Tamppi for sale!

Vappu is the biggest student festival in Finnish student culture. Vappu (students in Tampere call it Wappu) is celebrated on Labour Day, May 1st. Students in Tampere started their Wappu festivities already on April 13th. Fuksis celebrate Wappu the most. A fuksi (like Emma) is a student in their first year of study at university in a field of technology, essentially a freshman. The Wappu celebration culminates in the unforgettable teekkari dipping on May 1st, where the fuksis are dipped in Tammerkoski. When the fuksis have been dipped in the rapid they officially become teekkaris.

There are traditionally more than a hundred events in the Wappu calendar.  The Teekkari Wappu in Tampere begins with the unveiling of the Tamppi magazine. Emma has signed up for selling Tamppis. Tampere Teekkaris will put their cap on their head on the night of the 30th of April, but Teekkari cap can be used when selling Tamppis. In the picture Emma is on her way to sell Tamppi to her godparents.

Overalls are a symbol for students in different universities and other schools in Finland. By the colour and text in the overalls, you can identify people from different schools and fields of study. Emma's overalls are dark blue (Civil Engineering Guild TARAKI) and Leevi's are white (Industrial Engineering & Management Guild Indecs)

Wappu calendar’s Teemutour is a challenging test, an old tradition in Tampere, where students daily collect stamps from the events to achieve the Emäteemu title. Emma, of course, is also collecting Teemutour stamps. The established Emäteemu performance requirement is 20 events - one stamp on every Wappu day. Everyone who completes Teemutour will be rewarded with a legendary overall patch.  

In the evening we visited my parents. After that we drove Emma and Leevi to Hervanta. Leevi is busy writing his diploma thesis and Emma is busy with Wappu events.



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