Finnish teens

The title says it all, basically. Except for Andy G, we’re all Finnish teens in BigColafor21. But what is it like being a teenager in Finland? First we read texts about teen life in countries like Argentina, the US, Italy and Australia. After that it was our turn to tell the rest of the world about Finnish teens (that’s us). You'll find some really nice texts here, so be sure to check them out!

How do you spend your free time?

- Every week I go to school and waste a lot of time there. Foolish. After school I watch TV, listen to music, play video games, read, draw or write.

What are your hobbies?

- I don't really have any hobbies, but last year I bought a skateboard and tried to practise, but the weather was always bad and there aren't many places nearby with great places to skate. So, I'm trying again this year and I hope I don't fall too many times.

Do you get pocket money?

- No, but I get stuff. For example I cleaned our whole apartment and my mom bought me two CD's from my favorite artist online.

How is school life for you?

- Well, I'm going to be honest here: school sucks. But let me explain a little; I like to come to school and chat with friends and be with people, but the classes... Man, if only I could be the one to decide what subjects we are having in our school, nobody would ever even think of staying home because school is stupid and boring and my Xbox is nice. (But after all we would actually have a video game class.)

What do you worry about? What are the biggest pressures in your city?

- I have to worry about school, studying, pets, mom, brother and keeping the house up. That's a lot of stuff. And I also have to worry about myself, because I might be sick, but the only way to find out is to get some bloodwork done and man... I have a serious problem with needles. But enough with me. The other teens don't really worry so much as I do, or at least I don't know about it if they do. Eveyone wants to blend in, be a part of ”the group”. But to do that, they have to change a lot. And when they do, they become something else, they are not themselves anymore. That's why I don't want to blend in, and I'm trying to be me as much as I can.

Are you proud of your country?

- Honestly? No, not really. I mean, Finland is cool and everything's supposed to be fine here, but I just don't like this country made of men with beer bellies. I'm planning to move to the USA when I have the money to do so. And all because it would be nice to live in a place where the temperature outside is just a little bit warmer.

What do you think about the stereotype of teens in your country? Do you agree?

- Well, what I have heard from the interwebs is that some people think that we don't have any cultural knowledge. Once someone asked me in a chatroom that 'how can you own a computer? Aren't you people in Finland very poor?' And another chatroom, another time, someone asked me if we had polar bears walking around. I just laughed my butt off!

What is your ambition? What would you like to do when you're older?

- My ambition is to have a life that someone will respect when I'm gone. My dream job is tattooing, and running a tattoo shop.

Michelle Iron

I spend my free time mostly at home. I don’t have hobbies. I get on well with my parents. School life is okay. I think the stereotype of teens in my country is that they use drugs. I have visited many other countries, including Estonia, Sweden, England and India.

Paul Woods

My hobbies are listening music. Like pop, rock… I like movies, drawing, singing and sleeping. I go to gym one or two times in a week. In the summer I go cycling with my mum or my friends.

I don’t get any regular pocket money, but sometimes mum gives me money, if I go to a movie theater.

I’m in the eighth grade now. I started primary school when I was seven. Secondary school started when I was 13.

I agree with Sinead what she said about teens’ pressure of clothes and everything like that. Too many teens choose their friends by looks and that makes them feel the pressure.

Charlotta Snowhill

How do you spend your free time?

- I often go to a city nearby with my friends and when I’m home my favorite thing to do is reading and watching movies, I also love coocking and baking. And I have two dogs.

What are your hobbies?

- My hobbies are riding, reading and down-hill skiing. I started skiing when I was three and riding when I was seven. I hated reading ‘til I was 10 or 11 but then I read a very good book and now I’m reading all the time.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of living in your town?

- It’s a really safe and quiet town to live and grow-up. The bad thing is that Kangasala is far away from all the action. The bus connections are really bad and I won’t get a car before I’m 18.

Do you get well with your parents?
- Yes! My dad’s kinda funny and my mom’s my friend. That might sound lame but my mom is really laid back and cool. Of course we argue a lot!

How is school life for you?

- I like school and I like to think I’m good at it. And it’s one of the few places I can meet my friends.

What is the most memorable experience in your town?

- I’ve pretty much grown up here so there has been many nice and few bad memories.

Alice River

How do I spend my free time?

- I spend my free time with my best friend, reading, drawing, listening to music, watching Anime and reading Manga. And I also like to only relax.

What do I like/dislike about living in Finland?

- I like Finland really. It’s beautiful in the summer and winter. The autumn is my favorite season. When it’s still warm and when trees are painted orange, red and yellow. It’s beautiful. But on the other hand, winters are cold. Heh, this is my home country.

