Wanhojen Tanssi

So while other people were having romantic dinners on Valentine's Day, I spent my time dancing at Wanhojen Tanssi (prom). It was a very special one, together with the other students, my partner and I had been learning about ten different dances, such as the polka and the wiener waltz, for weeks. On Thursday evening, we danced in front of the parents, and then on Friday morning, all the students were divided into several groups to go dancing in different primary schools. In the afternoon, we all danced in front of the other students of the school. The whole experience was really interesting and amazing for me. Plus, I had a lot of fun!

 

 

Lapland trip (part 2)

Day 4 (08/02/2014)
Today, I did something so special! I went ice fishing on the lake. For about an hour and a half, my friends and I sat in the snow next to our hole hoping a fish would come. Only one of my friends caught a fish... But after a while, we started to get cold and we all gathered around the fire - yes there was a fire on the lake! I also had the chance to ride the snow mobile with some friends, the guide was driving. It went so fast I couldn't stop screaming, but it was so fun and the view was nice too. The only not so nice thing was the snow flying in my mouth...
In the afternoon, nothing really exciting happened since we were all quite tired. But later in the evening there was the Miss Lapin Taika 2014 competition. The girls were divided into groups and each group had to dress up a guy into a girl and give him/her a name. The guys/girls had to walk like models on the catwalk, and then 5 of them went to the finals, where they had to impress the jury by answering some questions. Borisha became Miss Lapin Taika 2014.

 

 

Borisha, a.k.a. Miss Lapin Taika 2014 

Day 5 (09/02/2014)

So this was an interesting day. The volunteers organized the Winter Olympic Games. We were divided into six groups and had three challenges to complete:

1. The first challenge was a race on sleighs. My team came second.

2. For the second challenge each competitor had to turn 10 times around himself with his forehead on a stick and then run towards a human pole and then come back. This challenge was hard but so funny, especially when you're in the audience. My team came second again.

3. The third challenge was another race, but this time we had to hold arms, walk as far as we could in a snow mountain while shouting continuously. Sadly, my team came last. 

After the Games, we all had lunch and then left to an Amethyst mine. To get to the mine, we caught a lift with a snow truck which was funny. In the mine, we had an explanation about different kinds of stones, afterwards we went to the mine and we could find amethyst or even quartz stones by ourselves. After the visit, we walked down the mountain in the snow. I was so happy to see the bus again because my back hurt so much. To end this day, some of us went to the Spa, where there was a bubble bath, a small pool and a sauna (of course). Right before going back to Kairosmaja, I went to the souvenir shop across the street with some friends, I bought some funny presents for my family.

Later in the evening, the volunteers surprised us by taking us to a bar they rented just for us and we danced and partied all evening. It was awesome!

Day 6 (10/02/2014)
What a day! The day simply began by packing our stuff and leaving to Rovaniemi. There we went to Joulupukki's village (Santa claus's village). I heard there were many buildings but I just went to say hello to Santa Claus and walk around in the gift shop. I took two pictures with Joulupukki, one alone, I only have a printed version of that, and one in a group. Afterwards, we all went to a reindeerfarm. Where we got to ride a sleigh pulled by a reindeer, and then we all received a reindeer-driving-license! Sadly it is only valid for five years, but that gives me yet another excuse to come back...
This was the end of the trip, except if you count the train ride back to Tampere...

Lapland Trip

Last week, I was in Lapland with 94 other exchange students. We gathered in Rovaniemi on the arctic circle, and then we went to Pyhä, about 140 km to the North. Here's the diary I kept during the trip:

Day 1 (06/02/2014)
Finally, after a 9 hours train ride, I have arrived in Rovaniemi where I meet other exchange students. After a bit of searching, we find the café where we can have breakfast and wait for the students who come with the later train.
When the group is complete 2 hours later, we all leave to Arktikum, a museum in Rovaniemi about Lapland and the Saami people. The museum is divided in 2 parts: a permanent exhibition about Lapland's fauna and flora and also about the Saami culture, and a university research center about Lapland in general.
After the visit of the museum, we leave to Pyhä where we will stay for the week. Once arrived, we get to settle in to our rooms and meet our roommates. My roommate's name is Honoka, a Japanese exchange students.
Later in the evening, almost all the exchange students gather outside for a snowball fight. I am forced to surrender after an honorable fight  because my glasses were covered in snow and I couldn't see anything. Having such fun does really good though.

Day 2 (07/02/2014)

8:43. Oh no! We're late! Hurry up! Get dressed! We should have been at breakfast an hour ago. Luckily, my roommate and I manage to be ready when the bus leaves. I decided not to ski or snowboard so I spend the day with other exchange students and a volunteer. We started our day by going for walk next to the ski slopes. We also took the ski lift to go to the top of the mountain, hoping there would be a nice view but we couldn't see anything because of the fog. ¨Before taking the ski lift to go back down, we went to get a drink in a café. I had a hot chocolate,which was very good.

Then we went to Naava, which is a small museum about Lapland's nature, there was for example a section about rocks and another about insects that live in trees. Afterwards we went back to Kairosmaja, the place we stay at, to have lunch and wait for the others to come back. While waiting, we watched the movie "21&over", I think it is mainly funny for young (male) students.

When the people who went to slopes came back, we could go to sauna, which is situated near the lake. After being in the sauna for a while I went outside for a while, only wearing a bikini, and then went back to sauna.

Once heated up and dressed, I went to have dinner. Then we had some free time which I spend talking to my friends. About an hour later, we all went to Kota, which is a kind of wooden tipi, to make pancakes above a fire. It obviously was a very interesting experience, plus the pancakes were delicious. When our bellies were full, we went back to the dining room to talk, dance, basicly have fun. About an hour later, the volunteers came and told us to put on our coat and shoes, then they directed us back to Kota. We were told to sit around the small fire and then a "shaman" started dancing around us and supposedly chanting in a Saami language. The "Shaman" served us some reindeer milk and some weird candy, it didn't taste good to me. At the end, we were told to go to the playing room/basement of the main building. There, a volunteer explained to us that we had just experienced a ceremony to make us a part of Lapland. The exchange students and I stayed in the basement for the rest of the night. And at some point for an unknown reason, stuffed animals were thrown across the room which was kind of fun for a while.

Day 3 (08/02/2014)
Today, I went cross-country skiing. We did a tour near Kairosmaja. It was fun until I started falling, 7 times in total, but the view was beautiful! After lunch I went for a walk with a couple of friends. At a moment, one of the other girls suddenly ran to the pile of snow on the side of the road, it seemed so nice that I decided to join her. So we played in the snow, made snow angels. I kept sinking into the snow so after a while I decided to crawl or swim out of the snow. I found it very funny. Between getting back to the cabin and dinner, I went to rest in my room. After dinner, a party started in the basement. It reminded me that dancing to Hispanic music is more fun than it seems...