Back at Northeastern, I’m a creature of habit. I always carefully plan out my weeks and jot down to-do lists in my color coordinated calendars. I like to have a plan and a predictable day to day schedule. This abroad semester has certainly challenged my type-a personality and that need for structure. In short, there really has been no “typical day” these past three plus months. Classes at the university didn’t follow any sort of pattern, meeting at different times and often different places depending on the week. The seemingly random course scheduling made it hard to find any sort of day-to-day rhythm. This is in stark contrast to what I’m used to at Northeastern, where upon course registration, I know exactly what every week will look like, and can easily plan other things around that class schedule.
These past few weeks, though, have brought about a little more of daily routine. Since my university courses ended, I have started assistant teaching in a local upper secondary school (grades 10-12). It has been good practice in preparing for the day-to-day grind and life of a teacher.
At 6:30 am my alarm goes off and groggily prepare myself to start the day. A few mobility exercises, a cold shower,that all important first cup of coffee, and then I’m out the door, heading off to city center to catch my train. Back home, I used to be a morning person, and could easily jump and get going quite early in the morning. But the short daylight hours have really thrown my internal clock through a loop. It’s still pitch black from when I wake up at 6:30, still dark for my walk to the train station, and if I’m lucky I might get a glimpse of the first light of the day when I walk into the school before the first class begins at 8:20 am.
From 8:20 until 2:30 in the afternoon, I live the life of a teacher. I work in four classes a day, a mix of math and english courses, meeting for 75 minutes each. At 11:00 am, the whole school breaks for a 45 minute lunch period (which is free for students, by the way). This has served as a great way for me to chat and pick the minds of the many teachers in the school, and also refuel with some coffee. By the time 2:30 pm rolls around, it feels like it’s already been such a long day, and the fact that sun is setting already doesn’t help too much either!
Once my teaching duties have been fulfilled, I’m off to the train to head back to Helsinki for the evening. By the time my train arrives shortly after 3 pm, the sun has already set, and it takes all my willpower to ignore my internal clock and not just head back to my apartment and call it a night! Until a socially acceptable dinner and bedtime, I usually like to do something active, whether it’s going to the gym or heading out into city center with some friends.
Even though it’s been a few short weeks since starting at the school, I already find myself getting tired and ready for bed far earlier than I’m used to. I feel like I’m 21 going on 45, struggling to stay awake past 9 pm! The early start and short daylight hours definitely have something to do with it, at least that’s what I keep telling myself before nodding off to end another day in Helsinki, Finland.