Where do I get pocket money?

- I get pocket money from helping at cleaning, washing dishes and all that kind of things. I get 10 euro every Friday!!

What do I argue with parents about most?

- I argue about insane things. When I’m tired I start to complain about everything. I argue with my mother most ‘cause I don’t have the courage to argue with my father. :P

How is school life for me?

- My school life is okay. My grades are good and I’m happy. I’m happy ‘cause I finally have my BEST FRIEND!! I’m in 8th grade right now. It’s easy but I’m busy with homework. There just is sometimes too much tests and homework!!

Have I visited any other countries?

- Yeah, indeed I have. I have lived in Italy one year but I can’t remember anything ‘cause I was too young. I have visited the Canary Islands many times. I have visited Turkey and Estonia too. I have also visited Sweden of course, my neighbour country.

Roxie Bluerose

How do you spend your free time?

-I usually spend my free time with my friends and, as unfortunate as it is, school takes some free time from me, too.

What are your hobbies?

- I don’t have any real hobbies, but I like to read and write, spend time with my friends and take care of my dog, and when you consider how much I do these things, I think you could take them as my hobbies.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of living in your town?

- I like living in my home town because it’s a pretty quiet and peaceful place. On the other hand, when you want to go shopping or something, there’s nothing for that in the town I live in.

Do you get on well with your parents?

-Yes, I get on pretty well with my family. Of course, as any teen, I sometimes have problems with them, but I could still say we have a pretty good relationship.

How is school life for you?

- It’s sometimes a little hard and maybe stressful, especially when we have many tests coming up, but I can manage.

What is your most memorable experience in your town?

- I don’t really know. I have experienced a lot there.

Are you proud of your country? What do you like or dislike? Why?

- Sometimes I’m proud of Finland, and sometimes it makes me a little less proud. It depends.

What do you think the stereotype of teens in your country is? Do you agree with it?

- It seems like most Finns think that teens are grumpy, rude shoplifters. I’d like to find a way to prove them wrong.

Have you visited other countries?

- Yes, I have been in Sweden, United Kingdom, Norway, Estonia, Lithuania, Malaysia and Australia.

Marie Cain

And since we always want to have some music here, here's one Finnish teen you might know.

Teen life in the 1980s

As much as the world has changed during the last decades, being a teenager still means the same things: self-searching, strong emotions, maybe also uncertainty. Below you find two stories of 80s' teens, courtesy of Marie Cain and Michelle Iron.
 
I interviewed my aunt Heli. She was born in 1970. This is what she told me about her teens in the 1980’s.

“I was a pretty kind teen. I was interested in dog breeds, languages, sports and music. For example, I liked basketball and badminton. My hobbies were foreign pen pals, singing in a choir and playing the piano.

The 1980’s fashion included impressive shoulder pads, short leather jackets and bright colored tights. In those days the common hairdos were very backcombed. I wasn’t really into fashion, though. I remember buying a dark purple cardigan and a reversible coat.

In the 80’s a band called Dingo had rised into popularity. Eppu Normaali was also listened a lot those days. Personally, I liked Michael Oldfield’s song By the Moonlight Shadow and Paul Young’s Forever Young. When I got a paycheck from my first summer job, I bought a white boom box made by Sharp. With that I recorded songs from the radio.

I remember watching an American comedy series called Kate and Allie. In those days a tv show called Dallas was also popular. What comes to movies, I remember a film about Mozart. It was called Amadeus.

Back in the 1980’s I lived with my mom in a terraced house in Nummela. I went to school in Toivonlinna, which is a boarding school in Piikkiö, so I lived all the work days there.”
Marie Cain


The clothes were neon coloured and aweful. Boys had mullets and rat tails and girls had permanents. ”I liked Popeda, Dingo and Eppu Normaali.” Said my mum.

”In my spare time we were out; swimming, playing... TV was not important, sometimes we went to movies. TV shows were Alf, Dallas and Knight Rider. Movies were E.T., Rambo, Rocky and of course Top Gun. Music was Michael Jackson, Madonna, Europe and Wham!”

My mum also remembers Chernobyl, microwaves, VHS-tape recorders, CD's and electric toothbrushes. ”Oh, and I also remember girls who had fake tan, bright lipstick and too much nail polish. I interviewed my mum, Hanna. She was born in 1962.
Michelle Iron


What kind of clothes did people wear in the 1980s?

- The clothes were very colourful. At that time fashionable trousers and shirts were yellow, pink and green.

