Lapland Story!

We left Jyväskylä at 1:30am on Tuesday morning. After around two hours we made our first stop at an ABC (a 24 hour gas station/7-11 type store). Around 8:00am we arrived in Kemi and had breakfast at an ABC. At 10:00am we went to the Kemi snow castle. This was a lot bigger than I thought it would be, but it was amazing inside!! From Kemi we drove another two hours to Rovaniemi. We stopped at the grocery store to buy food for the week. Then we went to see Santa’s Village (because the real Santa is from Finland, if you didn’t know). We waited in line and got our picture taken with Santa, who actually knows some basic phrases in a lot of different languages so he can talk with the tourists in their own language. Santa’s Village is right on the Arctic Circle line. We then drove another few hours and stopped for about 15 minutes in Ivalo, right outside Inari, where we were staying. We arrived at our cabins around 9:00pm; our cabin was called Birra and 10 of us staying in it. It was very very small but really cute! We unpacked and made some noodles for dinner. Just as we were getting into bed, we got a call that they Northern Lights were really bright, so we ran outside to see them but they weren’t as visible by the time we got outside. We stayed up until around 1:30am, despite getting only a few hours of sleep on the bus the night before.
We had to be outside by 8:00am then next morning, so we all decided to get up at 7:15am. Getting 10 people up and ready with one bathroom in 45 minutes was not a good idea, but we somehow managed to do it. This was our survival course day. First, we had a lecture for an hour about how to use a compass and map together then went to the lake to set up our ice fishing. Then, we went snow shoeing and had 4 points we had to find with our compass and map. My group, Fergie, Vanessa, Angelika, Joy and I, found the first one and then got lost, for about an hour. It was around -10 degrees Fahrenheit and about half way though our journey in the woods I was convinced that I had frostbite on my toes and they would have to be cut off. However, we managed our way back, an hour late. When we got back to the fire, we had sausages and mashed potatoes that were cooked over the fire. They had ketchup for us but since we were gone so long, the ketchup was frozen in the bottle by the time we got back. I also made the mistake of putting my fork in my mouth after it had been sitting in -10 degree weather for a few hours; needless to say, it froze to my tongue…ouch! However, I was not the only one who did this. We missed the fire building when we were lost in the woods but we finished our lunch just in time to help finish building quinzees (igloos). After our survival course, we went back to our cabin for coffee. We looked through the information book that was left for us to read. Also, each cabin has a book for every group to write in during their stay, so we looked though that too. While the others played crazy 8 countdown, I took a nap. Later that night we went to the sauna, most of the people were topless or completely naked; it was almost uncomfortable to be the only one wearing a bathing suit. After dinner, Jackie and I introduced everyone in our cabin to Hamburger Helper; after everyone complained about having “dinner in a box” they ended up inhaling it! For desert, Stefan and Gunter made an Austrian desert that was like a sweet pancake. Jackie, Fergie and I played Go Fish then walked outside to see the Northern Lights again. The Northern Lights were not so clear but they stars are really bright.
On Thursday morning we were on the bus at 7:00am and drove to the northern most city in Finland. We stopped at an old church and some cabins that were abandoned after WWII. We stopped at a small grocery store for lunch and headed to Norway to swim in the Arctic Ocean! The drive was really pretty! We stopped in one spot to take pictures of the ocean then drove another 45 minutes or so to the beach, which is full of “white sand” according to Gunter. The beach is in a Saami Village and we were able to walk around. Only a few people jumped into the Arctic Ocean, mostly girls and two guys. Fergie said the only time he will be in the Arctic Ocean is if the ship sinks..haha. Our tour guide made us wear socks or else our feet would have stuck to the ice when we got out of the water. We were only in the water for a few seconds! Once again, European are extremely comfortable with nudity, we got back on the bus to change and everyone, guys and girls, were walking around the bus with nearly nothing on. We went back to our cabins and made reindeer for dinner, which was amazing! After dinner, Jackie and I showed everyone how to make smores, since no one in our cabin had ever heard of them before.
On Friday, we went straight to the reindeer farm at 8:00am. We fed the reindeer and went on a reindeer ride! We went into a small hut for some coffee and cookies while a Saami woman told us about Saami culture and sang us some songs. There are 7 Saami tribes in the world and 3 are in Finland. The Northern Saamis are the biggest tribe. The easiest way to tell the tribes apart is by their national uniforms and Saamis from different tribes cannot ever wear other tribes national uniforms. Also, each tribe speaks their own language. We came back to our cabins for lunch then went cross-country skiing. I thought cross-country skiing would be easy but that is definitely a one time thing. I couldn’t manage to stay up and after 4 kilometers in the woods I was not willing to do it again haha I still have bruises on my legs. Joy also had a really difficult time and her and I held up everyone behind us. Then, we went to the Saami museum, which wasn’t as interesting as I thought it would be. We had spaghetti for dinner and the Austrian pancake desert again. While everyone went to the sauna, Joy, Jackie, Fergie and I cleaned the cabin a little then went to the sauna. Fergie is my Each-one-Teach-one and is helping me with my German while I help him with English. After being in a cabin for 5 days with mostly everyone speaking German, I was able to pick up a lot really quick. I took German for 7 years in school, now I am remembering a lot more than I thought I would.
On our last morning, we woke up and drove an hour and a half to the husky safari. Our group was the last to go, so we had to wait four hours. So, we got some coffee and lunch. The first half of the husky safari was very stop and go because the dogs in the front group kept fighting. But on the way back, it was much faster. I sat in the sleigh while Jackie drove in the beginning, then we switched and I drove. We had a pancake and hot juice after then headed back to the bus for our 12 hour drive back.
The trip was really amazing and everything was so beautiful and white!