Welcome to My International Year Abroad blog

Trying to still have some sort of connection with the exchange students, I volunteered to be the communication manager of ESN Lapland, meaning I would take care of their social media, communicate with the students if they have any questions and attend board meetings.

By posting about the events, I had a chance to learn a bit more about the Finnish traditions and national holidays. To name a few I would mention the sitsits, which are organized quite often. They represent parties where participants eat, sing and drink together. This is known as “sitsaaminen” or to “sitsata”. A typical quality for sitsit is a theme which guides the dress code and possibly their behavior.

Special programmes like the “Friend Programme” are organised to encourage cordial meetings between international and Finnish people in Rovaniemi. The one organised in February happened to take place on the 14th, which was the perfect time since Valentine’s Day (Ystävänpäivä) in Finnish culture is celebrated with friends rather than a significant other.

Since we are partnering with the owner of the main club in Rovaniemi for students, we had the chance to meet the accountant of the company over a lovely Mexican meal. He seemed to know of a lot of incoming events happening there, and other big plans the owners had trying to expand their business.

For my question on wether or not would he had liked having his own thing going or starting something himself after working with the people of the company for so many years and taking inspiration from them, his answer was quite fast and assured. All he saw for his future was a plan to retire and quietly enjoy life from the comfort of his own home. Not so much of a career adventurer I guessed. However, he looked very content with his position and that was good to see.

At the last face-to-face board meeting I had with them on 7th March, Easter plans, sitsits, cruise trips and Vappu celebations were discussed. They all sounded like fun things to take part in, however my purpose renewed itself to finding a better internship and expanding my design skills in a new place. I will still continue to create their graphics, but remotely.

Rovaniemi is an ended chapter for me at this point and I am very ready to embark on new experiences from new perspectives!