Stockholm

Hi, it's Thomas and I am going to tell you some things about my trip to Sweden.

As you know, we have many free time here, which is why I decided to go to Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, for some days with my girlfriend. The currency of Sweden is the Swedish Krona and €1 amounts SEK8.6 and the cost of living is much more expensive than in France. I went there by train and then by plane. I could also have gone there by train and then by ferry but the price was equivalent.

In Stockholm, I visited many museums such as The Nobel Museum, The Swedish Royal Armoury, The Museum of Photography, Skansen and Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology. Unfortunately, I wanted to visit The Vasa Museum and the National Gallery but they were closed for maintenance.

• The Nobel Museum was small and inside were two cinemas showing videos of famous people. There were also machines retracing the history of the Nobel Prize and all the people awarded. It was not my favourite but was still interesting.

• The Swedish Royal Armoury was very interesting, it shows the history of Sweden’s kings and queens and there were many old clothes of ladies and knights. At the bottom of the museum were also some coaches from the 17th and 18th centuries. If you are lucky you can also watch the changing of the guards in the very famous Brittish manner outside of the building.

• Skansen is famous in Stockholm, it is an outdoor museum showing the history and the way of life of the saami people. There is also a zoo in it where you can see the Scandinavian animals such as reindeers or wolwerines.
  

A Wolwerine in Skansen

The Museum of Photography was really interesting and The National Museum of Science and Technology was a bit disappointing compared to the Science Museum in Paris for example. Both of these museums were not specific to Sweden but it was still interesting.

In Stockholm, I also wandered in the old island called "Gamla Stan" which is really beautiful with its old and charming architecture. Besides, being with an American girl for the whole time, I spoke english the entire time. This trip was a perfect trip for my culture and also my personal life.

Here is one last picture:

What could you do, in the day, in Varkaus?

If you want to practice sport in Varkaus, there are several activities: body building, swimming, skiing, cross-country skiing, sledge, jogging, ice hockey, football, floorball (hockey inside) or bowling.

To practice body building you can go to the university or go to the sport hall for 3.5€. There are devices but also treadmills and bike inside. To go to the sport hall, you have to walk around 40 min. 

The university organized a skiing day, the 19^th march. We didn’t have courses in order to pass the afternoon on the slope located near the university. For 15€, we could ski from 2.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. with skis and chooses lended. There are only three slopes but it was very cool to ski in Finland. The Finnish ski-lift is not like French ski-lift. You can take it with someone else or alone. Also we sledged, it was very funny. We can also practice cross-country skiing. There are many routes in Varkaus. We didn’t try it in Varkaus but we did it in Lapland. 

Nearly every week, guys go to play football or sometimes hockey with Finishes, Russians, Vietnamese or Chineses.

Every week, I go to swim in the same place that the sport hall for the same price. The swimming pool is very clean and there aren’t too much people so you can swim quietly. There are also a waterslide, a jacuzzi, a steam room and a sauna. It was the first time I went to Jacuzzi and steam room. It is an enjoyable relaxation after exercise.

There is also a cinema in Varkaus. Here is the website: http://www.savonkinot.fi/varkaus

Northern Lights

The Northern Lights... the amazing Northern Lights! Also called Aurora Borealis, they are one of the reasons we decided to go to Finland, they are a gift a nature and it really is something you have to see once in your life.
We actually had this opportunity twice, we went to Lapland from 4th of March to 10th of March and we managed to see a green bow for our last night, it was impressive, but it was not the last time we saw one...

Everyday in Varkaus, we're checking the Aurora forecast on this website: http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/Europe/

Due to a solar event that happened the 15th of March, we managed to see some incredible northern lights the 17th of March. We went at the top of a hill located 5 minutes away from our building and the spectacle was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. The sky was full of northern lights, we could see the bright moon, stars, even one shouting star. The Northern Lights were appearing and disappearing in front of our eyes, they were moving quickly and this for hours, it was breathtaking! We knew we were really lucky to see them.

Thanks to our friend Dani Castiella who owns a good camera and has good skills to take pictures, we had been able to capture this moment so we can share it with you, here are some pictures of this unforgettable night.

