Trip from Newark to Rovaniemi and my First Week in Finland

Hi everyone.  This has been my first week in Finland after a long and stressful journey to get here.  Last week on Thursday evening I left from Newark International Airport to begin my day long trip to get to the city of Rovaniemi that is located in Lapland of Northern Finland.  My journey started with a 7 hour plane ride to Copenhagen, Denmark where I took a connection flight to Helsinki.  After getting to Helsinki, I took a train that was more than 9 hours long to get to Rovaniemi where my apartment is located.

 

The view from my window on the train ride to Rovaniemi. There were a lot of trees…

After a very long train ride I finally got to my apartment at about midnight last Saturday; It’s a very lovely place that is fully equipped with a kitchen so I can cook while I’m here.  I managed to settle into my apartment pretty quickly, but it is very hard for me to fall asleep here because the sun doesn’t go down! It is bright all throughout the day because Rovaniemi is so far up north.

 

This is what it looks like outside at midnight! It is always light outside.

I have not done a lot of sight seeing since I have arrived because I have been getting myself adjusted to being on my own in a different country.  It took a couple days for me to get my internet and phone situated, and it also took some time for me to get a bike so I can get around for the next two months.

 I have also spent this first week meeting everyone that I am going to be working with at Metla (which is where I will be working while I am here) and being introduced to the building and the labs.  I am quickly getting comfortable in the labs and where everything is so I can get started on my project as soon as possible.

One of the labs

This weekend I had a chance to go around and see a few of the sites around Rovaneimi.  I got to visit the Santa Claus Village at the Arctic Circle where they have Santa Claus’s Post Office where kids can send their letters to Santa.

Me at the Arctic Circle

 

Where you can meet Santa, it’s weird being here in the summer!

  

I also went to visit a cemetery for German soldiers that died during World War 2, which was located in Norvajarvi which is located close to Rovaniemi.  It is a mausoleum where almost 2500 German solider are laid to rest.

 

So far I have been having a good time here!  The sights are beautiful and the air is so fresh compared to New Jersey.  I am looking forward to more sights to see and a chance to visit Kilpisjarvi where I will be doing fieldwork for the first time. I think that 7 more weeks will go faster than I expected!

- Beryl-Anne