What's going on in Uusikaupunki

8 Tiistaina 24. syyskuuta 2019 W H A T , S G O I N G O N I N U U S I K AU P U When I came toUusikaupunki fromAmericaover sevenyears ago, I had no idea what to ex- pect. I had tried to prepare myself by learning one Finn- ish word, for each letter of the alphabet. Iwas sure thatmy IvyLeague education in Linguistics and Anthropology was enough to helpme crack the code for the Finnish language. After my first Finnish class, I realized that I was absolutely wrong. The problem wasn’t learning vocabulary or the correct pro- nunciation of the words, the hardest part was, and still is, conjugation (taivutusmuoto). I became so confused when people would speak about me in Finnish and conjugate my last name, for example; ”Olin Simmonsien kanssa” (I was with the Simmons family). Itwas even scarierwaswhen I learned that the sameword is used for the number six and a Christmas tree, and if the tree catches on fire, it might be difficult to explain what really happened (see the phrase of the month). We all know how important language is for survival and I ampleased to report to you to- day that the City of Uusikau- punki and the organizations withinhavebeenmaking great efforts to serve customers and people who are not native Finns and who do not speak fluent Finnish. Vakka-opisto has increased its ”Finnish for foreigner’s,” lessons, the local Chinese restaurant is now using a re- ally cool translator that helps them serve customers better in both Finnish and English. And the Youth workers of the cityhave started to incorporate the English language in their services so that the new and future non-Finnish residents, can receive the same support as native Finns do. This place is not the same as itwas sevenyears ago, but I am so happy to see that Uusikau- punki is opening its arm and welcoming us foreigners in and helping us to find a place here and find what we need. Getting to know you Gallup What is something most people don’t know about you? What do you do in your free time? Youth Services in English Granger T. Simmons I had the amazing opportu- nity to visit with the Youth Workers of the city and help them brush up on their En- glish skills as they prepare to be able to serve youth who do not yet speak Finnish, or are not yet fluent.Wemet for three weeks and I was im- pressed with their already, strong command of the lan- guage. A few weeks after our courses were over, I came back to ask them some questions about what they do as Youth Workers for the City of Uusikaupunki –Our goal is that we have an impact on the entire community, says Katriina Rauman , Youth Curator. We are slowly getting there. Katriina’s responsibili- ties as the leader of Youth Work allow her to make an extremely profound impact on the community, by em- powering and equipping her workers with the tools to handle whatever challenges they may be facing or could face as it refers to youth and young adults in the city. Katriina had the idea to reach out to Vakka-opisto, the local adult learning center, to request a private course that will help the workers to improve upon their English speaking skills. She, along with her staff, has recognized that there has been an increase of foreign young people coming into the city who may not yet speak Finnish, so they want to be ready and able to have at least En- glish as a backup language as needed. HUMILITY, closeness, face to face contact, human con- nection, prevention, pre- ventative and trust, these are some of the words that describe the work of the Youth Clubhouse workers. –Themost important part of work is that the young ones can trust us, says Titta Brunou , one of the Youth Outreach Workers. She and her work partner Linda Sarivaara , work to assist the youthwith finding solutions to different prob- lems. The outreach work- ers help youth and young people ages 15 to 29, with job searching and finding places of study among other things. – We take time to give guidance to those who have completed 9th grade and do not yet have any idea of what they want to do with their future, says Linda. This outreach duo works together with Social Ser- vices and other organiza- tions to support the youth and to find a direction to lead their clients on to a great path of success for their life. AFEWWEEKS ago the Youth Club- house (Nuoriso- talo) opened, and Clubhouse Va n t t i ha d over 60 youth in attendance. T h e y h a v e d a i l y me e t - ing times after school for differ- ent age groups and are organizing events and activities for the up- coming Fall vacation (syys- Linda Sarivaara, Erika Raitanen, Marjo Koskinen, Pia Rauha and Katriina Rauman are the youth workers in Uusikaupunki. GRANGER T. SIMMONS P ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ GALLUP ■■ Katriina Rauman –My favorite hobby is ice swim- ming ■■ Titta Brunou – I am a mother of two so I spend my free time baking and selling baked goods for their basketball games. ■■ Linda Sarivaara – I love sports, I have a three-year- old son, and I am passionate about traveling. ■■ Piia Rauha – I like baking an pet rabbit Leo, a things with my h A new and improved Uusikaupunki Granger T. Simmons