Wednesday 30 July 2014

My Finnish Bucket List

Hey Everybody!

As promised I am going to create a bucket list of things I want to do/goals I was to achieve whilst I am away.

I will probably add to this every so often when I think of something new to add to the list but here is what I have so far! Also, these are not necessarily in any specific order, I just want to experience as much as possible.

  • The Northern Lights -  This is probably one of the most amazing natural sights to see in the world and I can't believe how privileged I am going to be to be able to see this (hopefully) several times whilst I am away. Apparently there are little igloo looking glass rooms you can rent that look up at the sky, giving you stunning views of the Aurora Borealis... Whether this is actually a thing is a mystery, but cool nonetheless.   

  • Santa - Lapland is very well known as being the home of Santa Claus and so I HAVE TO go meet him. There is actually a Santa Village half an hour away from where I am going to be staying as well as a Santa themed underground amusement park! In Finnish, Santa translates as Joulupukki.


  •  Huskies - Huskies, huskies, huskies!! I've heard that in Rovaniemi there is a husky farm... where they grow huskies, and this is probably the one thing I really can't wait to go to! Even if this farm doesn't really exist, husky sledging does and I will definitely be doing this, as well as doing reindeer sledging too!

  • Snow Village - Apparently there is this really cool village created entirely out of snow with ice bars and restaurants. This probably not somewhere I would want to go to alone but I am sure the friends I shall make whilst away will also be keen to give it a go! 



  • Finnish Language - This is probably one of the more personal goals I have for my adventure. I think it is pretty ridiculous that in Britain we are so narrow minded with regards to languages and expect everybody else to speak our tongue. Now I know I won't become a fluent Finnish speaker and I am worried that I will butcher their beautiful language, but I do at least want to give it a bash. So far I know the words for Santa and Christmas and Lapland, so I am getting there... slowly.  


  • Food -  I have done quite a lot of research into this because I love my food and I am so scared that I'm going to get over there and starve to death because I hate the local cuisine (exaggeration I know). But generally it appears a lot of what they eat is beef, pork and chicken, success! However, Wikipedia also told me they eat moose, deer and... BEAR! Although Wikipedia says a lot about nothing so who knows. Fun Finnish food fact (that sounds so sad) apparently, Finland created a reindeer pizza winning the 2008 international pizza competition in New York and named their dish Berlusconi after the Italian leader who criticised how terrible Finnish food was... Do what you wish with this useless information!

I am going to leave this list as it is for now, but I do plan to add to it as more ideas come to mind!

Thanks guys!

Emma x

Monday 28 July 2014

My first post!








Hi everybody!

So, if you have found yourself on this blog then you probably already know what it's about but just in case you don't, here's a run down of what's going on;

My name is Emma, I'm 21 and from Scotland. I have created this blog because on the 30th of August 2014, I will be flying from bonny Scotland all the way to the beautiful city of Rovaniemi in Finland to start the adventure of a life time. I am taking part in a programme called Erasmus+ which allows students from all over the world to take part in exchange courses in a multitude of countries. I am so pleased to say that I will be studying in the Social Science Faculty at the University of Lapland for 2 semesters!

This blog is primarily so that I can keep in touch with all my friends and family back home whilst I am away but also so that anyone else who is interested in my travels can also follow me on what should hopefully be an amazing year!

In the next few days I plan to do some further research on what I can do whilst away and intend on creating a 'bucket list' type idea of goals I want to achieve whilst studying abroad. I plan to post this list soon and hopefully can slowly begin to tick each item of as the year goes on.

In the mean time, you can get me on my other social networking sites:
Twitter: @emmapringleee
Instagram: @epringle4

Thanks guys!

Emma x