The Lapland tour part 1

Sunrise near Muonio
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Finally... the Lapland tour!  I've been waiting for this tour ever since I found out about it.  My overall opinion of the tour is a little mixed.  Whenever we have tours or meetings with exchange students its a little like that because you feel so detached from reality.  That's really when you realize where you are and the scale of what you're doing.  In this particular tour,  I am happy that I strengthened some frienships and that I participated in activities that I don't often do.  However,  I was a little disappointed that it looked so much like Canada.  The pictures that I'd seen were of big open spaces with rock and snow and wind.  However the area we went to was of tree covered foothills much like the rest of Finland and much like Eastern Canada.  Be that as it may,  the culture made it a very interesting and different place to visit.  Simply,  Lapland wasn't for me what it was for the Mexicans (for example). Another thing that slightly bothered me was that the friends I made at Karkku are not in my district.  I was really excited to see them all again but,  as it happens,  all the activities were organized by district.  So while I was snoeshoeing for example,  they were going to see the reindeer.  However,  I made more friends in my own district during the tour.  Also,  I had the same roommates as in Karkku so I had plenty of time outside of the activities to speak with them.   They are mostly French and I don't often speak french so it took me a while to get used to it again.  They make fun of my accent and refer to me as "la quebecoise" even if I lost my quebec accent a while ago.  I think their accent is weird and they speak way too fast in it.  Anyhow,  its fun to compare different ways of saying things.  For example "magasiner" (Quebec for shopping),  and "shopping" (French for shopping) became a common joke which is now getting way too old. The problem though is that when things are organized by nationality,  I have a problem.  I don't identify with the French because I'm not French but I don't really hang out with the Canadians at all.  In fact,  the Canadians have taken on their multicultural role and don't hang out with each other - they go with a bunch of other countries.  I think we're the group that sees the least of each other.  Everyone else - the Americans and Australians in particular - is often with their own nationality.  Of course we get all mixed up all of the time too.

Arrival at the hotel
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So,  now that I've spent all of this time explaining my general thoughts of the trip,  I might as well start at the beginning.   The bus ride was memorable especialy because I think it was longer than my flight from Calgary.  All the exchange students were seperated by district into four buses.  Mine came by Ristiina at around 20.00.  I brought both alpine skies and crosscountry skies because I wasn't sure which one we were doing - I got virtually no information about this tour.  It was all sent to my councellor who had to tell me what was going on - I'm not sure that even he got all that much information.  Because it was evening,  it was dark outside and there was nothing o see for the whole trip which lasted 13 hrs.  However it was nice to catch up with everybody and talk but after a couple hours of doing that,  you sort of run out of things to say.  SO we decided to try to sleep.  My back felt like it was bent double for the next few days.  We stopped a few times during the night and I still managed to sleep a little.  I felt quite awake actually when we arrived in Muonio and the sun was up.  I liked how the snow was so thick that it was making the trees bend over.  The sunrise was spectacular as they often are in Lapland.  But the rest of the day was bleak.  We drove by the Swedish border and various ski hills.  EVeryone was quite groggy from the uneasy sleep.  But I was very excited also.

the ski slopes
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When we got to the hotel we were asigned our rooms and told that they would be by nationality so I thought I was going to be with the Canadian girls.  However I found I was with the two french girls and one Belgian girl whom I had befriended in Karkku.  So I was quite happy.  I thought that it wasn't a good idea to have the rooms seperated by nationality because then people tend to stick only to their nationality and be reluctant to seek out friendships elsewhere.  That's why I think that most nationalities were always together.  For the language camp I understand why they did that because we were all new and everything was already different enough.

Angele working on our castle
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So at noon we had lunch in the hotel restaurant.  Afterwards we gathered our things together and headed for the ski hills.  I decided last minute to do alpine skiing even if crosscountry if much more Finnish.  I figured I would get lots of opportunities to go crosscountry skiing in Ristiina since all of my host families like to do it. There are crosscountry paths everywhere around Ristiina so I can simply decide to go whenever I want to.  But there aren't many hills in southern Finland.  In fact,  they're so rare that if there is a hill,  the name of the towns around it always have "hill" , or "mäki" in Finnish,in it(example:  Pieksämäki,  Heinämäki,  edc.).  Actually,  Finnish places and names always have something related to nature in them - Tuuli is a popular Finnish name and it means wind,  Heinäjärvi - järvi means lake and heinä means hay.  But this doesn't really have anything to do with Lapland.

