Lapland Tour

Well I just got home from a week long rotary tour. All exchange students In Finland and Estonia( with a few exceptions) went to the North of Finland which is known as Lapland. It was absolutely amazing. It started off with a 10 hour bus ride to Muonio Finland where we stayed. Then on the day we got there we went skiing/ Snowboarding. I did cross country. The second day we skied. The skiing was great and I learned to enjoy cross country.We also went to a local school and watched a band play and some plays then each country presented an act. The Americans did Jingle Bell Rock. Then we went back to the hotel. On we split up. Two buses went to a museum/ national park along with a Lapp house and we got to feed reindeer. The national park was beautiful. Oh to tell you about the weather it was snowy and cold all week. But it made it look like a winter scene from a movie. Was breathtaking. At the Lapp house we learned about Lapp culture a little and fed reindeer. We learned that their are NO wild reindeer in Finland. then we all went back for lunch. During our lunch break a few of us decided to make colored water balloons( food dye, water, and balloons) then freeze them. They turned out really cool( pics coming later). Then we split again. My bus and another went to the huskies and reindeer. We got to go on a dog sled ride( which was awesome) then a reindeer sleigh ride. Then we snow shooed back. We ate dinner then chilled. We then went and had a little party and the Oldies( ones who've been here for a long time) passed down gifts. It was a really emotional time. Then we danced some more then slept. On Tuesday we packed up and headed for Santa land and Rovennimi. We got to meet Santa and see his elves then had an amazing lunch in Rovennimi. That was last time we will see a lot of the oldies and the last time we may see other newbies if they don't go on other tours. There was lots of hugging and some crying. The bus ride home was a lot of fun and felt fast. I got dropped off at Vaasa at 0:10 or 12:10 . Came home and slept. Then when I woke up I was sad. I feel closer to all these kids some of whom I've only known for a week then I do with a lot of people back home. It's life changing.