One week untill the Netherlands!

EMCup is getting closer and in one week we will be in the Netherlands! We are so excited about going there and joining EMCup 2016! The preparations for the competition are in a good point, but we still have some things do before the plain departures from the Rovaniemi Airport on Friday morning. 

So what exactly have we been doing lately?

• Getting ready for the competition with different rehearsal assignments
• Shopping for the outfits for the competition
• Being super busy with studies and starting the thesis process
• Planning what needs to be packed for the trip 

And of course launching the latest competition! Watch the video to see what it is! ;)

Have a nice weekend everyone! :)

Degree Programme in Tourism

We are back from the holidays with a new post! Hope you all had a relaxing holiday and a great start for the year 2016.

As promised, I'm going to tell you a bit about our Degree Programme in Tourism where Linh and I study. After 3,5 years of studying you should gather 210 ECTS and graduate as a Bachelor of Hospitality Management (in Finnish restonomi). The intake is 30 students per year and studies are located in Rovaniemi at MTI campus. Half of the students are Finns and half foreigners. Our group is quite small with only 15 students. You can find more information by visiting our webpage from here. From there you can find groups curricula and interesting student stories!

Studying in English is a great way to practice the language. People (at least in Finland) are often too shy about their language skills, but that's usually unnecessary. It is actually not that common that there are native English speakers in the international groups, so no one is perfect. The first semester is the hardest, but when you get past that phase, you soon realize how difficult it is to study even in your mother tongue.  Besides, you get to know people from different countries and cultures! :)

Picture: Essi Koski

Linh and I are in the same group, now in the third year of our studies. Thesis project is starting and graduation is getting more serious! So what have we been actually doing the last two and half years??

We do have normal lectures and exams (sometimes). But mostly we do group works, presentations and write reports. However, we have organized several events where we students have planned and implemented the whole thing right from the beginning. We have also visited lot of local companies and learned about their operations. There are two training periods included into our degree and also a field work during the first year. The field work is done in SantaPark as an elf! 

Studying is not just boring lectures from eight in the morning till four in the afternoon (at least not always). It is so much more and the school can give you so much if you just take the chances. The best thing about University of Applied Sciences compared to University is to learn by doing and at least that is the best way to me. 

Got interested? Great! You can apply to English degree programmes untill 27th of January!

- Anni

Get to know Linh

Hello the World! 

Here's Linh. I am soon turning 21 in two weeks! I am a third year tourism student at Lapland University of Applied Sciences. Ending up pursuing my higher education in the very northern of Finland has its interesting sides and stories. From here, I got a chance to do different things, such going for an internship abroad in Germany and then going for an Erasmus exchange in Austria. All of those times gave me plenty of memorable moments and experience. 

I'm still on my way finding out my real aspirations which I want to do in the future. Meanwhile, it is worth to go places and experience as much as I can!

At this moment, I'm really excited about the EMCup competition. Together with the other members, we all hope to gather, make friends as well as learn from the participating teams all over Europe!

Pure Arctic Madness is coming!

To all my friends and followers and gonna-be followers, keep supporting us! Your engagement with us would be very valuable! Like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram! <3

Get to know more about EMCup!

What is EmCup?

EMCup is a hospitality competition for European Hotel Management Schools. The contest gathers daring students, who have a courage to stand out and show their entrepreneurial spirit and views. Each year, the competition holds different practical topics which strongly relate to the hospitality industry. The participating teams from the invited schools are expected to express their vision and out-of-the-box ideas. At the same time, this is an opportunity for all the students to broaden their experience as well as network of friends. 

This year's theme of the contest is "Surfing the Silver Wave". The topic drives all the participants to think about the growing aging population market. How can the hospitality industry cater to this specific segment in a most efficient way? This is something that we will find out soon from all the brilliant students from all over Europe in February 2016 in Maastricht, the Netherlands!

 Photo: image via empowernetwork.com

EMCup competition is a point of connections and sharing ideas among hospitality management students!

And this year, #Pure Arctic Madness (Anni, Linh, Anna and Lauri), the representative of MTI and Lapin AMK, is competing with other teams. Follow us to get updated! 

Our Facebook Page: Pure Arctic Madness / EMCup 2016

Our Instagram account: purearcticmadness

If you are interested in EMCup, visit their Facebook Page or their official website!

Here is Lauri calling!

Well, Hello You! 

It is my turn to introduce myself. I'm Lauri and I'm part of this great team from Finnish Lapland.. 

The red spot is Sastamala, 
but where is Rovaniemi?

Let's go 700 km to Southern Finland and find my home town, a place called Sastamala. Sastamala's population is about 25 000 people. We have there more entrepreneurs than any other city in Finland. That is quite cool! :)

Do you know this game?