SLeading
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My skiing experience was brutal but very fun.  At first my skies wouldn't get on my ski boots which were so tight I could feel the pulse in my legs - I hear this is quite normal but I still have bruises from those boots.  I got them fixed but I don't think they worked very well because one of the skies simply fell off when I was going down a hill once.  The first time I tried,  I only fell once which is good because I'd only been alpine skiing once before.  After that I found I was falling more and more.  Falling with alpine skies hurts alot because your knees are in a constantly bent position so if you fall,  you fall badly - its inevitable.  However,  I only got to go down the hill twice at the beginning because I had a friend who was afraid of skiing and she hated the cold and didn't want to be there and I kind of felt sorry for her because her entire afternoon was going to be horrible if I didn't convince her to do something.  So  I was being positive and asking her if she wanted to go tobogganing instead but she said she hated the snow.  Anyway,  I spent almost two hours with her trying to make her have a good time but after that,  I was a little fed up so I let her go with some other people and I went down the ski hill again.  That time when I went down the ski hill,  I totally and completely lost control and I tumbled down the hill extremely ungracefully while a skiing group lesson watched me - it was embarassing.  But then I asked if I could join their group.  The teacher said that I could so I started practicing the "pizza" thing and trying to learn to turn and all that and to control my speed.  After a few tries,  he told me I was ready to try again so I went up the hill again and this time,  when I came down,  I didn't fall at all!  I was in almost total control of my speed and it became much funner (and that's saying alot because it was fun already at the beginning).  In fact, it was so much fun that I tried a bigger hill and I didn't fall! (well I fell the second time around).  So,  I felt the skiing trip was a success despite the fact that I waisted my time trying to make my friend appreciate snow. (She's really a nice person but don't ask me why she wanted to come to Finland).  I forgot to mention the temperature - it was only -17 degrees celcius.  I thought it would be colder and,  actually,  it didnt feel very cold because we were moving all the time.  By 18.15 I was all nice and bruised up and ready to eat again and relax (actually I still wanted to go down the hill but they closed the lift) .  So we took the bus back and had a while to relax.  At around 19.00 we went to an outdoor camping place where we had traditional Lappi food - reindeer soup,  ruisleippä (rye bread),  and glöggi (traditional Christmas drink which tastes like hot and spicy berry juice).  It was nice but then I started feeling really cold.  At about 22.00,  I realized I hadn't really slept at all for 38 hours.  So we all greatfully went to bed.

Lappi lady
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The next day was scheduled to start at 7.00.  We reluctantly got up and didn't talk much for the first few hours of the day.  That day we were going to either go skiing again or stay at the hotel where some activities such as ice-sculpture were planned for us.  I didn't go skiing again for several reasons.  One of them was that the previous skiing afternoon had already cost 25€ and I wasn't prepared to pay that amount again since I had only brought 50€ with me to spend (I was planning on buying some souvenirs too).  Another reason was that I wanted to try ice-sculpture,  and the last reason was that most of my friends were also staying behind to try the ice-sculpture.  I'm glad I decided to stay because we had so much fun that day.  We started the sculptures at around 8.30 and the sun was still down.  We had the choice to do either a snow sculpture or an ice sculpture and we decided to make a snow sculpture because it was easier to manipulate.  There were lots of pillars of snow prepared for us (maybe like 30 to 40) and we could make as many sculptures as we wanted.  So Charline (Belgium),  Louise,  Angele (both from France) and me started making a troll out of snow.  I wasn't really keen on the idea becaus I knew that the shape was too organic to have really good results and since we were four and we all had a different idea of what a troll was supposed to look like,  I suspected it would end up a mess - and it did.  I wanted to make a castle but they didn't agree with me.  At about 10.00 we realized that it just wasn't going to work out so we cut off the troll's head and took pictures of us "slaying" the monster.  Then Louise and Charline started working on it again to turn it into a "jiggly puff" from Pokemon while Angele and me worked on a new pillar of snow to make the castle.  It was alot of fun and in the end,  I think ours ended up being one of the best looking ones.  Some of the other sculpture ideas were an ice cream cone,  a Christmas elf,  a giraffe,  a fish,  a star,  a beer bottle, and a heart.  WHen we were finished we placed candels inside to make them look warm and welcoming.  We then went to have lunch in a small hut beside and igloo - thats right - a little piece of Canada (see what I meant by similar to Canada- well okay igloos didn't necessarily come from Canada).

