Huskies!!

During the week at the snow hotel we were offered a ride with huskies!!

Ofcourse we all said yes! It was definitely a grand experience! Apart from not being able to feel my fingers or toes, the sky was perfect, the company jolly (& just as frozen), and the day excellent!

Without much instruction and just being told to hold on tight, we were off!

I think pictures speak louder than words on this one!

Desperate times..

call for desperate measures!!!

Freezing!

Yes..so..when it's cold outside we stay inside. No. Not in Lapland! When its freezing, you freeze. Not you but sculptures!

~The lake~

As part of the Time Space Place workshop we decided to make sculptures from freezing material by using water from our natural enviroment a.k.a the frozen lake. Our topic was "tracks" and we decided to create forms of animals found in the north!

~getting started~

First we had to create wooden forms and then cover them with soaking wet material! Waterproof gloves would have been a good idea..

~almost there!~

As we worked as a group we were able to get the job done pretty quickly! I also think that the thought of getting inside to the warmth sped up the process!




~Reindeer and fox~



So after spending the whole day outside, I thought I might turn into a block of ice myself!



~got ice..~


Erasmus has been full of quotes and the sentence of today was made by my teacher. While trying to move a massive piece of ice he told us "You can dance with it if it is not so wet" as he continued to twirl around on the frozen lake humming a song to himself!



~Tada!~


The job was finally done before the sun set and although they were not masterpieces, after not being able to feel my fingers or toes after 10minutes in, I can happily say I was proud of our work!






Patience and persistence. Never underestimate the power of layers!

And it's getting cold..

This morning I walked to university in -15oC. Record!

I also realised that although were surrounded with snow I still havnt built my 1st snowman yet!! Luckily I have a week to do something similar though!

We have been designing a snow hotel and will be going to build it in late November/early December!

Note to self! I need new gloves!!!

Ouch!!

Today my heart bled as I spent a ridiculous amount of money on ski trousers!

~♥~

Good thing I think they are awesome though! :D!!!

(They are also extra extra warm!!! No more feeling -13oC!!! Woop!!)

Lantern Design!

In Finland people just do.

After a strenuous two weeks of Lantern building and Fire Sculpture Workshops I have come to realise that no matter the weather, if its in the name of art, an artist will do it! Especially in Lapland!

For the past two weeks a group of exchange students and some Finns designed, prepared made and burnt their work!

Being part of this group has been the most stressful time I have had here. I cannot lie and say it was all flowers and sunshine! It was more like hard work and snow!

WEEK 1:

Welcome to the workshop

After a week of quick planning and getting into small groups, Lantern design had gotten into full swing. We were told to design lanterns that would be displayed at the annual River Lights event in Rovaniemi on the 6th of November. We were told only a few things. The lanterns would be made of wood, paper and thin material. We would have all materials supplied for us and our theme was fishing equipment.

Research, models and discussion

All hands on! After being split into a group with two other people, we quickly agreed on the idea of making a fishing net in which we would put fish as if they had been caught.

The skeleton. 1/3 done!

After creating the outer skeleton it was time to wrap the sculpture in the material. Luckily we were inside, it was getting cold out and the rain was also paying us a visit.

hard at work

It turned out that it takes two people to cover a structure properlly in material..team work all the way!

Kiitos! (Thank you in Finnish)

Once we had finally covered all of the constructions (not the easiest of shapes might I add!!, with the material and paper, it was time for the making of operation mass production fish to begin! Luckily some friends decided that cutting out fish was a fun experience! More hands make light work!

"If I had a hammer.."

Although Lantern building was a challenge we still had Fire Sculpture to look forward to and that would be outside!

Snow!!

So I could tell it was getting colder but I don't think I was ready for it to snow so heavily so suddenly!

~Friday morning~

I woke up on Saturday morning, opened my curtains to reveal a white ground and snow flakes falling gently from the sky! SNOW!!!!

Ofcourse the first thing that I did was to run through to my flatmates bedroom and jump up and down like a small child!!! That was it! Hats on and boot up! We're going out!

~Saturday morning! (about 30minutes after waking up)~

After playing around in the snow for a while, a group of us decided to head into the city centre to catch a coffee! We took the long way and my Caffe Latte was well appreciated!

~Angels~

Seeing as it was a Saturday we had to run back home before the sunset to make it in time for sauna! We passed some beautiful scenery on the way. It was now time for the weekend to begin properlly!

~Wowza~

Today the landscape inspired me once again. I like how the trees appear to be on the otherside of the river in this photograph. Infact they are just silhouettes of the trees about 5m infront of me. It seems like Lapland never stops to surprise me.

Oulu!

When someone says Irish Festival I suddenly think of Ireland. I think of people, I think of music and I think of fun! So ofcourse when asked if we should to to the Irish festival in Oulu I said yes!

This is probablly one of my favourite things about Erasmus. We just do. There was a large group of us that decided to go on a weekend trip to the city of Oulu! We booked some camping cottages and hopped onto the train early on Saturday morning! We arrived around noon and began our walk (which turned out to be a trek!) to where we would be lodging!

~Happy arrivals~

After eventually arriving at our destination we were told that we could not book in until 1.30. After sitting in the cold for about 30minutes we were finally able to through our belongings into our rooms for the night and head of into the centre!

~Off to explore~

The scenery was very beautiful! From old houses to very modern buildings, there was a lot of oppertunity for photographs! When we arrived in the centre I expected to hear lots of noise and see lots of people but this was not to be. Was there a festival on at the moment? Supposedly yes but all we got to see was a small group playing some music in the local pub. Instead of cramming oursleves into the small room we decided to catch up on our chat and went to a Mexican resturant to eat!

