The North! Part One-Oulu (Stu)
The focus on this side trip was life in the far north above the Arctic Circle. We’d traveled by train for Robyn’s Fulbright conference in Oulu which is kind of a jumping off point for Lapland. We enjoyed the Lapland Hotel in Oulu immensely as it afforded a taste of Lapland’s food as well as being well appointed. I knew immediately that this was going to be a problem for me as Lapland food is hearty and very tasty (more about this later, especially if I get hungry writing this…) Food aside, there were three main events our family enjoyed in this charming seaside town.
The University of Oulu hosted the first event which was the symposium of Fulbright Arctic Research In Action: International Collaboration to Address shared Challenges. As the title explains, Fulbrighters shared their projects and collaboration to help the people and the wildlife/resources within the Arctic Circle. Both Meggie and Liam took notes and we really enjoyed hearing how the diverse projects were linked together to gain deeper insights and ideas to help sustainability and the ability to thrive across cultures and geographic boundaries. It was quite a big deal and a sense of urgency came over from the different speakers. I was pleased and more than a little proud that Meggie and Liam were able to follow and have intelligent conversations about the issues afterwards.
The second event was the result of luck and good information from a grantee’s husband who shared about an App that informs if an aurora borealis may be seen in the local area. No sooner had we put this on our phones, than it sent a text saying that the aurora may be seen within the hour. As it was a clear night, we all rushed outside and were rewarded with a wonderful view of the dancing shimmering particles falling to earth in a dazzling green and gold display. The borealis swirled and faded and re-appeared suddenly above even the ambient light of the city. Most of us felt almost giddy with excitement as we rushed through the nearby park to get a better view. I heard later that many have lived in the area for years and had never had the pleasure of witnessing this wonderful event. We felt very fortunate (even Meggie, who’s wet hair from the shower froze into awkward clumps).
The last event was a day spent at the Kierikki Stone Age Center about an hour outside Oulu on the banks of the Lijoki River. 3-5000 years ago, this area had a sea view as the water level was about 300 feet higher due to the fortunate melting of the glaciers at the end of the last ice-age. The center is usually closed this time of the year, but the staff open up shop for specific groups like ours and seemed to take every opportunity to feed us. This was probably a good thing as -18 degrees celsius is no joke when you’re outside for hours as we were destined to be in the afternoon following the museum tour featuring many artifacts discovered at the nearby stone age village. I thoroughly enjoyed the small, yet very well done museum. Even Robyn and the kids who usually last 20 minutes in a museum were engrossed by the artifacts and information in this one. The highlight of the day was the stone-age hunting and gathering competition at the village. The staff were dressed up and had us do the same when split into 3 groups to complete various daily tasks varying from hunting and gathering, to making fire, food and art preparation, and even a snow cave for survival. Liam was our leader and even though we lost overall, he did an amazing job and tried everything. Meg discovered new talents too. As for me, I was struck by the thought that electricity and creature comforts don’t have the same value when they come so easy; ask anyone who has made fire outdoors.
Robyn’s new friend
Liam in his snow cave
Our stone age guide ponders missing group members
On the way to the village
Aurora Borealis-you really had to be there…