One of the most amazing parts about studying abroad is checking items off your bucket list. When I decided to study abroad in Sweden, I was looking forward to the possibility of seeing the Northern Lights and checking it off my own bucket list. When I got here, however, I learned that seeing the lights in Stockholm is very rare. Even if you are lucky and get a glimpse, it may be mere seconds before they disappear. I then decided that I needed to travel up north in hopes of seeing the lights. How north you ask? Well, my friends and I wanted the best chance to see the lights, so we embarked on a journey to the Arctic Circle. You might be thinking “Arctic Circle?! That’s crazy.” or “What is there to do in the Arctic Circle? Isn’t it just ice?” Trust me, I was thinking the same things, but let’s get on with the story.

My friends and I were recommended to go to a small town called Kiruna up north. Here’s some background on Kiruna: It is a mining town with one of the largest iron ore mines in the world, it has an Ice Hotel that you can visit (yes, a hotel that is actually made out of ice) and is Sweden’s northernmost town. It sounded like the perfect place to see the Northern Lights, so my friends and I took the 15-hour night train to Kiruna.

We booked an overnight camping tour, so we were picked up by our tour guides when we arrived. We drove 20 minutes to an outer town called Kurravaara where we were given extra-warm snow pants and boots (side note: these were the most amazing pants I’ve ever worn, so warm and comfortable). We then hopped on snowmobiles and traveled to our isolated campsite. We all took turns driving the snowmobiles and it was so much fun. Our campsite had fire-heated wooden cabins that my friends and I stayed in. We chopped firewood, ate moose stew for lunch and went cross-country skiing in the afternoon. The scenery was beyond gorgeous. The snow was pure white, untouched and incredibly deep, at least thigh deep if you went off the path. A river curved around our campsite, and it carried large ice chunks downstream. The sounds of flowing water were so peaceful. And to top it off, there were beautiful hills in the background. Being surrounded by the Arctic landscape was truly amazing.

After the day’s events, we went down to the steam saunas in preparation for ice swimming. I was very timid to go ice swimming since it was literally a hole in the ice. The ice was probably 2.5 feet thick, and the water was easily 0 degrees Celsius or lower. The real scary part is that the only way out was an unstable ladder. After contemplating for a while, I almost didn’t do it, but I thought about how I might never have the opportunity to swim in an ice hole in the Arctic again.

Feigning bravery, I slid down into the hole without using the ladder. All the air was taken from my lungs when I touched the water, and my body was frozen to the core. The craziest thing about the whole experience is that once you get out, you feel warm because the water is colder than the surrounding air; you feel invincible. While the experience was not particularly enjoyable and it was the coldest that I have ever been, I am so proud of myself for doing it. We were hoping to see the Northern Lights that night, but unfortunately, it was cloudy all night long. We only stayed for one night, so we thought our opportunity to see the lights was long gone.

The next day, we left our campsite and traveled to the Ice Hotel. The Ice Hotel is made every winter using only ice and snow. Tourists can book a room and spend the night on an ice bed. Along with “normal” hotel rooms, some rooms have decorative ice sculptures in them. It was one of the coolest places I have been to. At the entrance, there was an ice chandelier with many ice pillars throughout the foyer. The hotel had a chapel and many long hallways with hotel rooms. Typical rooms had a queen-sized ice bed with reindeer fur to keep warm. The most elaborate room we saw looked like an old western-themed town street.

We left the Ice Hotel to catch the night train back to Stockholm. Around 20 minutes into the train ride, I noticed that many people seemed to be flustered. When people came running to the windows, I knew that we were about to see something special. The train came to a halt and everyone on the train was squished together and opened up the windows in freezing weather to watch one of Earth’s greatest phenomena.

I know my writing will never completely and accurately depict what we saw, but I will try my best. The sky was brushed with stunning green strokes that would wave and dance across the sky. Then the green would flash purple and pink on the edges of the lines. The strokes would swirl throughout the sky. I think most people have seen pictures of the Northern Lights but seeing the lights move in front of your eyes is such an emotional experience. The lights are almost difficult to comprehend because your brain knows the sky should be completely dark, but it isn’t, and the lights are so bright they cover the glowing stars behind them. The entire train was mesmerized for 45 minutes, and I reflected on how grateful I am to be abroad this semester, experiencing things most people will never get the chance to see or do in their lifetime. I’m beyond lucky, and on that note, thank you for reading my blog post and vi ses (see you later)!