Amandine is at the top and is the second from the left, and Thomas is at the top, first from the right.

For further information about the Aurora Borealis, I invite you to visit this website: http://www.northernlightscentre.ca/northernlights.html

Trip to Lapland

Being on vacation for one week, we decided to enjoy this time and make the most obvious trip here: LAPLAND! We went there with the company Timetravels ( http://www.aikamatkat.fi/ ). The final price including all the activities was quite expensive for 5 days but it was totally worth it. Such an amazing trip!

The departure was from Helsinki the 4^th of March. We were travelling by bus all the night until Kemi where we spent the morning visiting the Kemi Snowcastle. The Kemi Snowcastle, which is rebuilt every year, was really impressing for our first day and such a piece of art.

On the afternoon, we arrived in Rovaniemi to visit the Santa Claus Village, taking pictures with the Santa and crossing the magical Arctic circle. We didn't have so much time to visit but it was pretty 
fun to be in this place though. Well, to say the truth, I had the biggest disappoitment of my life this day; if some children are reading this article, please stop it; there were two Santa Claus, two of them! Which one was the real one? No clue. They were in two different buildings taking pictures with tourists. We discovered it because we were waiting for about 20 minutes for our friends to take a picture all together, but they were also waiting for us with the other Santa Claus.

On the evening, we arrived in a pretty town called Saariselkä where our cottage was. We share it with students of different nationalities such as Italian, South Korean, Bulgarian and Czechoslovakian. One of my few dissapointment during this trip was that we were 8 French people in the cottage and some of us are really shy. I (Thomas) was sad because I wanted to meet foreign people but being many french speakers, there was a separation. There were 14 beds in the cottage, one fireplace, a kitchen, a living room with couches and most of all a sauna! We had a lot of fun in it during nights where we jumped in the snow and then went to the sauna. Anyways, it was a really beautiful cottage.

On the third day we began activities in Lapland. The morning we skied and made snowshoe then we had a soup lunch in a chalet.
The sun was shining, the weather was perfect and snowshoeing was nice but too short, during this activity, our Finnish guide taught us some things about Finland such as the animals called Wolwerines that hunt dozens of reindeer to feed themselves. Wolverine are like small bears able to climb on trees to jump on their victims.

On the evening we went to the Smoke sauna which is a traditional Finnish sauna with a hole in a lake where you can refresh yourself. Being in a smoke sauna is actually a weird feeling and I enjoy more going in a classic sauna. The smell of smoke is bothering after a while but we had to try it. It was again really fun but I thought my feet would explode! Great experience for sure!

On the fourth day we had Husky Safari the morning. We were driver then passenger. We saw kennels and took huskies in our arms. After this, a woman told us stories stories about the huskies while we were drinking tea with small cookies.
One sledge is most all the time composed with 6 huskies, all of them have a particular job.
The first two huskies at the top of the sledge are the smartest, they lead the other dogs and know the way. The two dogs in the middle are the youngest, they are learning and they also have more endurance than the others, therefore they maintain the speed of the sledge. Finally, the two dogs behind the others are the strongest (and the dumbest), they have the task to pull the sledge really hard.
It was an amazing experience, like in a dream. The dogs at first were crazy and all excited to run but after running they were really friendly and we took pictures with our new friends! It was surely the best moment of the trip.

On the afternoon, we did snowmobile, 30 minutes as driver and 30 minutes as passenger. Unfortunately, I (Thomas) were behind two French girls who were scared to death to drive, we didn't have the opportunity to drive fast many times, we had to stop and wait for them to go and then we drove fast. It was really nice when we were able to drive, great experience! I think there were more snowmobiles in the town than there were cars.

On the evening we visited a reindeer farm. We did a short reindeer sleigh ride. Afterwards we were invited to the Lappish hut to have a hot drink and barbecue some sausages on open fire. The hosting saami family taught us more about the reindeers and the indigenous saami people.

On the fifth day we went to Norway. During the travel we saw reindeer herd by the road. We had a fish soup lunch in a local cafeteria in Bugoynes and the owner told us about the Norway. He showed us a video about Bugoynes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msgvTSy1RwY


After, we had possibility to swim in the ocean. We did it 3 times between sauna.

