Katarina began her talk by telling us a little about her home country Finland. 
 
It has 5.5 million people. Like Canada most live in the south. Finland is part of the European Union and uses the Euro as its currency. We were surprised to learn that it is a trilingual country with the majority of its people speaking Swedish and English as well as Finish.
 
 
Many Swedish speaking people live in Finland so everyone has to study Swedish beginning in Grade 6. English studies begin in Grade 3 but because most of TV is in English most people are very fluent in English as well.
 
 
Katarina lives in Helsinki. Its population is 1.5 million, and is Finland’s capital city. Her home is on the 7th floor of building near downtown area. The Närhinens also have a summer home by the sea where they go often.
 
Finland is best known for saunas, hockey and its school system.
 
 
The School System:
School is about studying as sports and other activities take place in the evening and weekends at different locations.
 
There are12 grades but secondary school only has three grades.
 
Most people go to private schools and choose school based on courses offered. Katarina attends an International Business School. The year is divided into 6 semesters of about six weeks. Students take about 5-6 courses per semester with exams at end of each or about 36 courses per year. School runs from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Most of work is done one line so there are few if any books. Her school is small, 100 students in each of the three years.
 
Family:
Katarina is close to her family and her extended family and friends. She has two younger sisters, aged 14 and 12. She loves travelling with her family, sailing and spending time at their summer home plus skiing in the winter.
 
 
 
 
Närhinen shared the two biggest celebrations in Finland – Christmas and Midsummer, an event which takes place in late June. At Midsummer, Fins create huge floating fires on the lakes.