2,500+km of adventure!

Previously in my blog: I mentioned that I was going on a road trip with three friends to the north. Well, that's exactly what happened! We had a big surprise half way through, but I'll get to that later. Let me start from the beginning...

We left last Sunday morning. It was a beautiful day and we made lots of stops as we headed for our 1st destination: Ivalo, Finland. We went to Santa Claus village, saw tons of reindeer, and visited some other random places. What a beautiful country!

At the top of a ski slope at sunset

Reindeer aren't very shy

My fellow adventurers in a winter wonderland!

So that night we stayed in a cottage and set out bright and early for our next destination: Olderfjord, Norway! Right before we crossed the border, we hiked up a mountain. So much snow and nothing for miles! It felt like we were in a movie. 

At the top!

Definitely felt like we were in
an apocalypse movie

Suddenly, Norway!

I couldn't believe how easy it was to get into Norway. All we had to do was just drive on through. No stops or anything! That night we stayed in another cabin (much larger and nicer). The next day (Tuesday) we drove up, up, up to Nordkapp! The northern most point in continental Europe! I was actually looking at the Arctic Ocean!!!!! Ahhhh!!!! :D Then we went to Hammerfest, one of the northernmost cities in the world! That night we stayed in the same cabin as the previous night.

Nordkapp

The next day (Wednesday) we left Olderfjord to make our way along the coast to Tromsø  We got about half way when we had an unexpected surprise.. The weather hadn't been so nice this day and the snow was really coming down. We had just come down off of the mountains and entered a small village called Sørkjosen when we hit a patch of ice and lost control of the car. Luckily were were at sea level again and only went into a ditch instead off the side of a mountain into the ocean. No one was hurt but the car got a little beat up. Luckily some nice Norwegian guys saw us and helped us out. While we were waiting to hear back from the car rental people one of the Norwegian guys took us to his house and showed us his hunting pictures and told us stories about living there. It was really great! Then he drove us and our luggage to a hotel and told us where everything was. He was so helpful!

On Thursday we figured out how to get back home with no car (the parts for the car wouldn't be in for another few days so we had to leave it there). A guy who worked at the hotel really helped us out a lot by informing us of some bus routes. We got on a bus, took a ferry, got on another three buses and finally arrived in Narvik. There we got a room in a hostel. That city is very beautiful and has a lot of quirky things in it. We even saw some guys break dancing! haha!

Friday morning we woke up and had a very yummy breakfast (bacon and eggs!!) before getting on our train to Luleå, Sweden. We were able to get some studying done as well as talk to a nice Swedish lady. After we got off the train we caught a bus to Haparanda, Sweden. At 1st we were worried that we would be stuck there because there is no connection from there to Finland, but luckily Elizabeth knew a girl who was in the area and she was able to (very quickly) drive us to the train station in Kemi, Finland. We made it to the train two minutes before it left! WHEW!! That train took us to Oulu and Alex had his friend come pick us up and drop us off at our flats around midnight. 

WOW! What a week! Even though it didn't go quite as planned, I still had an amazing time! I would have preferred to not have had the accident, but it was really a blessing in disguise. Because of it we were able to meet both Norwegian and Swedish natives! It was also an exciting adventure to try to find a way back home. And I rode my first ferry! Not to mention that this wasn't the same old hat as everyone else's trip to the north. We have a very exciting twist! :D

Snow and ice :) haha!

I'm really glad I went. Not only because of the adventure, but also because it was great spending six days with three Germans. So many laughs and I learned so much about Germany!

Balancing game :D

We love Finland and the Nordic countries!!

Let fall break commence!

Today was the first day of fall break! Not everyone gets a fall break here. It depends on your department of study. Most of my classes are in the Scandinavian Studies program so I have the week off! ...if it wasn't for my one biology course... but I'm going to skip it because I am going to the lapland tomorrow and won't return until Friday! :D Me and three other friends have rented a car and we are hitting the road! I really hope the weather doesn't get too bad. It was very beautiful today! But it has been raining most of the week. It even snowed once!

