The end of semester one came with mixed emotions. I was sad to be leaving Finland. It meant my first semester was over, it meant that I was almost half way through my Erasmus year which meant I was almost in my final year of uni and most importantly it meant that I was going to have to say see you later to my friends who weren't coming back next semester. But also I was really excited to be going home and to see my family and friends.
The days had started to become very very short in Lapland and the nights seemed almost endless. During the last week of uni Lucy, Katie and I set up a joint exhibition for two of our courses along with the other students, so for that time and some weeks previously I am pretty sure the only light I saw was artificial. The day before I flew home from Finland the day length was 2 hours and 25 minutes. It made the excitement to go home greater. I missed so many things about the UK, things I didn't even realise I'd miss. The lack of daylight made me crave the sun and being outside which was strange because I've always had an aversion to the sun and heat. I also had begun to miss pavements, the crunching sound of the snow beneath your feet was wonderful but it wasn't completely practical. The snow would melt when it got a bit warmer and become icy with more snow over the top which made walking and cycling potentially treacherous.
The lack of daylight had made it somewhat strange to function and leave the apartment. I'd always thought that days got far too short at home but this was nothing. It made going to uni very hard. The modules I'd chosen to pursue often started in the evening and wouldn't finish until around 9pm. With the sun rising around 11.30 and setting around 1.30 I found it quite difficult to function, because it was dark more often than not and I often felt like I should be asleep. I was glad to be going home, I'd checked the weather and it was chilly but sunny, I was glad for the rest bite.