Balalaika from Russia).
Mr. Palella chose the 11 string Kantele.

Practice time, between dinner and supper (yes, they have both here in Finland).
The people I am with are from Australia and they wanted to play and sing American Folk Songs.







In between our dinner and supper was our time for the traditional Finnish sauna.  The sauna is a heated steam bath. The tradition is to sit in the hot room, occasionally tossing water on rocks to generate steam heat.  The sauna is following by a jump in the lake.  It was actually very relaxing and the jump in the lake was refreshing (the air temp was around 60 degrees tonight).

Note:  When I say 60 degrees, I mean fahrenheit.  Finland uses the metric system, so the air temperature is measured in celsius.    Yet another conversion one needs to make when traveling.  What would 60 degrees be in celsius?

We returned to have "supper" waiting for us (8:00PM).  My goodness, it seems like we are eating all of the time.  The food options for supper were:

Yogurt, cheese, cereal, rolls, lunch meat, pickles.

Side note:  Mr. Palella saw a snake on a walk, and took a photo.  We learned later that the snake was poisonous!  (Everyone is fine - including the snake sunning itself on the rock by the lake)

Time for sleep . . . . . .  (10:00PM here)

What do they eat in Finland?

Tonight's dinner menu was listed as follows:

The "game stew" is to the right with mashed potatoes on the left.

This is Jukka ("J" is pronounced like "y" -- "you-ka").  He is eating the game stew in the traditional way.
The mashed potatoes are in the bottom, with the stew in the middle and the berries on the top.

Can you guess what kind of meat is in the "game stew"?

Ateria (Meal)

We had a wonderful meal (Ateria) last night.

Smoked salmon (very delicious, the best I've ever had), mushroom salad, bread, cheese and a blueberry desert!

I was told the mushrooms and blueberries were picked in woods nearby.  (Sounds the the german folk tale Hansel and Gretel)

I had dinner with people from Finland and Hong Kong!

Mr. Palella at his dinner table.

Feels like home . . .

This morning we checked out of the hotel in Helsinki and walked with our luggage down cobblestone roads about 5 city blocks to the train station.
I was doing pretty well with my one very large suitcase and smaller carry-on bag.
As soon as we got on the train, which was not as easy as one might think . . . the narrow doors were continually closing on us as we were attempted to haul our luggage over the gap between the sidewalk and train.  Then, we had to carry them up stairs to the second level.  This stairway workout continued as we boarded the bus in Kouluva.  I should have been lifting weights in preparation for this trip, or packed lighter :).

Despite the difficulty lifting the bags up and down stairs, the train ride was wonderful.  We saw many towns and had a chance to see the Finnish countryside.  During this ride, I was thinking of my grandmother and her family that immigrated from Finland.   The more I hear the language, see the people and sights, and taste the food . . . . . more memories of my grandmother and family flood through my mind.  I feel like I'm home -- it's very comfortable and familiar here.

I can see why my family immigrated to northern Michigan.  It is very similar to the countryside here in FInland.

At the bus station, we met with several other people who were here for the world village.  We have teachers here from Hong Kong, Norway, Russia, Great Britain (not England), Australia, Finland (of course) and I know I'm missing a few others.

We are staying in a high school boarding school that was funded to provide an opportunity for children to have an education here in the countryside.  Although it was raining, it's quite lovely here.  I'm looking forward to seeing more of the lake and nature trails this week.

I feel like I'm back in college.  We are staying in dorm rooms, and I'm sharing mine with a teacher from the state of Arkansas.  She is in manages of all the music and art teachers in her school district.  We each have our own room, but are sharing a bathroom.  It's been a long time since I've lived in a dorm room.

I love taking classes and learning new things to bring back to all of you at Village Elementary!  So, I am the student here, hosted by the group of people from Finland below:  (They are speaking English   -- thank goodness)

Well, it's 12:30AM here in Finland and I better try and get some sleep before our 8:00AM breakfast tomorrow.
Goodnight . . . 

Dancing in the street

We saw a string quartet playing on a street corner and a young Finnish girl began dancing!

 

We arrived in Helsinki, Finland at 8:15AM (that's 1:15AM, for those of you subtracting the 7 hours time difference).  My clothes were a bit wrinkled after sitting and sleeping in them on the plane for over 8 hours.  

We had to go through customs, where security officers from Finland reviewed our passports and questioned us before allowing us to enter their country.  The guard asked questions about where I live, then wanted to know where I was going, and how long I was planning on staying.

After being reviewed by customs, it was time to pick up luggage at baggage claim.  I was very happy to see my luggage come off the conveyor belt.  My daughter Sarah, had her first experience with lost luggage at 3 years of age.  (Don't worry that didn't stop her as she is leading a group of volunteers to build homes in El Salvador this week -- Where would you find El Salvador?  Which continent?)

We found an ATM, so we could get cash in Finnish currency, they do not use American dollars.  Finland currency is the euro.  One U.S. dollar is worth 76 cents in euro.  

Quite pretty, don't you think?

I checked-in to the hotel, dropped off my luggage because my room was not ready. Arrived at the hotel around 10:00AM (What time in New York?  hint . . .subtract 7) and the employees were still cleaning the rooms from the previous guests.  Since I was trying to adjust to the time zone change, we decided it is best to stay up and power

 through the day.

Hotel Kamp

Here are some photos of some of the things we saw today:

Helsinki Cathedral 

The organ pipes inside the cathedral.

 We walked up 40+ stairs to see the inside of this cathedral 3 times -- the first time we couldn't go in because they were having a church services.  The second time we couldn't go in because there was a baptism.  Finally, the third time was a charm!  It must have been just right, because we also were able to hear the organist practicing.  What an incredible sound!

Looking down on the square from the cathedral

Strawberries are still in season, and they are sweet and delicious.

There were some high fashion shoe stores (these shoes were "on sale' for over $300 american dollars).  Can you imagine spending that much money on a pair of shoes?

 Finally, Mr. Palella and I decided to eat at a restaurant set up like an old logging site with traditional Finnish meals.  The best part was the Finnish ice cream. . . a small scoop of vanilla with licorice flavoring, drizzled with berries -- excellent!  (I guess ice cream is always a favorite)

Desert time!

Inside the Savotta Restaurant

Well, it's now 9:00PM (What time in New York?) and I better get to sleep or I'll never get up in time for the train adventure tomorrow to begin our music conference .  . . . .