reindeer
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That afternoon,  those who stayed behind at the hotel got to sit around and talk.  Which was nice I guess - I met exchange students from New Zealand,  SOuth AFrica and Australia that I hadn't met before.  We also went outside and went sledding with the potkukelkä.  That was a lot of fun and by the evening we were all cold,  tired,  and ready for sauna.  Sauna in the summer is different from sauna in the winter.  In the summer you jump in the lake after sauna (well you can do that in winter as well but there was no lake nearby),  in the winter general you roll in the snow.  This may shock some people but yes,  it is done without clothing.  It was not actually so bad - the worse part is when the snow is melting on you before you go back into the sauna.  The rest is quite nice and after sauna,  your muscles feel nice and relaxed - this doesn't happen as much if you skipped the snow or lake part.

Jessica and me at the Swedish border
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That evening was once again spent talking and listening to music and eating chocolat.  Actually,  if I remember correctly,  that is also the evening where we were supposed to preform something (by nationality) for a high school which also prepared something for us.  Again,  there came the problem of Canadians just not hanging around together enough.  However,  alot of us did our own individual thing.  At first I tried to get people together to decide what we should do.  In Karkku we had done a sort of patriotic chant about why Canada is so great.  I didn't have any better ideas but I still think it may have been a little too patriotic.  This time I eventually just decided to do something with the French speaking group - Belgium and France - so we became the "francophone"group.  We sang "Vive le vent" (jingle bells) in french.  After having practiced a little we decided to ask other Canadians to join the group and sing it in FRench and english to make it international (for that is afterall the point of the exchange).  So several Canadians, the French and the Belgians sang jingle bells.  It was okay but did not cause a sensation.  Also,  I realized that we,  again,  fell for the "Canada is multicultural" thing.  We also went into the "Canada  is invisible" thing because people then asked "what did Canada do again?" because we hadn't done anything really as a group on our own like all other countries did.  So the way the exchangers behave is very much like a miny model of each country's political influence.  However alot of Canadians performed on their own where we fell into the "I thought that guy was American" category.  A very talented girl named Heaven (from Saskatchewan) sang and played piano - she had composed the song herself, a boy from Ontario Alex sang a song.  He also danced and the public opinion was split in two - either they loved it or they hated it.  The Finns actually left the gym.  My opinion was mostly amusement at the fact that some people actually left - also some students climbed on the stage to dance with him.  AFter that though,  another boy from Ontario - Dante played Sibelius' "Finlandia" on the piano.  I can't even describe how good it was - that piece is exceptionally hard.  The Finns which had returned into the room by that time actually had their hand pressed to their hearts.  So,  I think Canada's reputation was made.

AT the reindeer farm
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Some of the other performances were a dance by the Mexicans,  the Macarena by all Latin Americans,  the "hoky poky" by the Americans,  the Ave Maria sung by an American,  a folk song by the Germans,  a dance and song by the Japanese and Taiwanese,  etc.  Actually its really nice to see the cultural diversity. Also I found that several students from countries that presently have quarrels ahve befriended one another.  Or countries like the Taiwan and Japan which don't really get along.

Lappi song
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The high school students their also had something prepared for us.  They made a dance which looked very professional about Santa and his love affaires.

