Greetings from March 06!

Dear friends,

I hope you have had a good month. I hope this mail finds you in good spirit and health.

I had a enjoyable month myself. I am still working with the entrance-exam work for the 'movie-school'. It's not really only a movie-school but that's one of the things one can study there. I am quite pleased with my work so far. However, it is hard to quess what sort of work they are exactly looking for. The guidelines and requirements are pretty broad. My goal is of course to get into that school, but at the moment I just concentrate on creating a good body of work to present to them.

I don't have many courses for this spring at University anymore. I am attending Clinical Psychology and Research Methods ( for Psychology). I am also planning to do few courses by myself (without attending to lectures). Politics and Philosophy. By the end of the Spring-semester I am hoping to have finished the basic-courses ( Appro ) in both Philosophy and Psychology.

One big unexpected and interesting thing that happened to me this month was that I received a message from local Steiner-school in where they asked if I could come and teach there for a while. I would be teaching mainly class 6 but also give some lessons for the first class. The job would last until their usual teacher would come back again. But, at the moment I don't really know how long that will be. Perhaps couple of weeks. So, I accepted the offer, despite the fact that I had my hands quite full with the movie-school work. It just seemed like one of those moments where you would later regret that you didn't take up the challenge.

I've been teaching those kids for about a week now. I am teaching history for the class six. The theme is the Middle-Ages. I am concentrating mostly on the events that took place in Europe, but I also get a chance to teach them about Islam, Muhammad and the history of Arabic culture. Next week I am going to talk about vikings and monastery-life among many other things. I am fascinated myself of this subject, this historical period. I was not so passionate about history when I was at the sixth grade myself but now I find it very interesting.

For those of you, who have experience in teaching, especially the ones who have taught at Waldorf/Steiner-school, I am looking for ideas of how to make the lessons as colorful and interesting as possible. So, if you have any tips, I really appreciate it!

For the 1st class I am teaching religion. We have been singing some Christian songs in the beginnign. Then I read them a story and then the kids will draw a picture related to that story. First class is wild. I need to utilize all my energies and skills so that it will be a good lesson for everyone. But I do enjoy it. It is a good experience. After all, I think it is a positive thing that kids have lots of energy and that they are a bit wild.

I watched a very good movie this weekend. A korean movie. In english the title is ' Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring'. 'Viides vuodenaika' is the title in Finnish. The director is Ki-Duk Kim. It could be said that it is a Buddhist film...or that the Buddhist philosophy and way of life play a big part in the film. It is a beautiful film.

Today is was a very beautiful sunny day. Perhaps the first real spring day this year. I took a walk on the ice with my friend Soila. I took nice photos there that I might use for my entrance-work. It is so good to have all the time more and more light here. I liked the winter, but I am also happy that the Spring is coming.

I send you much love dear friends. May this month be a very good month for you.

Love, Anssi