Sweden Trip for School

Hello Readers,

In 2019 when I was finishing up my schooling in Finland, I had the opportunity to go on a class trip to Piteå, Sweden. This was a school trip as we were tasked with a group project to design Tourism Services for the City. We went around for 2 days learning about the City and what they have to offer visitors as well as attended a presentation at the Town Square by Tourism Piteå. 

At top the Light House overlooking the Bay.
Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

Piteå is located in the Northern Province of Sweden on the shore of the Bay of Bothnia. It is home to many islands and inlets which would make it a great destination in both winter and summer, however there tends to be more visitors in the summer months.  

We travelled by Bus and were able to stay one night in the hotel. I have included a video that one of my classmates created when the trip was over. This video really showcases the adventure and fun the group had on the trip during our many excursions and learning sessions. Video Credit: Thao Nguyen

The project was a lot of fun and as a group of 5 we created a product that Piteå could offer to tourists coming in winter. Our group was very close and got along very well, as you can see in the video, us having a lot of fun exploring with our teacher Teija. The final design project was presented over Zoom to the City as well as the presentations were sent to them so that they could potentially use the design in the future.

Going to school abroad lead to a lot of experiences for me. It allowed me to visit many countries and the opportunities the school gave us when it came to working with companies in the field was a great asset to our learning.

Thanks for reading... until next time. 

Santa Claus Parade

Hello Readers,

This photo is of me testing some
glasses at H&M. Really festive.
Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

On Saturday Nov. 10/2018 I attended the Santa Claus Parade in Rovaniemi, Finland. If you didn't already know Rovaniemi is the Official Home of Santa Claus. It started from the Town hall and finished in the city center or Lordi Square as it is known to the locals - named after the Finnish rock band, Lordi, which is from Rovaniemi.

I was a little disappointed by the parade, however, it was wet and rainy all day. The parade did not have many elves walking with Santa and the single Rudolph reindeer. When Santa arrived at the city square he was unaccompanied by the reindeer. The highlight was when a team of kindergarten children sang him a few Christmas songs. Yes, the songs were in Finnish but that didn't matter as you could see the joy on their faces while singing to the man himself. I have added a video of one of the songs to the Finland Photos Page located at the top.

This is the children singing the songs to Santa Claus.
Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

When the children were finished Santa took the stage and thanked everyone for coming out. He talked in both Finnish and English and asked the crowd if they thought they were on the naughty list or the nice list. There was also explanation that you could see him in the two malls that afternoon for a short chat and some pictures (we chose not to do that). It is very different then at home, as we have mall Santa's in almost every mall near by at Christmas Time. The difference is though that Rovaniemi being the home of Santa Claus, there is a Santa Claus Village just on the outskirts of the city.

I will be attending Santa Claus Village's official opening of the Christmas season this Saturday and I hope that I will not be disappointed. I think the atmosphere will be different because there will be more Christmassy things there - like trees, elves, presents etc. All of this would be better if it would snow as well. Here in the Arctic Circle we are still without snow. We are patiently awaiting the white blanket that will make it seem that Christmas is coming.We are already headed into the dark winter, as the "sun" (it has been cloudy and grey for almost a month, there has not been any sunshine) has been setting around 3pm and rising each morning around 9am. Our daylight will get shorter before I go home for Christmas, but with no snow it feels even darker.

I hope everyone reading this is getting into the holiday spirit, whether they celebrate Christmas or some other holiday.

Thanks for reading....
Bye for now.

Mayhem Event at Ounasvaara Ski Hill

This rider wasn't even a competitor, he started off all the snowmobile heats, they called him the crazy Finn.
Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

Hello Readers,


On April 21st I went to a Mayhem Event at the Ounasvaara Ski Hill here in Rovaniemi. This was a free event that was open to the public at the Ski Hill. I had received an email to my school email about this event that included a link to the website (which I have linked above) that has an amazing video about what this event looks like.

