Lapland Trip

One of the three trips Rotary offers is the Lapland Trip, which we ride a bus up to Muonio and spend 3 days up there until coming back on the fourth day. The Lapland trip was from November 28th to December 2nd!

My third host parents took me to Hyvinkää bus station where the bus I would be riding would pick me up. Also at that stop was Kellar, from Ohio, and we met up and talked a bit and got back in our cars since it was so cold. We were waiting for our bus to come for over 30 minutes, it was already 15 minutes late thats when Kellar got a call from the Rotex and we found out that bus we thought wasn't our bus was actually our bus. We boarded the bus to find out we were the first one's and we could choose any seats we want. So like the bad kids we are we chose the back haha!

We made stops to: Hammenlinna, Tampere, Oulu and other cities in between that I don't remember. This with 2 breaks took about 17 hours! The bus ride wasn't too bad, we had a lot of fun, music, and food haha. At one in the morning we did have to change buses because our bus's fifth and sixth gears were broken. Once we reached Muonio at like 10 in the morning we were greeted with snowballs from the other exchange students who had arrived before us and we went to our rooms to put our suit cases down. I shared a room with Maddie (Canada), Mariam (Mexico), and Jana (Germany)! We had the lucky greatness to have the last room at the end of the hall which means there was a lot of walking involved to get to our rooms! Haha!

Day One:

• Arriving in Muonio
• Snowball fights: Not long after we arrived most of us went outside and threw snowballs at each other and sled down the hill, this lasted for 30 to 40 minutes!
• Enjoying the Lappi life: Nothing else was planned for the day so we just caught up with each other as we haven't been together since Karkku. We played games, ate, and

Day Two:

• Skiing in Olos: I had never skied before so I knew it would be interesting! It took me four hours until I could get the handle on it, but unfortunately I stayed on the little baby slope's because I just was not advanced enough for the bigger slopes! Most of us already knew how to sky or snowboard but then you have the rest of us who have never tried. Even if I didn't go all the way to the top or become a pro in the five hours we had, I still had a lot of fun! P.S Ski boots hurt sooo much!

• We went to a local school that evening where different countries did dances or performances to the locals and a few groups of girls also did dances for us. It was nice to show the local community in Muonio the craziness of us exchange students, and I hope we inspired at least one person to become an exchange student. 

Day Three:

• Went to a Reindeer Farm: At this Reindeer farm we learned about Reindeer farmers and the history of this farm. We also learned about how Reindeer was used for warmth  and food and how resourceful the Sami people are of Reindeer. (Sami people are what the people who lived in Lapland are called. Similar to Native Americans.)
• Fed Reindeer: They were so darn cute!! There were so many Svens!
• Went Reindeer Sleighing: In the evening we walked in snow shoes to the Reindeer riding place. We rode reindeer in a little circle, and it was absolutely amazing!
• Went Husky Sleighing: After Reindeer sledding we went Husky sleighing! It was also just as wonderful! And being able to see all the wonderful dogs! At this Husky farm (?) They had over 400 dogs, there were so many! They were all so cute also!
• Had Reindeer for dinner: That night we had Reindeer for dinner! It didn't taste much differently then other meat. I'm so sorry Sven!
• Had a party that night since it would be the last time we are all together since our oldies leave next month: At 6:30 we had an evening program, where Rotex did some things, a Sami man came and sung us orignal songs and chants, and then our oldies sung us a few songs and then from 8 to 12 we partied!

Day Four:

• Went to the North Pole in Rovaniemi: We left the hotel at 9, I believe, and left for Rovaniemi! It was a 3 hour bus ride until we got there. In Rovaniemi we stopped at Santa's Village aka The North Pole, and were given about 2 hours to explore! It wasn't as magical as I hoped it would be, it was very commercialised and not very spectacular. But I did get my passport stamped with the Artic Circle stamp!
• Saw Santa
• Left from Lapland to come home (Got home the next day at 5 in the morning)

This is a summary of my Lapland trip! I had so much fun! Thank you to everyone who helped make it so much fun and to my lovely oldies who will be gone soon. Also thank you too Lee and Bill from my district back home for helping me go on this amazing trip!

Here is a short video of pictures a few video's from Lapland! Not all these pictures are mine so thank you Neeky, Marie, and Mariam <3

Click here to see the video!

-Hailey