The Weeping Willow War

Greetings from the land of no night! As a group we have decided to play news anchor and we have divided up the adventures that we will be writing about in the future. My current assignment to is speak about the engaging weekend at the willow workshop.

How do I start describing this past weekend...well our first taste of the University of Lapland was a 2 kilometer walk through the woods. Now, this is not a bad thing but keep in mind that we do this walk twice a day in the sun, rain, and mosquitoes. We have been making this walk for almost a week now to attend the INSEA conference...anyway.

The start of the willow workshop was rather confusing at first. There were about 35 of us standing around in the University waiting for the Lapland students to start directing us. There was a short presentation on the history and meaning behind willow sculpture making and then we were set free. It was decided by the Lappish students that we were going to be making bears out of willow. Giant, man eating, bears not to be confused with a teddy graham.

We were quasi divided into three groups which really meant that people who did not want to do heavy labor were in one group, the brains and heavy laborers in another, and the lack of decision makers in the final group. Rebekah and I ended up in the lack of decision group and Sara situated herself in the anti heavy labor group. Rebekah and I were instructed on how to make rope out of willow. Being it was 9am (2am your time) I was not all that keen on making rope out of willow plus I am not that good at it. So, for a while I was the official rope holder for Rebekah as she tied the branches together.

This was our first glimpse of what would be the most challenging task Rovaniemi has to offer.

This is the rope making station...Plenty of time was passed under this tent of mosquitoes.

NOTE: Willow branches and the Weeping Willow branches are different. We are speaking about the willow that can be seen in the Harry Pottery movies commonly referred to as the 'Womping Willow' not the Weeping Willow that is shown in Pocahontas. There is a fine line when speaking about willow and as we soon found out that the offensive mark it can leave on a Lappish student.

But I digress. The heavy labor do-ers made the wood structures for the bears. The anti-heavy laborers pulled the leaves off the branches which looked quite dreadful. I was just happy making rope...at least for the first three hours.

This is what the bare bones structure looks like.

Hour five came and went of willow making and by this point all of us were fed up. We were jet-lagged and were being eaten alive by those gosh darn mosquitoes. In many cases there were far too many cooks in the kitchen so us passive people were booted out to the outskirts of the area. The bears started to come together and in some cases even started looking like bulls, but that is not the point.

Exhibit A: Bull or pile of sticks. You decide.

The point is we willow-ed for five hours a day for two consecutive days and by the end of this willow workshop the group morale was rather unpleasant. Oh did I mention that it rained on the second day? Awesome.

Note that everyone is wearing a rain coat with their hoods up. Rainy, rainy, Finland.

The willow workshop was extremely unpleasant but the end results are quite incredible. I did have fun laughing with everyone and this is where the strong US and Finnish bond started forming. And this is where I realized I cannot go to another material workshop where I am being instructed by someone who does not speak English very well.'

I do have to give credit to Sara who started a journey while in the workshop that was inspiring. In this workshop there was a caste system that was unspoken of but everyone was aware that it was there. The leaf pullers were the hard laborers and they were at the bottom. The rope makers were a little higher on the totem pole because we had coverage from the sun and rain. The structural builders and designers were at the top, looking down upon us all. Sara was able to start at the bottom and slowly but surely gain the respect of the class directly above her and start working on their projects...once she had mastered their craft then she was able to gain the respect of the highest class and start actually building the willow bears. This took time and a lot of effort but eventually she did it, she worked at every station despite the glares and disapproving words she may had received. Great Job Sara! You make us all so proud!

Did I mention that while Sara was reaping the benefits of being top dog she was told by a Finnish instructor that what she was doing did not look "right" so she had to leave? I personally giggled but I think homegirl was silently offended. haha.

On a lighter note, Sara and I were able to pass the time by having "willow saber" wars. This passed the time and was simple entertainment for those delirious students around us.

Exhibit B: Sara pretending that she is the wicked witch of the west and flying on her broom. Note the action shot of the leaf pullers behind her.

Finnish Willow Saber Wars...

Overall, willow could possibly be interesting if:

a.) I was not suffering from jet lag.

b.) It was not raining while working.

c.) If I was not the main course for numerous mosquitoes.

On the bright side we did learn a new craft and got to bond with our Fins...sooo all in all a great learning experience.

xoxo,

Megan