After having to make some last minute travel changes thanks to the volcano in Iceland I set off on a 20 hour train journey to Kiruna. Myself, David, Crystal, Stevie and Megan all arrived a day before everyone else. So had a night to ourselves in the hostel, and what did we choose to do?! Go out, explore and generally make dicks out of ourselves by making videos and taking photos. Definitely a great night.
The group of us from the first night.
Monday morning meant the arrival of the rest of the Rotary students. Having checked up on the information we got from the organizers of the camp, meeting at 10am at the train station, we were surprised when at 9am we get a knock on the door from one of the teachers saying that we were going to the train station now. Funnily enough we were all just chilling in our PJs thinking we had around an hour left. So anyway, we got ready and headed down to the train station to meet the majority of the students arriving via train. It was great to see everyone that I hadn't seen since Åre and some even since Vimmerby, and then to see all the new faces of those I hadn't met yet. We got taken on a short tour of the town by some members of the tourism programme at the school then up to the school for lunch. Then was some chilling, chatting and settling in before a quick trip to the ice hotel! So Kiruna have this ice hotel, that you can actually go and stay in?! For the "small" price of 3000SEK for one night at the cheapest.. We saw a quick presentation about the ice and where its from etc, then got to see the factory where a lot of the ice products are produced and kept, then got to see the ice hotel itself! Very very cool I must say.
Getting artsy in one of the rooms in the Ice Hotel
Me, Alex (Australia), Jonatan (Kiruna) and Tash (Australia) in the Ice Hotel
The next day in Kiruna started bright and early, literally.. 5:30am wake up call, and the sun was certainly shining already. We made our way down to the school for breakfast at 6am ready to get onto the bus to go to ..... NORWAY! Yeah, that's right.. I got to venture into my third Scandinavian country. The bus trip was long, but beautiful. Snow covered mountains and lakes, seriously, can life get any better? We eventually made it to Narvik, Norway, the closest port to Kiruna, used to ship out the Iron Ore. When we were in Narvik we got the opportunity to explore the town, and what were we to do with our time? Jumping photos of course!
Rachel (Australia), Me, Tom (Australia), Julia (Canada) and Brandon (USA)
After 2 or so hours in Narvik, we headed back to Kiruna on the bus, and on the way stopped at one of the many ski slopes for a quick fika before continuing back to the hostel. That night we had a dinner cooked for us by the restaurant programme at the school, also the students of Sami (Lappland) background dressed up in traditional dress for us. The dinner was amazing, reindeer stew, actually tasted great! The students from the tourism programme sung us the national anthem of Sweden and then it was up to us to do something for them. So in our country groups we took turns singing our national anthems, however, some of the Swedish girls remembered the Kiwis performance of the Haka last year, and of course that was requested, Stevie and I tried our best, but it definitely wasn't very impressive!
Wednesday was another great day in Kiruna. In the morning we got to go on snowmobile tour through the bushes onto what I think was a lake for some fun in games. We got taken behind snowmobiles in old wooden sleighs lined with.... Reindeer skins.. Yeah, that's right. Reindeer! The scenery was beautiful, and pretty unbelievable really. Once we had arrived at our location we got out and played some games. Simple, but so much fun! We played bump, and it was great, so much entertainment provided from the ice and snow. Then we split into groups for some mini competitions, one of which included doing relays wearing beer goggles! After an hour or so we headed back to the school for lunch, and on the way back it was incredibly interesting! We ended up heading into a small snowstorm and a few times whilst going up hills we got stuck, had to jump out and push. So much entertainment in a short period of time. LOVED IT! In the afternoon we went in small groups to different classes at the school to talk to them about our home countries. My group had David and Crystal from Australia and Caroline and Pamela from Brazil. So as we were telling the class about our own country we also got to learn about the other countries that were in our group. That nights dinner was a Swedish favourite... Tacos. Seriously, I think they are obsessed! But don't think I'm complaining here, it's amazing! Haha. Then came the random games, chilling and chats. Some of which included, a scavenger hunt and sardines throughout the school and mafia.
Thursday meant the end of our awesome time in Kiruna, and that was super sad! Saying goodbye to all of the awesome Swede's we had met and also all of the exchange students again, unsure if I will be seeing all of them again. Luckily for me, Stockholm airport was open for a brief few hours so that we could fly back. Then once in Stockholm myself and David took 2 buses, one into town, and then one back to Linköping. Even though we weren't in Stockholm for long I loved it, and can't wait to get back there and explore. On the bus on the way back home, I spent my time putting together a video of Kiruna! Check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzxfZI_0bUc
Kiruna was definitely an experience of a lifetime and I loved just being able to get to be a tourist. I met so many more awesome people this week and made some great friends. This experience is just getting better and better, 3 months down, around 9 to go. LOVING IT
Signing out for another week,
Alex.
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