Work experiences presented in English

(Henrik Nielsen)

Many were interested as 8th and 9th grade from Vuollerims Friskola invited to an Open House event to talk about their trip to England and their well-conducted practice there.

It was "full house" for the Open House day in Vuollerims Friskola Thursday the 19th of April. 

Mates from the younger classes, guests from the municipal school across the street, parents and other interested people from the local area had come to know more and support the event.

Teachers and pupils had worked hard all week to get ready with all the practical. 

Guests were welcomed into the "Teaspoon Café" and afterwards they were assembling to hear and see pupils' presentations of their experiences on their “England jobs.” 

All these presentations were in English in front of a not negligible number of spectators. 

It is a major achievement of pupils on this level to get their nerves under control and then simultaneously hold together the material, and even presenting it in English. 

Pupils from 9th grade presenting their work placement experiences were Amanda Pettersson and Jessica Pettersson. From 8th grade it was Felipe Velasquez, Niko Sisopha, Camilla Karlström, Jessica Mellberg, Olivia Nordqvist, Elin Eriksson and Malin Skalstad. 

At halftime coffee and tea was served and several kinds of cakes too.  

"The Beatles" were reunited for the occasion and played the songs From me to You, I Saw Her Standing There, Yesterday and Yellow Submarine.

It was Olivia as Paul McCartney, Amanda P as George Harrisson, Camilla Karlström as John Lennon, Henrik was Ringo Star and we are grateful that Frank Gold backed us up with his guitar. 

Before the last work experience presentations it was possible to visit a tourist office created for the occasion. Here it was possible to get an idea of ​​what areas we had visited in England.

It was a successful event which brought an end to this year's travel activities, and teachers and pupils thank all attendees for their interest and support!

Back in the snow

(Henrik Nielsen)

We all would like to thank our hosts in England for contributing to a successful journey and work experience. 

We will especially thank The B@rplace; Innovation Café; The Milk Bar; Moyles Hotel, Bar and Restaurant; Alternative Technology Centre and Heart Gallery - all in Hebden Bridge. Gordon Riggs Garden Centre; The Bear Shop; Hartley's Tea Room and The Pextenement Cheese Company - all in Todmorden.

Furthermore, we thank the staff at the youth hostels YHA Haworth and YHA Mankinholes. We especially thank the warden at YHA Mankinholes, Christine Bramley for making us feel very welcome and at home.

Personally, I'd like to thank B@rplace; Moyles Hotel, Bar and Restaurant and The Top Brink Inn for letting me use their Wifi - what made continously updating this blog possible.

Final day: Pleasure Beach Blackpool

(Henrik Nielsen)



Our last day in England. Celebrating a successful work experience and a wonderful stay in sunny Yorkshire by all day visiting UK's most famous amusement park in Blackpool - Pleasure Beach.

Fast food and candy were consumed in copious quantities during the day.

We ate dinner at Pizza Hut and Subway on the way home.

Back at Mankinholes everyone had to pack and hand in the keys for the rooms. We were home at 10 pm and had to leave in the morning at 6.  Rush hour ahead and a long day of traveling back to Sweden!

Rush hour

(Henrik Nielsen)

Besides driving on the left side of the road there are other challenges on british streets. It's important to be prepared to meet all kinds of road users on the narrow tracks.

Single palt vs single malt

(Henrik Nielsen)

While the Swedish spend their saturday evening getting deeper into English culture by eating ”palt” - big, boiled, Swedish balls made of grated potatoes and flour with some salted pork in the center – I decided getting deeper into Swedish culture by running down to The Top Brink Pub and eat a wonderful Beef, Guinness and Stilton Pie and drink a Diet Coke ;)

I did invite Felipe – another traumatized fugitive from Swedish home cooking, but he had allready fallen so much asleep that he took a rain check.

 By the way Beef, Guinness and Stilton Pie is a very tasty pie from prime diced beef and creamy stilton in a rich gravy made with draught Guinness topped with a shortcrust pastry lid. Mmmmm it was served with freshly steamed vegetables and crispy chips. 

To get away from my duty at the dishes after ”palt kalaset” I had to promise to fix breakfast alone tomorrow before we leave for Blackpool. 