They had to go uphill to the rest of the course.
Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

This year the Mayhem event happened at 4 different locations across 4 different weekends, with the 3 earlier ones Olos, Luosto, and Ounasvaara leading up to the main attraction at Ylläs. This event is for snowmobiles and motocross motorcycles that have a track from the bottom of the hill to the top with some ramps and challenging light snow to get through. 

This Video is of the crowd favourite (the guy who got the most air) and also the guy who got the fastest heat of the day.

I thought this was an interesting event that you don't get the chance to see very often. I was excited to get the chance to see some snowmobiles going off some jumps and getting some air. The fastest snowmobile of the day made it to the top in 33seconds while some others took about a minute. The fastest rider was flying through the course, and got mega air when he went off the jump near the top of the hill. All of the spectators were oohing and aahing at this particular riders run. 

View of the Riders getting ready and the pit area.
Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

Some of the motocross motorcycle riders got stuck in the snowy section. It had been slightly warm this past week, so I thought it was melting snow, but later found out they put it there as an obstacle for the riders. While watching this part of the event it was like watching a 3year old shuffle their bike down the road instead of riding it, but they would make it through and continue through the course. 

Rider cutting through the snow on his bike.
Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

This was so cool, I really enjoyed going through my photos and selecting the best ones, that showcase the riders doing the jumps.


Bye for now...

Arctic Animals of Ranua Zoo

Measuring my height against the height
 of a Polar Bear standing up.
Photo Credit: Aleksina Seppä

Hello Readers,

This past weekend I got to go to the Ranua Zoo. I didn't do a lot of research on the zoo prior to going, so it was nice to see that the entire zoo housed animals you can find in the arctic rather then that of typical zoos I have visited in the past.

This trip was made available with my housing company here. The price was very cheap only 10€ and included the bus to and from Rovaniemi. Usually the zoo costs between 15€ to 18.50€ plus the bus which is about 50€ if you want picked up at your hotel. It can be quite expensive to attend.

In Finland the only place to see Polar Bears is the Ranua Wildlife Park. Many of the animals at Ranua Zoo are endangered in their natural habitat so seeing them here is one way to still enjoy these animals while you can.

You walk the entire zoo through the wooden trails - or slightly snow-covered wooden trails. The trails are one way, as you start you follow the arrows and once you have completed the approximately 2.8km walk you are back where you started. There are maps available when purchasing your tickets as well as there are signs throughout the park. At most of the animals there are different facts about them, like their size and what they like to eat. 

Polar Bear, Muskox, Arctic Fox, Great Grey Owl and Wild Boar. Some of the Animals you can find at the Ranua Zoo.
Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby - Created the Collage through Free App Pic Collage.

The best time to attend the Zoo would probably be in May, June or July as the animals are just beginning to start the spring process right now - the brown bears were still sleeping since their bodies feel like they should be hibernating. Also, in summer you can find many baby animals in Ranua Zoo. In the past there have been two cases of polar bear babies that have survived being born in the zoo.

 Bye for now..

Nörds Ice Hockey

Hey Readers,

Alex and I at the Arena Photo Credit: Aleksina Seppä

Yesterday, April 7, 2018, I was looking for something to do. I checked the Visit Rovaniemi website and I found out that there was a Ice Hockey tournament at Lappi Areena for the weekend. It was called Nörds on Ice 2018. A free event to attend but the level of hockey was not obvious. I read that it was just forbidden to be a player in the 3-division and upper tiers of the Finnish Hockey Leagues.


The tournament was a two day event that started Friday Night (which I did not attend, as I did not know about it), I attended some of the games in the afternoon on Saturday. The games were 45 minutes long, and at the end players of the game were announced. There was a no slap-shots and body-checks rule on the tournament, which made the talent of the players shine through. A few of the teams were from Rovaniemi while others were from Helsinki and Oulu.

HockIt Beta vs Fortinet
HockIt from Rovaniemi Won 5-1
Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

In the end the defending champions HC Tieto from Oulu won the tournament again. This did not surprise me since the earlier game of theirs I watched they won against one of the Rovaniemi HockIt teams 13-2. HC Tieto was a team of only 11 players while other teams had 15-20 players. With only 11 players that allowed them two full lines and a goalie, not a lot of time for rest between shifts but their endurance for the 45minutes allowed them to dominate the tournament.

