Let's Start at the Very Beginning

Today has been a busy day! We started with a Scandinavian style breakfast (aamiainen) spread with deli meats, oatmeal, yogurt, and blueberries. Different than my typical breakfast, but delicious! Lunch (lounas) included cabbage rolls, tomato-potato soup, salad, and brown bread. Dinner (paivallinen) included salmon, sausage, aoli, and naan bread with stuffed baked apples for dessert.

There are five students in the beginner level of Finnish, although one speaks quite a bit more than the rest of us. We started at the very beginning with the alphabet - keywords and letter sounds, just like Fundations. I could have used some picture cards! The teacher told us that once we learned the sounds, we would be able to read anything in Finnish within the hour! The words are long and every letter sound is pronounced. There are no silent letters and the sounds do not change, so that is helpful. I guess I can already work on fluency, but my comprehension is nearly nonexistent. We worked on greetings, asking each other's names and where we are from, and occupations. The word for teacher is "opettaja." 

We also learned the numbers. Here is my age in Finnish: neljakymmentakahdeksan. Can you guess how old I am? 

Needless to say, my brain was aching after about three and a half hours of class. Good thing we had breaks!

In between there was time for singing, crafts, and presentations on the Kalavala (epic Finnish poem) and Minnesota's iron ore labor strike in the early 1900s. Whew! 

This is the main building in Salolampi. Our classrooms are on the first floor, and the dining room is on the second floor.

These are the felt elf (huopatonttu) crafts that we made. I even had to use a needle and thread for hand stitching!  No seamstress would be impressed by my handiwork, but I still think he's pretty cute! Well, as I look at the photo, I realize that it is kind of hard to tell what they are...hmm.