Every year, many international students take the opportunity to visit Lapland. They come back with incredible memories and that’s why Swedish students should attend the trip as well.
In 2015, George Caraus moved from his home country Romania to Malmö for studying a Master programme in Wireless Communication at LTH. Next to his studies he volunteers as the Web Master for the Erasmus Student Network (ESN). This gives him the possibility to be a group leader for trips and activities.
We talked with him about his experiences during the trip to Saariselkä which is located 260 kilometres beyond the Arctic Circle in the Finnish Lapland.
“The worst was the 20 hours bus drive from Helsinki to Saariselkä. But it still was exciting because we stopped at the Snowcastle in Kemi. Everything there is made out of ice like bedrooms, a church and a bar. Afterwards, we visited the real Santa Clause in his village in Rovaniemi ”, George Caraus says.
Adventures you should join in Lapland
It doesn’t matter if you visit the Norwegian, Swedish or Finnish Lapland: The North of Scandinavia has a lot to offer. That’s why many impressive activities were provided for the 55 international students.
The first thing they did was a Husky Safari.
“We were driving the dog sled in the untouched forrests of Lapland. The nature and surrounding is incredible and it’s also nice to see that the huskies enjoyed it as well.”
Not only huskies were pulling sleighs. Another day, the students also had the chance to join a reindeer safari during the
night which was offered by Finland’s indigenous people, the Sámi.
“It’s hard to put into words what you’re feeling while you’re sitting in a sleigh pulled by a reindeer and you look up and see the northern lights. It takes a while ro realize what’s going on.”
You forget about the coldness
Another night, the group had even more luck and watched the strongest northern lights in 2017.
“The heaven was completely green. If you see a natural phenomenon like this, you don’t care about the minus 25 degrees celsius. You just enjoy the magic.”
Other activities like cross-country skiing and a trip to Norway for a swim in the arctic ocean were also offered.
However, Geroge Caraus’ favorite activity was the snowmobile safari: “I love adrenaline. I never have driven a vehicle like this and I always wanted to try it.”
Other inspiring trips are coming soon
After being back in Lund, the 26-year-old Romanian still has sparkling eyes while talking about his unforgettable trip.
“The good thing is that ESN offers many trips every year. Soon, we will go to Iceland, St. Petersburg and to the Fjords in Norway. If you work for ESN, you can become a group leader for those trips and then it’s for free because you are looking after the students,” he explains.
For the future, George Caraus recommends the Swedish students to join the trips as well: “We often go to places where the local students haven’t been before either. They won’t regret those experiences!”