In case I haven't already said it a thousand times,
the sky here is sooooo beautiful!!!

This was taken around 12:30 this afternoon.
It still amazes me that the sun isn't actually
overhead, but off on the horizon.
It's crazy to be so far north! :)

In other news: I have FINALLY gone to the pancake restaurant! and all I can say is: Why didn't I go sooner?! It's amazing! They have every kind of pancake you could ever want! I got a bacon and cheese one and then a nutella one for dessert *drool*

I also went bowling the other day! My friend told the lady who was working that it was my birthday and that he wanted to request the song "Karma Chameleon" to be played for me. All the Finns thought we were crazy for singing and dancing, but it was so much fun :D

Aside from all of my fun times, I am now starting to get very busy with school work. I have a lot of assignments coming up :S but I'll worry about those when I get back from our trip to the north :D

I'll talk to you all on Friday! 

<3 Hannah

Oulanka and Lights

This weekend I went on a field trip with my Humans and Environment class to Oulanka National Park. It's about a 3 1/2 hour drive North East of Oulu very near the Russian border. We left at 8am on Friday and got back at 7 tonight. It was (as always) a lot of fun!

Above: Rapids
Right: Canyon

The class! Love these people

Finnish lakes are the most beautiful
lakes in the world!

Our activities for this trip consisted of eating yummy food, having a couple of very interesting lectures, hiking some trails, sauna, hanging out in the common room at night, and "crossing" the Russia/Finland "border". It's not technically the border, but it's very close. Russia is very strict with outsiders coming in so they have the roads blocked off. I guess in this picture, I'm more or less standing in no-man's land :P






Reindeer. Finland wouldn't be Finland without them. They are all along the sides of roads. You have to be careful while driving so you don't hit them. I learned on this trip that most all reindeer have an owner so don't just randomly shoot one. Sorry this picture isn't so good. It was taking in the moving bus :P I'll get a better one eventually!




The trip was really fun! But what put the icing on the cake was coming home and seeing the northern lights!!!! :D

SOOOOOOOO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!

They were very faint, but it doesn't matter! It was still an amazing experience and I can't wait to see them again!! :D :D :D

Hope you are doing well!
<3 Hannah

My Trip to the Arctic Circle

Today was so great! Me and six other friends woke up really early, rode our bikes to the train station, and went to the capital of Lapland, Rovaniemi!

A sign pointing in the direction of
major cities all over the world!

Line painted on the ground where the
"exact" latitude of the Arctic Circle is!

I was SOOOO excited to finally be at the Arctic Circle!

But more than one life long dream was reached today, because....

I MET THE REAL SANTA! and gave him a hug too! He is such a happy and magical person :D

me and Santa are homies

A picture of the real Santa with Nightwish!
They are an awesome Finnish rock band.

   









Today was full of many new experiences!

1st time eating reindeer meat!

It was such a good day! And this is only the beginning! I hope to be traveling above and beyond into the greatness that is Northern Finland very soon! But this was an excellent starting point :)
I am very tired after this exciting day so I must now say goodnight. Sooo... goodnight! :D

<3 Hannah

One month already??

Wow! One month has already passed.. So much has happened! Time is going by waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too fast! It needs to slow down! But I don't think that's gonna happen, because every day here is better and better :D

So last weekend I went with some exchange students on a trip to Syote National Park. It was a really good time! We ate makkara, paddled boats around the lake, went hiking, played games, did sauna, jumped in the lake, saw some reindeer (on the bus ride to and from), and got really close to nature! We had to get water from a pump and didn't have plumbing, but thankfully there was a heater in the cabins because it was -2 degrees celcius at night!

Today was the beginning of the 7th annual Irish Festival here in Oulu. I think it's very strange that they have an Irish Festival, but it's very fun! They have all kinds of events (movies, music, stories, etc) all day every day until Sunday night. 