~Bon appetite~

After our fiesta..siesta!..we headed out in search of some proper Irish festivities. Here we came across another bar which was a bit more lively! By the end of the night we were in a beer garden heated by outdoor lamps chatting away to the Erasmus students of Oulu! Sadly no Irish were met but we did make friends with some Czechs! The night was not lost!

~Art gallery~

The next day we payed a visit to the Art Gallery where a teacher from the university was displaying his work! He has created sculptures using the land as a mould, intresting idea!!!

There were also some videos and other art pieces displayed! Good inspiration for the weeks ahead of lantern design and fire sculpting!!

~♥ Lapland~

Before leaving we took a quick trip to the beach where we were able to draw in the sand and test the FREEZING cold water! :D! Then once again it was back to Rovaniemi to start another academic week!

Beautiful mornings..

Sometimes pictures say more than words...

Helsinki!

When in..Finland!

~Early arrival in Helsinki Central!~

After checking our timetables and discovering that we had a Friday off uni, my three friends and I decided to travel to Helsinki for a "long" weekend!

We left on Thursday evening and arrived in the early hours of the morning on Friday! After surviving the night train it was time to become a tour guide! I have been to Helsinki many times and like to think I know the place quit well! However, as with anywhere, there is always more to discover!

~Being an art student and all we visited the Modern Art gallery, Kiasma~

Luckily we had met a new friend who comes from Helsinki on our trip to Sweden! He was going back home for the weekend as well and said he would help to show us around! Our first stop. Torni Cafe! A place in the centre of the city where you can see a birds eye view from all around! Also a chance to grab a coffee for those who were a bit sleep deprived ;)!

~Even a perfect view from the bathroom! (personally a bit strange!! :P)~

A personal reason for coming to Helsinki at this point was to see the bears that were being exhibited infront of the main cathedral! Being part of Erasmus and all that...

"We have to get to know each other better- it makes us understand one another better, trust each other more, and live together more peacefully."

~Bears!!! Holding hands ^__^~

After Visiting various shops and locations we headed off for some good "traditional" Finnish cuisine!!! Possibly one of my favourite places in the world is the resturant Zetor! It has been decorated in the old schools Finnish country life style. With typical Finnish music and a nice ambiance what else would any foreigner want ;)!!

~Good Food! (& company!!)~

After a great meal we headed back to our friends house where we were warmly welcomed! After good chat, music and even more food (& some drinks) we headed out on the town! Luckily we managed to get a cheap taxi home and didnt have to wait on the bus! We were up again early the next day to explore more of the city!

~"Pippi Longstocking's house!!"~

After a good weekend it was time to jump back on the long train ride back to Rovaniemi! Goodbye Helsinki! See you in December!!!

Uni life!

So what has happened so far!...Well,

~6.30am! Wakey Wakey *yawn & stretch*~

Life drawing has begun. The class is very similar to the one I had in Scotland. I enjoy it as it is a good time to relax and work on my basic skills however, the 8am starts might start to destroy me slowly! Especially when the walk to Uni is around 45minutes!!!

~Yeah sometimes I wish I was still asleep too!~

French is also well on the way ;)! Having french speakers around me is a BIG help! Also a great way to comunicate with the neighbours! Everyone here is very friendly! I am indeed a lucky girl!

~J'aime apprendre le francais!~

We also had our first exhibition in a course called Time, Space, Place! This course has blown my mind! We had lunch in the forest with the class after creating an art piece out of our natural landscape. It is here that I realise how much the Finns appreciate their natural habitat and appreciate the nature that they live in.

~Our sculpture in its natural habitat~

~lunch is served~

~walking back home through the forest~

Sweden Luleå

Welcome to Luleå...

I have finally got my photographs sorted out! It is time to tell the tales of the last weeks! ..or month!! Well as part of the art department we were given the opertunity to go on a trip to an art museum in Sweden to see some tapestrys. Due to copy right issues I can not list them here! However they were very nice and it was clear that lots of time and effort had went into the making of them!

We left Rovaniemi very early in the morning and after a long bus ride arrived in a rainy Sweden! After visiting the gallery we took a walk around the town!

To be honest apart from the museum and the good company, the weather was lousy and we did'nt really have enough time to do anything very exciting apart from getting lost in the rain!

By 5pm, 6pm Finnish time, we were back on the bus and on the way back home!

Goodbye Sweden..trevlig resa!

The day of the outdoor Museums

"Little Darling, here comes the sun.."

During one of the first weekends, a bunch of the erasmus students took the oppertunity to inverstigate and visit the museums of Rovaniemi! It was the open week meaning we did not have to pay (woop woop! happy students!) and it was also the last chance to visit the outdoor museums before winter arrived.

We set of in the early afternoon not having a clue where these places were but with map in hand and good company the banter was braw!

~ The girls ~

The weather was excellent the whole day and we had enough time to have a good look around a traditional Finnish farm house and also to visit the Forestry Museum.

The old houses I have seen so far are mostly painted in traditional red colour. We were told that the houses were painted red back in the day as this was one of the cheaper colours to make and buy. However, many of the houses have a yellow door. Although a household may not have been rich, they would paint only a small section of their house to show their wealth.

~ The outhouse ~

~ Finnish National Costume ~

_______

~Animal skins were used for many things..For example,

squirrl skins were used as currency..~

~coffe break~


We even got the chance to not only see but also to taste and enjoy some traditional pastries baked here by the locals.