Teekkari Wappu

We haven't seen Leevi for some time, so it was great he had time to visit us in the evening.  He is very busy with the Teekkari Wappu. An university technology student is called teekkari. Leevi is fuksi, a first-year student who will become teekkari after having been dipped in the Tammerkoski rapids. The most important of the external characters of teekkari are overalls and the teekkari cap.

The first of May is called vappu and it is a highlight of fuksis' and teekkaris' academic year. This year the Teekkari Wappu in Tampere began last week and it lasts about two weeks. Wappu culminates in traditional events, the biggest and most visible of which include the declaration of Wappu frolicking, putting the cap on the Suomi neito statue and the teekkari immersion ritual in the Tammerkoski rapids.

I drove Leevi to his apartment and had a change to photograph his teekkari overalls. The overalls are a special outfit that show which guild you belong to. They can be customised by sewing badges to them.  Leevi studies Industrial engineering and management in the Tampere University of Technology and it means his Teekkari overalls are white. The same colour my overalls were years ago.

Wappu calendar 2018

On the way home I went to see sunset, a photo as an extra.


+8°C, cloudy