Shrove Tuesday

Moi everyone!
The Czech group of students involving in the project Wirkko magazine have tried to find some information about this typical Finnish festival.
On Tuesday (21.2.2012) is Shrove Tuesday - Laskiaistiistai as the Finns call it.
While the Brazilians prepare themselves to the long Lent by doing their samba carnival, the Finns go sliding down snow-covered hills. Even if this catholic tradition has lost it's religious significance after the Reformation, this old custom still survives. Laskiainen is a real winter festival – the Finns get to play in the snow and see various winter sports....as long as there is any snow. This year there are piles of snow everywhere. If the Finns want to see kids celebrating Laskiainen, they go for example to Pyynikki. If the Finns want to see students´ Laskiainen, they go to 'Kaupinojan sauna' at Näsijärvi where the International and Sports section of Tamy is organizing a Winter Fun happening. There's downhill sliding, snow soccer, snow frisbee etc. and of course the possibility to go to the sauna and try the chilly water by swimming in the icehole! According to an old belief the Finns should be silent in the Shrove sauna if they want to escape the mosquitos in the coming summer. 
The food played (and still plays) a big role at the Shrove time. The table had to be full of fatty and rich food. Today Finns are still eating pea soup and Shrove buns or pancake with whipped cream, just like their medieval ancestors. Traditional Finnish Shrove buns are baked every Shrove Sunday (it is on 19 February this year). Others enjoy them with raspberry jam and whipped cream, others prefer almond paste and whipped cream.

According to www.finlandforum.org

In the Czech Republic people celebrate Shrovetide during the whole February especially in the southern Moravia and in the Highlands in „ Veselý kopec“ (Merry Hill) by special costume parades. People enjoy the days before the long fast for the Lent period. They go to parties, balls and do sports, too. There are food parties called „zabijačka“ to have a lot of pork feasts.

There is no special event in the Church of St. Jan Nepomucký on the Green Hill.

There are special services on Ash Wednesday in churches.

Our question is : „ Do you really celebrate Shrove Sunday in Jyväskylä, too ?

Jitka Stráská and students of the project COM-BP-2011-002

A short article about our presentation of the Finnish part of our EU Comenius project for students from prima to kvarta class

On the 21 December 2011 Natálie, David and Michaela met students from prima, sekunda,tercie and kvarta classes (more than 100 students) to share their experiences of our stay in the Finnish city of Jyväskylä, where we worked on our EU project with pupils from Kuokkala koulu.

David began the presentation with basic information about Finland and its capital city Helsinki.He talked about  interesting places which we had visited  and told funny stories which had happened during our stay in the beautiful northern country at partner school, at new Finnish home and while travelling there in November 2011.

Natálie went on and she talked about our flight from Prague to Helsinki Vantaa airport and journey by coach to Jyväskylä.Younger students could see pictures of our partner school called Kuokkala koulu. Natálie talked about school subjects, timetable, breaks, school canteen and afterschool activities.Which place of interest did the students really like ? The beautiful Old Church in Petäjävesi, which is the main focus of our project. The Old Church is on the list of the UNESCO World Heritage sites and our project deals with the importance of religious buildings (this church and the Church of St. Jan Nepomucký on the Green Hill) in the 21st century. Students visited the new church in Kuokkala, Suomenlinna fortress in Helsinki and Alvar Aalto´s museum  near the city centre in Jyväskylä. Natálie talked enthusiastically about various kinds of free time activities. She mentioned evenings with Finnish partners in their homes, where they played various plays and games, talked, danced and listened to music, watched DVDs and worked on computers. All students spoke English but of course, they tried to introduce and teach one another their own languages. Students met Pavel Skrbek, a Czech ice-hockey player in Jyväskylä , after a match with Helsinki ice-hockey club.

All students enjoyed Home economics class because they together  made delicious pancakes and offered them to the teachers of the school as well as the headmaster.

At the end of the presentation Michaela introduced herself in the Finnish language and younger students could see how difficult and beautiful the  language is.

 In the end Mrs Stráská thanked Natálie, David and Michaela for their presentation. She spoke about the importance of learning English as it is the  language of international communication which enables its speakers to meet different cultures, find new friends and broaden their minds. The presentation showed that Czech students really enjoyed their stay and work in Finland.

The students of lower grades liked the presentation and we hope that in the future they will participate in similar Comenius Lifelong learning programmes.

Natálie Zelinková

Jitka Stráská

The Mass at the Church of St. John Nepomuk on the Green Hill on 31 st December 2011

The festive ceremony was unforgettable for its fabulous atmosphere. The church was full of people from Žďár nad Sázavou, Nové Město na Moravě and also from villages nearby.

After the mass the Czech national anthem, the European Union anthem and the carol ´Christ the Saviour was born´ were played. At midnight all people gathered in front of the Church to welcome the New Year.

Vladimír Vojtěch Záleský and  Jitka Stráská

Hello!

We are 11 Finns and 11 Czechs doing a project on two old churches on the World Heritage List of UNESCO. Czechs came here in Finland on the 30^th of October 2011. They are staying here till the 10^th of November and they are examining the Finnish church in Petäjävesi. Next fall the Finns are going to the Czech Republic.We have had very good time together and already somewhat know each other. The Czechs think that things like Finnish nature and food have been very interesting. We'll see what the Finns say about Czech culture next year. This blog is about the project and everything that it has to do with (our meetings, the events we go to together). Feel free to read the blog and comment! We will really appreciate it.

Noora and Bĕtka