Since I don't have long left in Lapland, I thought it only appropriate to take some time and reflect/review my time here. Living in Lapland is what I can only describe as an emotional rollercoaster. There are some times I have been absolutely elated and others I've felt so low I've questioned why I'm here.
Living so far North has been really exciting and it's given me a lot of opportunities. Firstly I had no idea I'd ever be living in Finland or that I'd have the opportunity to travel around Scandinavia and parts of Europe. Equally though, there have been times where living so far North has felt like a hinderance. Rovaniemi is a small city and whilst there have been opportunities for me to travel flights can cost quite a lot so trips have to be planned carefully and as cheaply as possible.
Academically the year has been very different to how I find university in the UK. Since I was at school research has always been an integral part of my projects in helping them develop. But that is not as universally encouraged here. In Art Practice the lecturers preferred us to just start work immediately with research coming later and if necessary. At this point in the year, I've done some research I think twice, maybe three times, which has helped me to develop an idea I've had. In other modules I don't know if I've done much artistic research at all but I've definitely researched processes and how they work in order to enhance my skills.
Research and development books are also something that aren't really used at the university. I started to produce one to chart my development in drawing and painting. I didn't need to use it for research because I didn't necessarily need to do any. After a while though, and one particular conversation where my lecturers said I used my sketchbook to make myself look busy; it became abundantly clear that it wouldn't be much use here. Occasionally I still update it for myself to gather my thoughts about what I'm doing but it's not really an integral part of my project anymore and I've been encouraged to work outside of my sketchbook a lot which has been a bit strange since I've not been behind a camera either, but I have enjoyed it. I've found it somewhat difficult to get out of using my sketchbook, I've now completed at least two projects without one and I'm a bit concerned about getting back into using one for my final year at university as I've not been using it in the same way.
Although coming here with two of my friends has been comforting, there have been some difficulties. During our excursion in August we were quickly labelled as the 'English triplets' by one of our primary lecturers, a label that has since stuck. This has made it very difficult to establish ourselves as individuals both academically and socially even though the work we produce is wildly different in subject matter and method. Although our lecturers have said we should do different things and establish ourselves at times it has not been made easy by them as we rarely get referred to by our actual names instead being called 'the English triplets', 'the Coventry girls' or other variations of that.
Like I said at the beginning, living in Lapland has been an emotional rollercoaster. It's given me some of the best highs, some of the lowest lows which I'm grateful for.