facts – Welcome to University of Helsinki

‘Laskiainen‘, Finnish for Shrove Tuesday, is a celebration traditionally held in February, and celebrated especially by students. This year Shrove Tuesday falls on Tuesday, February 9th. In previous times, laskiainen was the last celebration before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday, but nowadays it mainly means a day of sleigh-riding. Laskiainen is not a public holiday, however, so you’ll still have lectures!

Laskiaisrieha-10 — Overall-wearing sledders at Ullanlinnanmäki on Shrove Tuesday, ‘laskiainen’.

During the day traditional Finnish Shrove Tuesday dishes, pea soup and Shrove Tuesday buns, are offered also at UniCafes. The Shrove Tuesday bun, or ‘laskiaispulla‘ in Finnish, is a special type of bun made just for this occasion by filling a traditional Finnish bun with whipped cream and either raspberry jam or almond paste. Both types of filling have their avid supporters, and the nation remains divided about which of them is the best. We recommend you to try both, and decide for yourself!

Continue reading “Shrove Tuesday the Finnish Way”

Here we have gathered some odd facts about Helsinki Summer School:

The first Helsinki Summer School was organised in year 2000.
It takes one and a half year to make one summer school happen.
Number of HSS staff during November: 2
Number of HSS staff during August: 11
For 3 team members this is the first summer school year. One of the team members has worked for HSS since 2001.
Most of the staff cycles from place to place in the summer time.
Total number of students 408
The oldest participant of HSS 2013 is 59 years old, the youngest one is 18.
The majority of the students are born in 1992.
Total number of courses is 18 in 2013:

12 courses by the University of Helsinki
5 courses by Aalto University
1 course by Hanken School of Economics Continue reading “Behind the Scenes”