I was happy to be able to watch this, though there weren't a lot of spectators at the arena (I believe lack of advertising was the problem). I hope to keep my eyes peeled for more things like this here in the city. It was a afternoon of quick and eventful games.

Stay tuned for another blog coming soon as Saturday April 14th I will be going to Ranua Zoo. I am hoping to see the polar bear and its baby from last year (won't be much of a baby now). It was the second baby polar bear born in a Zoo in Finland that has survived.

Bye for now...

Poro Cup 2018 - Reindeer Cup 2018

Ticket to the Poro Cup...It cost 5euro to Enter - Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

Readers,

Alex and I at the Entrance
Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

On Sunday February 25th, I attended the Poro Cup in Rovaniemi. Poro is Finnish for Reindeer. I was going to attend this last year however, it is about 5km outside of the city and there is no city buses that go there. This year, there was a committee that planned to have buses from the city center for free for anyone who wanted to attend. I took this chance to attend. My friend and I met in the city and took the bus. Even though she is Finnish she has never been to this kind of race before. It is very unique to Lapland.  

The Reindeer race consists of 4 racers on ski's that are pulled behind the reindeer. They have to go around the track which is 197.5 meters in length. I have included a short video of the racers from the start and when they zoomed past me.

 

When the races were over we waited for the bus to take us back to the city center. This bus service really made it possible to travel to the race track and witness this type of races. To me it is similar to that of horse racing around a track and there were even places you could bet on the winning reindeer/rider.

This was a very unique experience because I have not experienced this before. I did however, attend a shorter type of race in the city center of Rovaniemi last year. It was a practice race for competitors that had to race from the river to the center of the downtown and only two racers at a time.

If you get the chance to come to Northern Finland (Lapland) in winter, I hope that you can try and attend one of the Poro Cup races they have in the 6 Different Cities (Nuoritta, Rovaniemi, Kuusamo, Salla, Kuninkuusajot Inari, and Äkäslompolo).

Thanks for Reading...

All Adventures Must End

Hello Readers,

February 15th was the day I left Kempten, Germany and head back to Rovaniemi, Finland. I was bittersweet about leaving because I met a lot of nice people from all over the world (I now have connections to Hungary, Spain, Ireland, Mexico, USA, South Korea, and India to name a few), but I was also excited to get back to my friends that I haven't seen since May of last year.

Last Trip to the City Center of Kempten. Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

I haven't written a post in about a month because when I arrived back to Kempten after Christmas we had 2 weeks of classes and then exams began. I was just in my apartment studying for the exams because in Germany the exam is worth 100% of the mark, there are no assignment marks or anything, so studying for the exams was very important to achieve the grades.

Last View of the Mountains from the Train. Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

Prior to leaving I had a lot of tying up loose ends like closing my German Bank account, cleaning my apartment, preparing my luggage and saying goodbye to everyone. There were a few things I didn't do while I was here, like visit a few people I wanted to see while I was in the area but I just ran out of time and the 5 months just flew right by. I did get to meet up with my exchange student from High School who I hadn't seen for 12 years, I got to go to Italy, I went home for Christmas, and I got to explore much of the Allgäu region. That to me means that it was successful, just being here and meeting all of the generous people and exploring would have been enough experience for me.

Delicious but Expensive Hamburger at Helsinki Airport. Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

I will met with my Teacher Tutor on Monday February 19th to discuss my progress for school, since I was planning to arrive later into the semester. This was known before I left for exchange because in Finland the School Terms are End of August to Just Before Christmas, then January until Beginning of May and in Germany it goes from Beginning of October to Middle of February, then Middle of March to End of July. However, I only have two courses to take over the course of the term and they start on March 12, so currently I am enjoying my study week at my friends house.