I'm a 22-year-old second-year Tourism student in MTI (Multidimensional Tourism Institute) and I am studying with a Finnish group. I have got great experiences in participating in different competitions and events in my studies. In October me and Anna were at the Barents in Levi for one week. We were there hosting VIP guests from neighbouring countries. And now we are coming to Maastrich! I'm so exited!

To the top of the hill and over it!

But how did I get the idea to move to Lapland?

Well that is a good question... First it was an accident, but nowadays I would not change a single day being here. I have enjoyed my stay here near the Arctic Circle, Snow, Northern Lights and people. This all here is just so amazing, and nature, how pure it is... 

You can just imagine it...

Stay tuned, 

This all is just beginning... 

Pure Arctic Madness has landed

FOLLOW US!

Get to know Anni

Hello everyone! I have the honor to be the first team member to introduce myself. My name is Anni and I'm 21 years old girl from Finland, the only team member who has been born and raised in Lapland. My hometown Keminmaa is small village in Sea-Lapland. My family consists of me, my sister and our parents. My big sister is currently located in England and my parents live in Keminmaa.

Through several coincidences I ended up to study at Lapland University of Applied Sciences in Rovaniemi. I was supposed to study business, but instead I now study at Degree Programme in Tourism. And I could not be happier! Already during the first autumn I knew that this is what I want to study and this is where I belong to. I will write more about my studies later on, so stay tuned!

My work experience in tourism starts from my first summer job that I had when I was 15 years old. I worked in Hotel Pohjanranta which is located in my hometown. There I worked during five summers; I have had several different kind of tasks during the years for example cleaning, reception, breakfast and bar. During the first year of our studies, we did field work in SantaPark. For three weeks we worked at the home cavern of Santa Claus. There I got the first touch to the Christmas season in Rovaniemi.

After the first year I did my practical training in Germany in the summer 2014. I was working in Hotel Sonne's Bar VIA in a small town called Füssen. Although it was a small town, there were lot of tourist in the summer since the castle of Sleeping Beauty, Castle Neuschwanstein, is located 5 km from the city center. Going to Germany was one of the best decisions I've made by this far in my life. I grew so much, learned a lot, get to knew new language and culture, met so many nice people and got to see amazing places. I lost a piece of my heart to Füssen, and Bavaria in general, and hope to visit there soon!

After the training I went for an exchange to Austria. I studied one semester at Krems University of Applied Sciences in tourism and leisure management programme. The school was located in Krems an der Donau, which is approx. 70 km from Vienna. Krems is a small town in Lower Austria along the Danube. Being an exchange students was great. My roommates were great, the city was nice, the school and courses were interesting and of course got to knew new people around the world! If you ever have a change to go for an exchange, do it!

This autumn has been quite hectic; school, work, EMCup and tutoring new DPT students. But I'm not complaining! I have been busy, but at least I have been doing things I really enjoy. Last week I started my advanced training at Hotel Rantasipi Pohjanhovi. Pohjanhovi is a legendary hotel in Rovaniemi as it is the oldest hotel here. The first time Pohjanhovi was opened was in 1936, but it got destoyed in Lapland War. Pohjanhovi was build again and in 1947 the doors opened again. 

I think this is it for now! 

Like, comment, share and ask questions if you have any! :)

- Anni

Pure Arctic Madness visited Restaurant Day

Restaurant Day - International food carneval all over the world.
The first Restaurant Day was held on 21th May in 2011. On that day they had 45 different pop-up restaurants in Finland. Since the first day the food carneval has kept on growing. There are four Restaurant Days annually: on February, May, August and November. By now there have been 23 600 one-day restaurants with approximately 2,7 million customers in 73 different countries.

Pure Arctic Madness visited  Restaurant Day on 21th November in Rovaniemi. We visited culture restaurant Kajo where they served cuisine from Middle East. Falafel, hummus, couscous with chicken, tabbouleh, baklava and many more! Ah, it was delicious! Atmosphere there was warm and cozy and the whole family who ran it did it together.

Restaurant Day is a good opportunity to taste and enjoy different food, people and the atmosphere. It's a way to discover new people and delicacies and to get great experiences.

"We have a group of friends that are all passionate about cooking and food. Then we heard about Restaurant Day and we knew what to do. We decided a theme and prepared the menu. Now we have had our one-day bistro twice as a part of this carneval. We do something that we love and we do it together. We try different themes to challenge ourselves everytime to make it even better." - Anna

Restaurant Day is a great way to learn and discover more of the trends and culture in restaurant field. Definitely worth to visit and perhaps to make your own dreams come true!

For our team it was a way to get to know each other better and shared experiences are a way to give us more inspiration. Here we come EMCup 2016!

More about Restaurant Day