Lack of Light & Little Lies

Working Lapland is quite different to other seasonal jobs that I have done. For one, I've never been this tired in my life.

When I worked in the Alps I could comprehend the reduced energy levels: we were living at 1850 meters above sea level which is always reason to eat more, plus I spent loads of time exerting myself on the ski slopes. 

        But here I actually feel more exhausted and all I'm doing during the day is talking to people. Plus we're barely at 400 meters so the altitude is not much of a factor. After work we never exert ourselves- we'd sooner watch a film or sit in the sauna.

So why the endless tiredness?

Well I've been thinking about it and come up with three reasons that working in Lapland will eventually put you into a coma.

Hannah heading to
work in the dark, at 9am

Firstly we've gotta mention the darkness situation. 

Its been said that Finland's high suicide rates could be linked to the mischief that the sun plays here. Whilst this is interesting I did cringe when I overheard a colleague casually mentioning this rather morbid detail to a guest, who did not come here on holiday to hear about why people choose to kill themselves.

The gloom has grown even in the four weeks I've been here, and now it looks like its night when its actually 10.30 in the morning. After just two hours of dingy light the darkness creeps up again. Today it was definitely getting darker as I left for lunch at 12.30.

"This gets their testicles plump and makes them super randy"

Some animals use a part of the brain called the 'pineal' eye which sends messages to other parts of their bodies, based on how much light there is during the day. Less light detected means its a short day (and so its during the winter) and vice versa.

Example: From detecting reduced light exposure, the pineal eye of a sheep signals testosterone upregualtion (more testosterone) in males since its a better time to breed.

Effect: this gets their testicles nice and plump for breeding and makes them super randy, so that their babies are conceived at the right time to be born safely in the spring. Clever huh?

Hint: It's -10 not -1

Now I am not meaning to say that the reduced daylight is necessarily having an alarming effect on my peen, but I do mean to point out that sunlight can command a physical result in animals rather than just a psychological one. That said, the psychological effect is powerful on its own. you do start feeling that its night even when it isn't, and you want to find your bed.

My second tiredness-factor must be the temperature playing a role in wearing me out.

         Its considered warm here if its two degrees below freezing (28 Fahrenheit) which is something that I feel I probably have gotten used to. I'm certainly more able to deal with the low temperature than the lack of light. 

You can obviously fight the cold by wrapping up warm and I am used to getting dressed taking a bit longer than back in England, but I am sure that the cold still means you're using more energy to maintain your core temperature.

The chilliest its been so far is -16 degrees centigrade (3.2 Fahrenheit), and while I could certainly notice the cold, it was bearable with my layer and thermal suit on As we move into the Christmas week, its set to hit minus 20 and lower so I'm going to need to layer up even more.

'I've not paid three fucking grand for this barely adult human to be hung over on my holiday!'

I think that the third contributing factor is the nature of the work itself. Its is enjoyable for sure, but its not like what I've done in the Alps. The difference is that you are always on display here- I'll explain. 

In the Guest Centre we show our guests huskies, reindeer and 'The Man Himself'. Each day, the centre is full of high paying guests- usually 200-400 of them. In the Alps we were just with the children 90% of the time, and you can get away with all sorts and they just won't realise its happening. You can muck around and they won't mind. If someone is slacking off then they may notice but they won't be thinking 'I've not paid three fucking grand for this barely-adult-human to be hung over on my holiday!'... but the adults will notice much more and they will be pissed off. 

So at this job you're much more aware of acting accordingly. This means constantly contending with their silly or unusual questions.

But if you have the right attitude then it can be a great job. Of course I can tell them necessaries like where the ice fishing is held or and what time is best to visit the reindeer... but we all get a lot of obscure questions that we can have more fun with.

Its worth saying first that if its something they need to know, I'll make sure the guest gets the right info. But I try to answer the less essential questions as well to keep people entertained. Hearing an answer which is not 100% accurate won't harm them if the question is pointless in the first place.

A fair question I don't know the answer to: "Why is there snow on the trees in resort but not in the Guest Centre?"

Improvised answer: "Well the centre is not in a valley like the resort is, so there's less protection from the wind. This means that the snow is stripped from the branches."

Is this true? Probably not as I just made it up. But the liar's tip of the day is: Speak confidently and nod as you say things- It works wonders.

A candle in the snow will melt ice in fascinating shapes,
so it looks like ice fingers are reaching out to it.

No idea why though.

Difficult question from a guest in a queue: "Dion you're a clever chap, why does the ice make these odd spike structures as it melts?"

Well I didn't know, but I could not fail to answer this question in a knowledgeable way as it may spoil my apparent reputation as a 'clever chap'. I had seen an infographic the day before on snowflake shapes and structure and was amazed at the vast variety. I remembered this and quickly decided that it could be a basis for an educated guess.

"What people don't realise is that aside from the common six sided snow flakes, there are also many other shapes and structures that randomly form. These sometimes have slightly different melting points- they aren't all at exactly at zero degrees. You'll find that similar flakes they will aggregate together as they fall.. etc etc ."

My answer was based of truth, I swear!

They found this very interesting. These particular guests had been waiting in the queue for a long time and my information had been fascinating to them. They forgot they were disgruntled with queueing. I had fun at work.. Therefore, improvising answers around prior scientific understanding is not a severe offence.

Who knows if any of this is true though. For all you know, I'm lying to you right now.

But who cares. Wherever you are in the world, Merry lead-up-to-Christmas. (Its often the best part.)

And don't be sad you aren't in Lapland, its often pretty dingy.

Its lovely

...but its a bit barren.

Next post: Weird Christmas
Previous  post: Frisky Huskies