Went to a pub and saw a band tonight. They were really good!
I felt like I was back in Ireland :)

In other news:

• I still have yet to see the northern lights. It has been too cloudy on the days that they have been visible, but I've still gone out to look! I hope to see them soon!
• The semester is really starting to get busy! There is always so much to do!!
• I have been assigned my Tandem partner :D This is a Finnish student who will help me with my Finnish and I will help him with his English. But his English is already good.. so....
• I am going to go to Roveniemi on Sunday with some friends! This is a town right on the Arctic Circle and where Santa Claus village is!
• I am planning a trip to the lapland and to northern Norway/Finland for my fall break which is Oct 22-26, but details are still being worked out.
• I got a new roommate! My other roommie got approved for a larger apartment. My new roommate's name is Noemi and she is from Hungary. She's great! :D

That's pretty much it! I always say this, but I could honestly go on and on and on and on and on! but I won't because that would just be CrAzY! So I'll stop here 

Love you guys!

-Hannah

BTW: here is a pic of my new friend! His name is Henry the hirvi (moose in Finnish) and I got him on our way to Syote National Park. 

Turning more Finnish everyday!

It seems like soooo much has happened this past week! It literally FLEW by! I saw the wings and everything, no joke!

I would now like to add to my list of Finnish things I've done:

Opened up a Finnish bank account!                             

(I had to for my monthly stipend)

My fancy new debit card!

Eaten even more Finnish delicacies!

In picture:
*on left: Maksalaatikko (liver casserole)
*center: Viili/piima/filmjolk/skyr (sour milk)
*left: Veriohukaiset (blood pancakes)

Not shown:
*Salmiakki (it's a "liquorice" type candy that tastes terrible! but all Finns love it)
*A legit salmon filet! (mmmmmmmmm!)






                                         Got a pair of haalarit! (overalls)

I haven't really explained these yet,but it's 
something that's really big here at the 
University. All the different student guilds 
(departments of study) has their own color of 
haalarit. The biology ones don't come in until 
December so I went ahead and got the ESN 
(exchange student network) ones! I'll explain 
these more  later in my upcoming "Finns are 
Crazy" blog :D Antici.......pation!

Went to my first hockey game!

Oulu Karpat vs Tampere Tappara

It was really great! There are three 20 minute parts to the game and each time I stood in a different place. The first time I was high up in the stands. The second time I was standing at the bottom of this section. The third time I was standing on the opposite side (around where that Viestimaa advertisement is). haha!

Oulu lost 3-1, but it was really fun! and either way, Finland won! Go Finland!



Got my kummi family and went to visit them!!!

1st off I would just like to say that I am already in love with this family and I just met them today!

Starting from the left side of the table: Alina, 10. Eerika, 9. Heidi, 2. Aaron, 5. And Mr and Mrs Poysko, Tuomo and Sanna!

Sanna came and picked me up today and took me to their house (which is b-e-a-u-tiful!) where I met the rest of the family! Tuomo and Sanna's english is a little rusty, but all things considered, very good! They start learning english when they are 9 so Alina and Eerika know a little bit. They showed me their school books and we talked a little bit with what they knew. Aaron and Heidi had no idea what I was saying and were confused why mom and dad weren't speaking Finnish haha! After talking with Sanna and Tuomo for awhile, Alina and Eerika showed me their rooms. We ended up playing with Eerika's dollhouse and Heidi soon joined in. It consisted of my doll riding a horse on the roof, Eerika's doll eating grass (the carpet) because it was too long, Alina's doll driving a croc (shoe) like a car, and dolls doing backflips onto Heidi's head! It was SOO much fun! After that, Sanna prepared a little snack. I had a cup of Lipton forest fruit tea, a karelian pie, and a cupcake that had raspberries on it! Yum! Then we talked more about lots of stuff! After 4 hours, I finally came home. I can't wait to see them again! :D They are super nice and the kids are SO cute!


