Just got out of my first critique for Contemporary Architecture IV and it went pretty well. A bit easier on me than the ones from ECU but I think it's because they don't know me very well yet!
This past week was "exam week." No classes were held therefore we were able to catch up on some work which is what I did for the most part. Usually we all will go to the market and pick up bread, vegetables, fruits, and cheeses and just make sandwiches for lunch and dinner on Sundays since most of the shops are closed.
We stayed in the studio for long hours and after awhile started to become a bit delerious and goof off (of course). 
I am going to Russia this friday for the next which I am soooo excited about. Hints why I was in the studio this whole week, so it will be nice to have a long break. My roommate Alma is going along with some of the other international students from Oulu and Helsinki. We are visiting Moscow and St. Petersburg!
Tuesday Leena, our coordinator, took the international architecture students for a trip to Rovaniemi which is in Lapland. We first arrived to Lapland University where we heard an English lecture from Jonathan Sands, the CEO of Elmwood and Alexander Stubb, the foreign minister of Finland. The lecture was very interesting and they even brought up Second Life! It was a program I worked for last year at ECU. Afterwards, we visited the Library and Theatre designed by Finnish archtiect, Aalto Alvar. We visited the Artikum, where we saw a "Northern Light" show, "Arctic Zone", where you experience a taste of how cold it is further up into Lapland. They also had a show about the process of slaughtering reindeer (I didn't watch too much of this one). Afterwards, we went to Santa Clause village where we were able to see Santa and take a picture. Santa Clause spoke to all of us in our own language which was really cool. We all took a good photo with him and I'll have to post it as soon as I get a copy.