Tomorrow is our last day in this beautiful landscape. We are celebrating our achievements here at Pleassure Beach in Blackpool with fast food and rollercoasters.

Look at these happy faces when they discovered that tonights menu was palt:

Liverpool - The history of teenage culture then and now

(Henrik Nielsen)
Saturday morning. Everybody tired after a week of working. Breakfast 7:30 to 8:30 and then on our way to Liverpool. Passengers were awfully quiet. Only Camilla woke up now and then and told me to go right and left. Thank God for that.

1½ hours later we floated into the parking lot at Albert Docks. From here we only had to cross the street to visit "The Beatles Story"– or "The Beatles Museum". Our story in Liverpool started with this just as the Beatles in the post-war-years.

Liverpool was heavily bombed during the Second World War. Bombcraters littered the city well after the war ended. There was rationing. There was poverty. The war and its aftermath were foremost in the minds of the people of Liverpool.

This dark and difficult atmosphere affected everyone. But it gave birth to a generation that was ready to break out of the constraints of the post-war years and into a new era. Four of these war-babies were John, Paul, George and Ringo.

I like this museum very much with its extensive information about The Beatles and the persons around them. It is somewhat an interactive experience since you decide the tour pace yourself by pressing the right information number on your ”ipod” whenever you are ready to listen.

The Fabulous Four

I think our students gave it a fair chance and some even liked it. I have an ambition for the open house arrangement at school in Vuollerim the 19^th of April – that is that we will be able to play a couple of Beatles songs for everybody there.

Done with the mandatory feature of ancient culture we unleashed the students and left them to an afternoon as power-shoppers downtown Liverpool.

... and off they went.

Something about Stoodley Pike

Stoodley Pike is a 121 foot monument that stands on the moors above Todmorden in West Yorkshire in Northern England. The current structure was designed by local architect James Greebn in 1854 and the building was completed in 1856 when peace was declared at the end of the Crimean War.

An earlier pike had existed on the site, started in 1814 to commemorate the defeat of Napoleon and the surrender of Paris then completed in 1815 after the battle of Waterloo.

The structure collapsed in 1854 following an earlier lightning strike and ongoing wear and tear from the elements. The replacement was therefore – rather wisely – built slightly further from the edge of the hill. During repair work in 1889 a lightning conductor was added. The pike has since been struck by lightning on numerous occasions without any notable structural damage. There is evidence to suggest that some sort of structure existed on the site before even this earlier pike was built.

The inscription above the entrance is worn and covered with lichen but it is legible and reads:

”Stoodley pike a beacon monument erected by

public subscription commenced in 1814 to

commemorate the surrender of Paris to the

allies and finished after the battle of Waterloo

when peace was established in 1815. By a strange

coincidence the pike fell on the day the Russian

ambassador left London before declaration

of war with Russia in 1854. Was rebuilt when

peace was restored in 1856. Restored and

lightning conductor fixed 1889.”

The entrance to the spiral staircase of 39 steps is on the north side of the monument. In 1889 during repairs, a grill was added to the top step to allow light to pass into the gloomy steps beneath, so only six or seven steps are actually in total darkness. There are no windows. The exit from the staircase to the balcony is on the west face. The balcony is approximately 40 feet above ground level.

Now Stoodley Pike primarily serves as an interesting destination for hikers, being handily close to the Mankinholes Youth Hostel and the Top Brink pub.

The Pennine Way (Britains first National Trail, opened in 1965) passes Stoodley Pike.

Throughout it's existence the Pike has been subject to countless folk bringing hammers and chisels and carving their names into the stones. This practice has caused the majority of the erosion to the stonework (the remainder caused by walking boots and the weather). More recently, Stoodley Pike has suffered from more modern and unsightly forms of graffiti, resulting in ”Man City” being scrawled all over the monument for over a month, and various other random messages in varying colours of paint. Perhaps most enduring of all is a 1960's ”Peace symbol” on the north face high on the obelisk. This is still clearly visible today if you step back when sun is not too bright.

In the last couple of years the entrance to the pike has been re-paved and a seat has been provided just in front of the rock face to the southwest of the monument.

The sight is inaccessible due to terrain to all vehicles.