Although I have been doing a lot of Finnish things, I still haven't lost touch with my American side. There have been two international dinners so, naturally, I had to represent! 

S'mores: No one had a clue what these were.
Everyone thought I was crazy haha!

PB&J:
Peanut butter is very rare here!
Everyone though it was
more of a dessert than lunch!

There's always so much more to say, but I'll go ahead and wrap it up for now!
Love you all! Until next time
<3 Hannah

Random Info

As of tomorrow, I will have lived in Oulu for 2 weeks! WOW! I really can't believe it. It has flown by, but at the same time so much has happened that it feels like I've been here for months! So far I've only really talked about what I've done. For this blog I want to talk about what it's actually like to live here and how it's different than being back in Missouri. 

SCHOOL

Read my last blog for the details on how the academic system works here :P

APARTMENT LIFE

I live in a 2 bedroom apartment so it is very small. Our kitchen is basically a hallway. There's no room for a table and no living room. The people who have 4 bedroom apartments have a large kitchen with room for a table and couch, but no worries. I live in the building known as "club 16". It's called this because there is ALWAYS a party going on somewhere in this building. 

TRANSPORTATION

I think everyone who lives here owns a bike and that is how everyone gets around. My friend told me that Oulu has the most bike paths per person of any city in the world and I definitely agree with it! There are bike paths EVERYWHERE! It is so wonderful! The best investment I have made since arriving has been purchasing a bike. I ride it every day! It saves me so much money by not taking the bus and not to mention is much healthier. I also really get to know the city a lot better by riding all around through it. I don't think you can truly fit in here until you have a bike haha! But of course, a lot of people still ride the bus or drive a car (at least the adults. a lot of students don't have a car)

SHOPPING

There is a nice little shopping center 3 minutes (walk) from my apartment. There is Tokemanni which has a little bit of everything! There is also two grocery stores, a post office, a kiosk store, a chinese restaurant, a pizza place, and the university bar. It is so great to have them so close! but there is also a Prisma (the walmart of Europe) that's a short bike ride away if I need something more specific. It is hard to shop sometimes because everything is (of course) in Finnish, but I finally got a English to Finnish dictionary so that really helps me out! 

EATING

Most of the time I eat on campus because, with my student card, it is only 2.70 euro. You get bread, two drinks (water and juice, milk, or beer), rice or potatoes, one of four main course options, and salad. It's a really good deal! and it's a lot easier to eat with friends in the cafeteria than in my non-existent dining room haha! There are six restaurants to choose from as well.

PARTYING 

There is a lot of partying that goes on here. I'm pretty sure there is one every night. If an event is going on some evening, then there is usually a pre-party or most certainly an after-party based around said event.They are in people's flats or in the city centre. I feel like I'm a freshmen again! haha!  They are pretty fun, but sometimes I'm an old lady and have quiet nights instead :D hahaha!

STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS

There are a lot of student organizations at this university! They have something for pretty much everything and there is always an event going on of some kind. Frats and sororities don't exist here. That's an American thing. Instead, the big thing at this school are student guilds which are the different departments of study. (e.g. biology, business, math, etc). 

PEOPLE

I think I fit in really well here with the Finns. They are quiet at first but once you meet them a few times, they really start to open up! They don't care much for small talk because they place a lot of value on words. They are super helpful and very friendly people! I really love them.

ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS

Finland has an excellent reputation for being very environmentally conscious. Waste is separated when thrown out so most everything is recycled. Cans and bottles can be turned in at the store for money so that really helps motivate people to do it (plus I think it's the law). Pollution is low because everyone rides bikes or takes the bus. Nature is very, very big here. There is water, trees, and other vegetation everywhere you look. Sometimes I forget that I'm in a city because of all of it. And at night time, you can see the stars so clearly! It's beautiful here :)

There is A LOT more I could talk about, but I think this is enough for now. That's quite a bit of type O_O

Man in a boat

Nähdään!

-Hannah

at the beach