The next day - december 1st,  we all did different activities which were organized by district.  The first thing that was on my district's schedule was to visit the reindeer farm.  So we went there and were greeted by an eldery Lappi woman in her traditional costume.  This costume is not worn everyday and it is handmade.  I really love this costume and ever since I've learned that I was going to Finland,  I've been wwanting to buy one.  However they are tremendously expensive.  It is very warm and is designed to prevent any snow coming in contact with the skin.  ALso the beautiful colors reflect the nature in Lapland in the fall.  We visited her house which once housed something like 13 children and looked way too small for that amount of people.  Apparently,  the house is actually only part of a house.  The other part belonged to her great uncle.  The house was seperated when her grandfather and his brother had had a quarrel.  Her grandfather lost the fight and so got the smallest part of the house.  She showed us lots of antiques as well.  After that we went to visit the actual reindeer which were adorable as could be expected.  The awkward thing was that everybody loved the reindeer but we all realized hat they were going to be used for.  Who can blame the Lappi?  they don't do it for sport,  they kill the reindeer for food,  to eat or to sell,  so that they can make a living.  You can see that they aso love their reindeer.

After that we visited a nature center and watched a movie about Finnish flora and fauna.  After walking around for so long and then finally sitting down,  you can imagine how sleepy we all were.  It was pretty terrible actually,  half of us fell asleep.  In the afternoon,  we went for a reindeer sleigh ride which was nice except that about half way into the 1km circuit,  the reindeer in front of us got really tired and moved really slowly so we got caught in a traffic jam.  By that time,  it was getting dark (at around 14.00).  There was also a tipi there - another small piece of Canada.  We snowshoed from the reindeer sleigh place to the huskydog sleigh place.  The huskies were incredibly noisy and some were screeming and crying out to the moon - it was kind of scary - but something makes me think they were only anxious to get moving.  The dog sleigh ride was much faster than the reindeer ride - maybe Santa should think of employing dogs - his rounds may go faster.  Afterwards a husky dog trainer from Germany spoke to us about the dog's year.  In the summer months,  they do nothing because they get too tired too fast but in the winter months - they often go on long trips to Norway with tourists.  Just the previous week the guide had gone on a week-long journey to the north.  I think that would be fascinating.  I'm considering coming back to Finland just for that.  However I think I might have the opportunity also in Canada.  He also talked about the dog hierarchy and I was (inexplicably) reminded of Jack London.  Each position on the pulling team is critical and requires a different dog.  The first two must be very obedient and fast - usually they are the eldest.  The dogs in the middle are usually the youngest because they have to see how the forward dogs obey and they have to train to run.  The dogs at the back are the strongest because when the sleigh needs to start or stop,  they have to take the whole wieght of the sleigh.  After this we returned to the hotel where we had a nice dinner and I talked with various people until around 20.30.  AT that time we went up to the conference room where the "oldies" (from Australia,  New Zealand,  and South Africa) were going to say their goodbyes to us (they came to Finland last January and are leaving on January 12 (so soon! :()).  I didn't really get to know many Australians,  New Zealanders or South Africans because they were always together.  I think its because they arrived here together.  Still,  I also found at first that the Australians were really selfcentered and way - way too patriotic (go AUstralia and Aussies and everything Ausralian!!!whoooohohohoho Aussiaussiaussi)  But I later decided that I'm just not used to loud people anymore.    SO,  the old oldies who were our oldies' oldies gave them some items which have been passed down from group to group.  At this meeting they passed down those items to us.  There were Australia pyjamas,  a guitar,  a skateboard,  a rubixcube,  a book,  a soccer ball and several other things which I have forgotten.  So at the Eurotour we will pass down those things to the newbies from Australia and NewZealand and South Africa.

After this tearful ceremony,  a Lappi singer came to sing folksongs.  It was very impressive and I loved it.  It was so unique to this place.  Every time I hear it it will bring me back to Lapland.  The man wore the same kind of costume as the Lappi woman wore that morning.  He explained things about his costume such as the belt which - if it had round buttons meant hat you were single and if it had square buttons it meant that you were married.  Also his boots which curve up at the end were designed to fit skies which is precicely why they are curved at the end.  The whole costume is handmade from reindeer skin (which makes me feel a little better about the reindeer killing).  The singer himself made belts for a living.

Since it was our last night in Lapland we had a dance party in which about half the people there danced.  It was really fun and I was sad when it ended at 00.30 despite the fact that I was exhausted.

Finally,  the last day came but I will leave that for the next entry because I want to see another little pin on the map in Rovaniemi.