Snow, Snow, Snow and More Snow

Hyva paiva! I'm back to let you all know what I have been up to since the last time I updated the blog.  Last time, I talked about some issues that I was having with my bank, which is thankfully no longer a problem.  I also left a picture at the end of my last update as a hint to my next trip.  The answer was Lapland.  Lapland is the northern most province in Finland, and I spent about three days at the Levi resort.  I had a lot of fun and experienced things that I would have never been able to in the U.S, but it definitely gave me a new appreciation for winters in Virginia and South Carolina.
     
Lapland:
The trip was organized by KY-Sub, which is the cultural subcommittee of KY (the business student union) and lasted from Wednesday night to Monday morning.  Following my class on Wednesday, I gathered my luggage and went into the city to begin our journey to the snowy region.  We left from Helsinki at about 9 P.M and it took nearly 15 hours (including stops) to get to Levi.  We arrived at our cabins at about 1 P.M  Thursday and spent the first night mostly exploring the resort and getting groceries since our cabins were equipped with full kitchens.  I did have photos of the cabin, but I forgot to put my camera's memory card in the camera, so I wasn't able to save any of the photos, unless they came from my phone.  We also went to the ski slope to pick up our tickets (shown right).

On Friday, we started out by visiting a traditional reindeer farm managed by some of the Sami people of Finland.  The Sami are the indigenous people of Finland and maintain their culture, with their capital being in Inari, another city in Lapland.  There were about 60 of us there, and I was part of the first group to get on the sleigh.  The ride itself didn't last very long, maybe about 20 minutes, but it was an experience that I think will be hard to forget.  After the ride, we spent time by a campfire the Sami owners had set up, and even had a chance to pet a few of the deer and even feed a few of the babies that they had nearby.

That same night, a friend of mine, Alyssa Currie, and I walked to a nearby shop called Lapland Safari to check in for our nighttime safari.  We booked tickets to go on a snowmobile ride to a nearby frozen lake to try and spot the Northern Lights.  Unfortunately, the weather didn't permit us to really see anything, but we spent about an hour with the other people on the tour in a cabin by the lake.  I wish I could say that I had been able to drive to the cabin on the snowmobile.  After we set out, we made it about 10 minutes into the trip before I had a bit of an accident.  The guides had explained how to drive the snowmobiles, but when I was going around a corner, I accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake and hit a snow bank.  No one got hurt, and the snowmobile was still in working condition, but I will probably wait to drive one again until I can practice more with an instructor.  Other than that, it was a very enjoyable trip.  That night I also learned something, the Finnish sauna is one of the most amazing things in the world.  Our cabin had a private sauna in it and it is easy to see why the Finnish people love them so much.  All you have to do is heat it up and drop water on the hot coals and sit there in the steam.

The next morning, I met with Alyssa again and made our way to the ski lift to begin our snowboarding lesson.  I chose snowboarding because everyone I had asked said that snowboarding was easier to learn than skiing.  I dont know if skiing would have been easier, but snowboarding was fun.  We met our instructor Tomi and he started us with some basic exercises.  The lesson lasted about an hour and a half.  I fell a lot and had trouble with the basics, but learning a new sport was really cool.

Following the lesson, I met up with my cabin mates and convinced them that we should go bowling for a little while.  We enjoyed the game for about an hour and decided after our second game to call it quits.  That night I went to a Lapish restaurant to try some examples of the local food.  I did try some reindeer meat which is a common protein in Lapland, and it was something that you just have to try for yourself.

Santa Claus Village:

We left for Helsinki at about noon on Sunday and our first stop was at the Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi (the provincial capital of Lapland).  If you didn't know, Finland claims to be the official home of Santa Claus, and it would seem that the many diplomats and celebrities that visit the village agree.  I did get to meet the "real" Santa, and despite being 20 years old, it was really cool.  The village also has various shops and cafes for tourists and even has its own post office that will mail cards with an official Christmas Village stamp.  The post office will even get your letter mailed by Christmas if you want.  We spent about two hours at the village before heading back on the bus and going back to Helsinki.

School:

It felt somewhat weird going back to school after the trip, but it feels even weirder to say that I already have final exams next week.  I will post again next Wednesday to explain how the Finnish students handle exam week and what the exam was like.  Until then, Moi moi and Go Gamecocks!