Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Oh yes! The last week and a half before we left it snowed, and not just pathetic slushy rubbish you get in England, but a good six inches of "oh my god where have my feet gone?" white crunchy snow! So iv spent that time being as giddy as a child and built snowmen and been sledding (not recommended in -11c temp though, a bit cold!).

Our last two weeks were generally spent getting ready to come home, ie buying last minute pressies, shutting bank accounts etc but we also got to see people from uni when we did the videolink for the problem based learning sessions, that was good.

We also managed to fit in going to see the local ice hockey team, Oulu Karpat, who are 2nd in the Finnish league. I was really excited about the match and it was fab, they proper barge each other into the sides and the lead point scorer for each team wears a gold helmet, how cool! Oulu won 4-3 but the match was so changeable that either could have won.

Unfortunately we had to come home. It was a strange concept that we would actually be going back to England and doing English things that it freaked me out a bit. Its weird, the past 3 months have flown by but at the same time it felt like we'd been there ages.

Lucky me had to get the train home to Leeds from the airport because my parents were on holiday but it was still nice to be home and I got to see all my family the days after. I also went up to Newcastle to visit my boyfriend for a few days as it was his 21st last Wednesday. We went to Newcastle dogs, that was a good laugh and I think we came off even so that's alright. He also had a party back home last Sunday which was fab because there were people there that we hadn't seen since 6th form!

So as I sit in my Salford flat typing this, avoiding the work i should be doing, I'm going to leave this as my last post because the rest of the year is going to be nowhere near as exciting as Finland. Iv had a fantastic time on the exchange and Id definitely recommend it! My highlights have been the air guitar contest, Santa and the huskie pups but its all been fab and Iv got no regrets. Its been a great opportunity to write this blog too and i hope anyone who's read it has enjoyed it too.

I suppose all that's left is "kiitos, hei" (thanks, bye)

The Christmas Edition

Ha Ha I´v tempted you with the prospect of Santa now, but I'm going to leave that until last...


Remember when we went to Tampere we met Debbies friend who lives there? well she came up to Oulu to visit us weekend before last which was cool as it was nice to see her again and apparently her friends have been like "when are they coming to Tampere again?". Shes been to Oulu quite a few times before so we were in a bit of a predicament with what to do with her. We ended up going out a lot as shed never been to 45 special before, and took her to this museum and just chilled out really.


That Sunday was Aarons birthday so we went out for a meal and had a mini party with a cake. We had another poker tournament and my winning streak was over I was first out ah well, the birthday boy won though so I think he was chuffed.



So yeah we went to Lapland! The Santa Village is next to the city of Rovaniemi which is where we stayed. Rovaniemi is pretty small but it was nice and it had a Lordi restaurant! Since winning Eurovision song contest Lordi have become gods in Finland, the kids love them and everything. The restaurant was cool it was like Addams family meets hard rock cafe because it had all these statues of Lordi and other monsters and then downstairs in the bar there were guitars etc given from bands, I was loving it.


This Finnish guy we once met on train from Tampere lives in Rovaniemi so he met up with us and took us to some pretty cool bars. We also ended up trying other Finnish spirits - we had more jaloviina, we tried this mint liquor and also tar liquor - its not that bad but it had a funny aftertaste. On the Sunday we went to this Arktikum museum because we couldn't get a bus or rent a car to go to the big arctic wildlife park they have up there which was a shame but the museum was alright.


Santa Claus is one cool guy. Hes also a giant, his hands were as big as my head! He was really funny though because obviously we´re not children so he didn't do the patronising "what do you want for Christmas little girls and boys?" He had a bit of banter with us like asking us whether were united or city fans (ahem neither) and to Me and Debbie he was like "are you girls good all the time or most of the time?" and "one of you come sit on my knee", pervy funny Santa :)

Sorry about the blob from my flash but that's the photo we got done - 23 euros but theres no other way to get a pic with Santa. Santa village was very cute but we must have visited before the season started because i expected there to be elves and reindeer and little shows etc but there wasn't really anything apart from souvenir shops and a line where the arctic circle is. But it was still very cool, minus 7 in fact as the winter has now arrived, but no snow yet.

The next two weeks should be ok because we´re going to be doing our problem based learning meeting via video link, sod the work it´l be cool to see our mates on the big screen!

Well theres not much else to say so heres some photos...

This is Nallikari beach which is near Oulu, it was really nice there but unfortunately the weather wont be the same now.

This photo actually comes out quite well if you blow it up, this was the Mexican guy at the air guitar championships - he so should have won!

This is me (not the most flattering photo) on a bed of nails at the science museum in Oulu - dint even hurt either.

This cute little thing is a 6 week old husky puppy from the husky farm in Muonio. Such a sweety.

This view is fab, its from the top of the tower at the Olympic stadium in Helsinki, so would you believe, its a picture of Helsinki.

Finally this is the model of Lordi from the restaurant.

Well thats me for now, only got two weeks left...