It was so beautiful, the landscapes were outstanding! We saw reindeers, fjords, I really felt lucky to see this city.

On the evening there was a student party in a Saariselkä club.

We checked every night the sky hoping to see Northern lights and it’s only the last night that we saw it! It was wonderful. We tried to take pictures but we didn't have a camera well enough.

On the sixth day, after having cleaned the cottage and having returned the key we did ice karting.

On the afternoon, we had free time and we took the bus the evening and arrived the 7^th day in Helsinki

Well, to conclude this article, I will highly recommend this trip to you. It was the best trip of my life. I will also advice you to go there with two friends, not much more. You will then be able to meet many people!
Bye from Finland!

Stora Enso: The heart of Varkaus

Stora Enso is the main company of Varkaus. If you know the TV Show "The Simpsons", you will remember the episode when Mr. Burns' Company closed and the whole city started dying because of it. Well, the same thing would happen to Varkaus if Stora Enso were about to close. This company is the heart of Varkaus, it's the hugest company in Varkaus.

They product Uncoated fine papers: business forms, envelope, scholastics, offset and thin printing papers. There are about 260 employees. Even we in Varkaus studied the Paper Process Technology.


For further information: http://www.storaenso.com/about-us/mills/finland/varkaus-mill/Pages/from-wood-to-printed-newspaper.aspx

Life in the dormitory

Hello, today I will tell you about where we live and how we live.

Our building by night

1) Structure of the building

 Our building has three floors that you can reach with outdoor stairs (the two towers with lights) and each floor is composed with five flats. The heart of each flat is the living room, it is surrounded by five bedrooms, two restrooms, one bathroom and one kitchen, the flats are quite small and there is not a lot of light in them. However, we have everything we need to cook and the heat is good.

At the first floor, we can also mention that there is a washroom with three washing machines for doing the laundry, there is also a ping-pong table where we play once in awhile.

2) Population of the building

The first floor is only composed with Chinese people and the second floor with Chinese and Vietnamese people. Amandine and I are living at the third floor, it is composed with mostly French and Chinese people and there is one Spanish boy. We both live in the same flat with another two french guys (a boy and a girl) coming from Annecy and one Chinese girl. Unfortunately this situation (basically the same for every French person here), doesn't give us the opportunity to speak english very often, this is one of our biggest disappointments. 

3) Localisation of the building

Our building is located 100 meters away from the university, we don't have to walk long to go to work and it is a huge advantage knowing how cold it was during the winter, there is another dormitory composed with mostly Russian people and they live 30 minutes away from the university. Our dormitory is about 15-20 minutes away by foot from the grocery stores and the other shops, it's a long walk but we've got used to it.

Courses in Savonia

During 3 months, we are studying in Savonia University. We have 12 hours of courses a week. Here is our timetable:

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
8.00 – 9.30			Manufacturing
9.45 – 11.15	Process Technology		Written Business Communication	Projects
12.15 – 13.45		Manufacturing		Projects
14.00 – 15.45	Process Technology			Projects

In process technology, we have been studying process flow diagram, energy and power usage in pumping, mechanical processes and paper technology. Paper industry is very present in Finland. There is a paper plant in Varkaus, Stora Enso. So it’s interesting to learn how paper machine works.

In introduction to manufacturing, we have been studying metal cutting technology. The teacher passes us several tools during the class and today we visited tool machines that students use in their TP.

In written business communication we have been doing several grammatical and vocabulary exercises. We have done an oral presentation: we had to do a summary about a business article which we had chosen. We did exercises about incoterms and terms of payments in international trade.

In projects, we work about ERP software. We have to explain what is an ERP software, choose one and explain how we make it work.

We don’t have course the Friday, but it’s the possibility to do other activities:

The first week the projects teacher show us round a stairs company, Kierreporras which is a very small company.

Last week, we organized a day in Kuopio, a city located 76 km from Varkaus. We visited a church, and then we went round an ice lack. On it, there was a windmill. 

Next Friday, we will have training about Hot-Work course in order to have a certification.