What was the music like?
- The Finnish pop-music became popular. Famous bands were Eppu Normaali, Popeda and Dingo.

Is there anything else interesting in the 1980s?
- Yes there is. Youngsters did not have mobile phones or laptops, so they had to meet in order to communicate with each other. If you want to see the 1980s, you should watch the film Vuonna 85 (In 1985). 
Alan Richards


And since it's the 80s we're talking about, for no particular reason I wanted to include the following video. Enjoy!

Can't stop the music!

Have you ever heard of earworms? Maybe you've had some yourself? According to Wikipedia, 98% of people have earworms So maybe you're having one right now! Earworm is a friendly sort of creature, except that it usually refuses to go away.

So that brings us to our theme this week: Music. It's everywhere, whether we like it or not. Take a look at what the BigColaFor21 students wrote about music. Because we didn't have a lesson yesterday, on April Fool's Day, I had to choose the song myself. Please find it at the bottom of this blog entry. Talk about earworms!



Internet piracy is downloading music and films from internet for free. It`s illegal but it`s hard to know who does it. I think it`s weird that it`s illegal, `cause who cares what you do on the internet. Does it really matter if you download it, or just listen to it online? I think it doesn’t.
Julie Hale

Well, music isn’t a very big thing in my life, because I don’t really have a music taste of my own or some ideal band or singer or music style, I just listen what I hear when I put the radio on. Usually the radio is on in the car, and we listen to NRJ or NOVA. The thing is, nowadays music business is so huge that you really can’t decide what could possibly be the best music to listen to, so instead of deciding you just turn the radio on. It’s very easy of course, but that way you get to listen many kinds of music, too. Although I don’t put any effort to know better of the music world, I still think that music is great and for sure very important to some people. So, putting it simply, I listen to whatever I hear from (for example) radio.
Eve Baggins

The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. They became the most commercially successful and famous act in the history of popular music. The groups best-known lineup consisted of Jonh Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. The Beatles later untilized to psychedelic rock, often incorporating classical and other elements in innovative ways. In the early 1960s, their enormous popularity first appeared as “Beatlemania “, but as their song writing improved they came noticed by many fans and cultural observers. They have had more number-one albums on the British charts and sold many singles in the UK, than any act. The best single was: ”Let it be”
Alan Richards

I don’t have a favorite band or song , I listen to all kinds of music and everything everywhere. It’s easier to do everything when listen to music at the same time. When I come home from school I put music on and if I am somewhere else than home I usually use headphones. I can’t live without music!
Sophie Wien

I like almost every genre of music. I listen to music daily, everyday, everytime when it's possible. It's my drug and I'm its addict. (Quite poetic!)

About my weird taste of music, and seriously dude, it IS weird. One day I can listen to Korn, which is very, very depressive and I usually listen to it when I'm mad or just having an extremely bad day.
Then the opposite; Deadmau5 or even sometimes (and only sometimes) LMFAO. (Geez, why do I even like it?)

I listen to happy (or not-so-happy) music everyday. My ears also approve rap, dubstep, chillstep and rock. Examples of them: Eminem, Nero, Skrillex, Kill The Noise, Eskmo, Example, Muse and Linkin Park. I own a lot of CD's and I have dedicated a playlist to music on my Youtube channel.
Michelle Iron

I don’t have favorite music or band. I always listen to NRJ in radio. I listen to all kinds of music they play in the radio. Always I like to listen to pop music but anything is fine by me. But I don’t like opera and rock music. They’re horrible to listen to. I don’t have a favorite singer and I don’t know many of them. There is some of my favorite songs: Girl on fire, My heart will go on, Everytime , Everytime we touch... and many others songs too that I like to listen to again and again. I’m not a huge music fan, but sometimes it is fun to listen to music and relax.
Emily Pommes

Have you seen a movie without music? Yea, I think I know the answer. Movie without songs is nothing. The feeling of the movie changes a lot if you put voices off. Think what it would be if you won’t hear any sounds. You would lose a big part of part of your feelings and yourself. Music is a big part of my life and I love it. Sometimes when I watch a movie I close my eyes and imagine what happens in the movie just by the music and the other sounds. That makes me respect film music more. I want to wake you to think what film music can do. What is the matter of it? What it means to you?
I love older Disney movies. I liked them when I was younger and now I want to collect them all. Some of my favorites are Tarzan, Snow White, Cinderella and Lion King. All they contain lots of music. My dream is that I would find them all and when I have own children in the future I would show the movies for them.
Charlotta Snowhill