Hi everyone! I haven't posted anything in a long time and I'm sorry for that! This time I'm here to share pictures and tell you about our prom which is called "Wanhat" or "Vanhojen Tanssit". It is one of the most important events for high school students in Finland so I thought that I should participate even if all of my friends had their "Wanhat" last year while I was in the U.S. It was fun and I encourage all of the exchange students who come to Finland to dance because I think that it's a really good experience! However, Wanhat is a dance-event for the second graders. At this point I want to clarify a few things since we had some misunderstandings last year when people asked me what grade I am in school back home :D In America they have freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors in high school but here in Finland we have first graders, second graders and third graders. At this time of the year, third graders (which are more often called "Abit") leave school and they have rest of the school year off because they are studying for the final tests that they take in spring. So Wanhat is for the second graders to celebrate that they are going to be the oldest students in school once third graders have left. I hope you get the point because this is hard to explain :--D
So, we had Wanhat on Thursday and Friday (February 15th and 16th). Our day started with dance practice on Thursday morning and after that we went to Abigaala which was kind of like a "celebration" for the third graders. After that I went home to chill and in the afternoon I went to the hairdresser to get my hair done. In the evening we had the dance at the huge arena. On Friday we visited different schools and performed for other students. On Friday night we had the Wanhat afterparty which was also really fun!
I hope you're all doing good in America and I hope that I could come and visit soon!
I hope you're all doing good in America and I hope that I could come and visit soon!
Photo credit: Kaisu Koskinen
