Jump in time ~ about Helsinki, Lapland, and Christmas holiday

It is already 2018 and therefore much need for an update from Finland. Since Saturday, I have been back in Joensuu to finish the last two months of studying. Good news: I have already found a place in Groningen for the next semester :)
Lately a lot has happened and I have done a lot. We went to Helsinki with the whole EMCL group, and after that I traveled to Lapland with a group. It was a really nice time!

Helsinki
Let me start with our trip to the lab of the University of Helsinki. On Thursday morning 6:18, the train left with 23 EMCL students to Helsinki. The trip was organized from the study and they had set up a nice program for us. After 4.5 hours on the train, we arrived in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. We walked to the university where drinks and cookies were waiting for us. We first received an introduction about the lab and what we would do that day and the next day.

After lunch we got two demonstrations: one about the use of electro encephalography (EEG). With EEG you can visualize the brain activity by measuring brain waves. The test subject gets a cap over his head and then gel is injected into the holes, so that the conduction with the electrodes is good. We were allowed to help with the gel and it was very interesting to learn more about the use of EEG!

The second demonstration was about Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. With this device, the brain can be stimulated by means of a large coil on the head and a magnetic pulse. The finger of the test subject moved because of this magnetic pulse. We could even hold the coil ourselves!
After the demonstrations and a short break we got to see a few presentations. These presentations were about research done by people in the lab. In the evening we went for dinner at Woolshed, an Australian restaurant in Helsinki. Very tasty! After a long but interesting day we went to our hostel, where we slept in a hostel with 8 people.

The next day we traveled by metro to the Aalto Neuroimaging center. Here we got three different demos. Our group started with the MRI. This is a machine that can visualize the structures of the brain. A man told us something about the use and technique of the MRI and then we were allowed to see the device. Then we went to a lab where they do eye tracking studies (a device that follows the eye movements), and other studies. They had, among other things, a heat camera and a device where you can measure skin reactions to cold and heat. After this lab, we went to the MEG (magnetic encephalography) lab for the final demonstration. With a MEG, brain activity is measured by measuring electric fields that created by the brain itself. Because the MEG has to measure these small magnetic fields, it must be very strong. But because of that strength, it also measures the magnetic fields from the outside. For example, if the metro passes by, you can sometimes see this back in the MEG output. That's why the MEG is placed in a room with special thick walls that stop the magnetic fields from outside as much as possible.


Finally, we all had lunch at the university. Then we had free time to stroll through Helsinki, who at that time was decorated with all the beautiful Christmas lights!

Lapland
With the end of the Helsinki trip our vacation started! The first week of the holiday also started well: a trip of 8 days to Lapland! We have rented two cars and drove to the far north with the seven of us, to Saariselka. It took a whole day to get there, but it was wonderful to see how the landscape became more snowy. In Saariselka, we had rented a cabin, but it didn't have running water or a shower, and we had an outside toilet! The real experience haha. And for those who wonder: yes we showered, in the sauna by scooping water out of a bucket :) There was a small river outside our cabin where we took the water for washing, drinking, and also for the shower. Our outdoor toilet was consisted a wooden board with a hole in it (with a real toilet seat made of polystyrene haha).

When we arrived it was -26 degrees, so very cold. We also were not able to heat the sauna the first day, so we showered with a temperature of -20 degrees. The water that came on the ground froze immediately !

We have done a lot in Lapland. We sat in a husky sled and were even allowed to drive it ourselves. We also went to Rovaniemi, to the Santa Claus village. Furthermore, we did cross-country skiing and we drove to Norway where we had a swim in the Arctic Ocean! And of course we did a lot of sliding in the snow! You can guess that the days flew by. Unfortunately, we have not seen the Northern Lights, since it is steeds was too cloudy. A good reason to travel to the north again in the future! The chance is also present that we can see the Northern Lights in Joensuu.
Here are a few pictures of the beautiful landscape and Lapland is really a must (especially in winter)!

Ice bar in Rovaniemi

Santa Claus Village

Reindeer sleigh

Noorwegen :)

Arctische Oceaan

The day after we returned from Lapland, I traveled to the Netherlands for the rest of my Christmas holiday. I was very happy to see my family and friends again! The days flew by and I can not wait to live in Groningen from March!