Week 46

This week we continued with the topic of the American presidential elections on Monday and Tuesday, so now we've dealt with this issue in all of the discussion groups. It was actually very interesting to compare the electoral systems in the USA and Finland. We quite unanimously came to the conclusion that the Finnish system is simpler. On Thursday we had a juke box jury, and again the people in the group brought extremely beautiful music with them. There were some singers that were unfamiliar to the rest of us, and certain names of singers and records were written down for further use! Next week we will have a juke box jury also with the Monday group, so then we've had it once in each group. On Tuesday and Thursday we will sum up the most important events that took place in 2012, both in our country and also elsewhere.

In addition to different English courses I also run a film course, which means that each time we have a specific film to deal with and talk about. I have been trying to choose different kind of films from different directors, and so far we've had Billy Wilder, Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock and  Martin Scorsese on the 'menu'. I have actually had problems with these directors; the abundance of their work is so extensive that it is difficult to choose just one film from each director. Naturally, there are films that just have to have their turn in this course; for instance, you just cannot have a proper film course without the film Citizen Kane! Actually I'm going to collect some material on that very film today, and maybe I'll watch it during the weekend once more. The film has so many layers and so many references to other things that it would be impossible to analyze it well straight after you've seen it. It takes time for this film to really sink in, just like all good films.