The first snow to hit Rovaniemi came on the 20th October. I was hugely excited. I woke up a bit groggy, surprised by how light it seemed to be behind my curtains but didn't think too much of it. I lazily pulled my curtain across and boom. There it was. Staring back at me, a thick white blanket. For a few seconds I was in shock. I'd known it was going to get snowy, I'd known it was going to be cold, I'd known that it was hoped the first lot of snow would hit in October but as I'd gone through the motions of getting used to my environment I hadn't thought that the snow would appear so quickly, I've been in Lapland for two months. I didn't think summer and autumn would be over by then.
At the same time though, the child in me was excited. The snow in the UK hadn't been this good for a few years. I vaguely remembered that in my first year of uni it had snowed a bit on Christmas day and my brother, sister and I had frantically thrown on our thick coats and wellies to go on a walk and take some photos. This was different though. I was in Lapland, the home of Santa and the home of snow. This was brilliant.
Still in my pyjamas, I pulled my boots on and grabbed my camera, trying in vein to open our balcony door, something that has always challenged me. In my excitement, Katie heard me trying to open the door and came out to see what all the excitement was about. We decided to go on a quick jaunt around our accommodation to take some photos to mark the occasion.
Later that day, I went on a walk with Lucy to town so we could complete some work, taking more photos and just enjoying the fact I was in Lapland, with real snow. I even wore my downcoat and my snow boots for the occasion. Little did I know in my euphoria that, as I found out the next few days, they would become a big part of my everyday attire. Snow boots are both warm and stylish. The snow had me on cloud nine.
