Leanor Hurtado Traineeship experience in Finland!

Read more about Leonors experience in Finland!

Working in the city of Santa Claus

“Before applying for this Internship, I wasn’t sure of what I was signing up for. 4 months in Lapland? Sure! But I didn’t know at that moment what that would mean to me.
When I started looking for options and places to do my internship, back in the beginning of the year, my mind went straight to Finland, as it was a destination that had always attracted my attention, but I was not sure what companies I could find that were looking for graphic designers. I was very surprised to find one in a small town in the north of the country, located in the Arctic Circle and known worldwide as the birthplace of Santa Claus.

I moved to Rovaniemi in August, when my adventure started.
There I soon met a lot of wonderful friends, not only humans!
I don’t know if it’s true or not, but from the first day I heard that in Finland there are more reindeer than people. and in case this fact is not true, I have learned some very interesting facts, such as that all reindeer have owners and that to tell them apart you have to look at the cuts on their ears. during these months I have seen husky and reindeer herds and ridden on sleds ridden by these animals, something I would never have imagined I would do.
I have been working in an agency that makes tours for all the thousands of tourists that come to visit Lapland, so of course, I also tried to join all of them!
The nature that surrounds the city is amazing!

Before I continue, I must say that not everything is so wonderful in Finland. From the very beginning of August, the weather was colder than what I am used to. I was lucky enough to experience the last remaining of the Midnight Sun (The sun doesn’t set for 73 consecutive summer days9, which means that at 11 p.m. it was still sunny and bright outside. All of that changed quickly, because of its position, the days get shorter and shorter quickly and now in winter, it gets dark at 4 o’clock and later it doesn’t rise at all for 51 days during the winter, phenomenon known as the Polar Night. So, it is important to remember to take your vitamin D supplements.

I have been on this blog for a long time without mentioning probably the most famous phenomenon in the whole region: the Northern Lights.
Although they may be difficult to see and it is necessary to be checking the Aurora App (yeah, there are several apps just to check the probabilities of Northern Lights), if you are lucky enough, you can even see them from the city centre. Being able to watch the auroras from my balcony has been probably the best experience and the one that I will cherish the most from these months. Right in October, it started snowing in the city. With the cold temperatures, the best things to do are visiting Santa Claus and enjoying a hockey game. I became a real fan of Roki (the team of Rovaniemi) during my internship.

To be honest, this internship has been very different from what I had imagined, and I could not be happier about it, not only have I been able to gain experience in my field of study, but I have lived great adventures with wonderful companions who have accompanied me on this journey.
It is an experience that I would recommend everyone to try.”

26 Jan 2023