Jetting Educated

Recently I took an 18 hour journey involving a bus, two planes and the tube to get from Lapland to London. The short season was complete and the reindeer that worked for us had gone on holiday! They've earned it! I'll miss the reindeer. They were gentle, shy and beautiful. Oh wait- the reality of 'holiday' is that they are being slaughtered and made in to reindeer burgers. Of course the children in Lapland were more than happy to hear that their furry friends were going on a cute vacation; as intended, they did not understand the euphemism. Meat industry aside, I was happy to be back in my Dad's house in Blighty. My new pal Holly and I were going to have a chilled night in after the long day travelling, before she headed back to a place (that I rarely go to as a good Southerner) called 'The North of England'. Needless to say that the weather in the UK was very mild compared to the Arctic circle. Joyfully there was no snow and the tem...

I thought that spending Christmas in Lapland would the most festive and magical thing ever-  It's pretty much the Christmas place; there is always snow, plenty of reindeer, and of course the real Father Christmas lives here.  Well we actually have three of them- but shh! Lapland overall has been a highly enjoyable trip even if Christmas Day itself was a little strange. The problem was that day felt no different to any other because we have been in mega-Xmas mode for so long. Christmas music plays on the coach every day and we are surrounded by elves with fake presents. Since late November people have been pulling crackers at our festive dinners so I've become very desensitised. I was wondering if you lose the excitement of Christmas as you grow up, but I think its more to do with working all day on the 25th that made it seem less exciting, rather than my age. This aside, its been wonderful and at least the children we've taken care of have had a very specia...

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...

And as a disclaimer: this account is based on what had been said to me by various elves, I myself did not work as an elf. Additionally, elf names   have been changed to protect their identity (and I'm not even joking). It's nearly Christmas? No. Not at all. But in the retail world, the beginning of September is a time where shops will begin showing hints of Christmas presents, encouraging us to spend money at the earliest possible moment. With this madness ringing in my ears, I remember a time when it was actually December, legitimately within the festive season, when I worked in Lapland. Something I never published was my eye opener into the secret lives of Christmas elves... until now. Let me take you to the bleak world within the arctic circle where they genuinely have frost covered signs warning of passing cross county skiers. Warning: They are pensioners and they are in lycra I was heading to the coaches where guests were either stroking the reindeer ...

I'm still in Lapland and loving living in the snow. Since arriving I have had some classic Lapland experiences and its been exciting getting to know the the area. One of my favourites has been being pulled around on a sled by the huskies. There are 120 dogs in the husky farm and the owner knows them all by name. The dogs love to work hard all all go nuts when the sled is getting ready to depart.  A blue-eyed beauty As well as riding the husky sleds myself, I've also worked by the husky track at our activity centre. The guests get to drive a husky sled around a track that takes about 11 minutes. That may sound short but its a good amount of time as the wind chill from the dogs' speed lowers the temperature a lot. While the adults get a briefing, I'll be entertaining the sprogs and following that I'll be petting the dogs on the sideline who are taking a break from running (yes its very easy 'work'). Once the dogs race off with the guests,...

I can't help but noticing that its beginning to look a lot like Christmas . Towns throughout out the UK have had washed up celebs turning on the lights, festive adverts have been on TV for weeks and Christmas tat has been cropping up in shops as far back as September.   This part of Finland is just inside the Arctic Circle Not that I don't love that stuff- I do! But this year I have been working at a resort in Lapland, trying to have a bit of a different Christmas. The resort does its best to distance itself from the cheesy and provide a more down to earth winter holiday.  It does achieve this largely, but as I'm only here for 39 days I've been focusing first on trying to quickly get used to the strange wonderland before I have to leave it. Due to the harsh environment up inside the Arctic circle there are some things that you'll just have to start finding normal. The average temperature has been about minus eight centigrade (17 degrees Far...

My welcome not yet wizening with one week gone, I would willingly work on, waking wearily at dawn  Garden Life The food on the commuity farm was great as the vast majority had come straight form the garden. We did eat a lot of vegetarian dishes as having meat meant they would have to slaughter one of their own animals, but I got used to a lack of meat quickly. The women in the community cooked for 30+ people three times a day, cleaned and did laundry. I don't think they did much else so I was pleased to be doing other things. I did aid them by collecting the vegetables they needed for the day, going around the vegetable gardens and greenhouse. I got used to picking fresh red peppers, perfectly juicy tomatoes and delicious apples and snacking as I went. "Tears streaming, ears steaming" One day when harvesting a large amount of chillies for sale at the market, I chanced to try one. They were bound to be hot, but I thought I'd be able to handle it, ...