Reminiscing about Venice with these lovely girls from South Korea. Photo Credit: So Young Lee

I will be posting again this week about when I attended a Reindeer Race last week. Stay tuned...

Bye for now...

Going Abroad

Readers…

I was thinking I should go into some detail about why Finland and how I ended up doing my entire Bachelor’s Degree there. In January of 2016 I decided that I wanted a change and to go back to school to get my degree. I have two Canadian College Diplomas in Business Administration and Tourism Management while attending Lambton College in Sarnia, Ontario. My mother and I decided to do some research on University’s that offer a great education in Tourism. There was a really good one in Vancouver, British Columbia, but I was feeling adventurous when we stumbled on a couple in Finland that were taught in English.

Now, Finland you say, why wouldn’t you have stayed in Canada? It turns out that further into our research we discovered that Finland is globally recognized for having the highest education standards and learning techniques for their students. I also found out that there was NO tuition fee in Finland for anyone, even NON-EU citizens (This has now changed in 2017 – there is now a small fee, but still cheaper than in Canada). 

I applied online to two different schools, and found out how to apply for housing which I did as well. I did not hear anything for months so I thought to myself, I must not have gotten in. However, in April I received many emails stating that all applicants had to do an entrance exam and that I had two options; to Travel to Rovaniemi Finland and complete my exam at the school, or to drive 7 hours through the United States to Chicago Illinois and complete the exam there in a hotel with many other students.

Chicago Theatre. Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

I took the chance to explore Chicago while I was there and stayed for a few days to calm my nerves before the exam. Soon I will include photos of my adventure in Chicago for you to enjoy.  I wrote the exam and thought I did okay but wasn’t 100% sure as there are many applicants each year. I received acceptance in the middle of May and had to work quickly to apply for a Finnish student visa, as I am not a citizen of the European Union. Canadians can travel to Europe for up to 3 months before needing a work or study visa.

Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

When June came along I had my appointment at the Finnish Embassy in Ottawa, Ontario. My parents and I made the 7.5-hour road trip to Ottawa two days before because again I had never traveled and seen the sights of Ottawa, the capital city of Canada. Stay tuned to this blog for photos of that adventure as well.  The meeting went well, I had all my documents (acceptance letter, private out of country health insurance, passport, confirmation of income). I had to provide them with a pre-paid envelope so they could mail me the actual card when it came in the mail. I received it well before my date of departure and was on my way on August 25, 2016 to start school on September 5, 2016.

Once I was done with the Finnish Embassy process it was time to get serious and get everything organized to be gone for a year. This was time where I had to reflect on my feelings and how hard it would be to leave my friends and family to start this new adventure. I knew I was going to be missing some events as well in the fall. But in the end you have to think of all the new friends and networks you will make in Finland, and all of the experiences you will be having that you can carry with you for life. 

I did some traveling before getting to the school in Reykjavik, Iceland and Helsinki, Finland, but I will talk about that at another time.

Talk soon…

Getting Started...

Hello Readers,

My name is Danielle Gadsby. I am a Bachelors Degree student in the tourism field. I am a Canadian who started studying the degree in Finland at Lapland University of Applied Sciences. Currently in 2017, I am on an exchange semester in Kempten, Germany at Hochshule Kempten.

Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

I have a love for traveling, which has been mostly in the United States and Canada, only recently have I begun traveling in European countries and exploring the possibility of other locations. I prefer to travel in a group or with my family, I am a very social person so traveling alone would leave me with no one to talk to.

This photo of me is from October 2016 when my class attended an overnight trip to a Lapland Hotel in the Wilderness. The trip was called POHTIMO. It was used as a team building exercise and for us to get to know each other while learning about the hotel industry in Finland and exercising our knowledge in Fine Dining.

I hope to showcase some of my photos of past trips and traveling on separate photo pages of different countries. 


This blog will be my new medium in sharing in my experiences and sharing of photos and other interesting things I learn throughout this adventure.I hope in the future I can look back on this blog and know exactly what I was doing at this point in my life.


Bye for now...