Savitaipale… is anyone there?
Savitaipale, January 31, 2018.
Savitaipale
You’re probably wondering where Savitaipale is and what I’m doing here. Savitaipale is a small village of 3,600 people in South Karelia, known as the Finnish Lakeland region. It covers an area of 690 km², with 151 km² of that being water. Here is where I will be spending the next month, at least.
I came to this little village for a volunteer project I found on the WorkAway website. For those who don’t know it, WorkAway is a platform that promotes traveling and learning languages through volunteering. You exchange work hours for a family or organization in return for accommodation and food.
My Arrival in Savitaipale
My arrival in Savitaipale was quite an experience. I was expecting a typical bus station, with signs and parked buses. Plus, someone was supposed to pick me up and take me to the house. But that’s not what happened. Imagine the situation… me, fully loaded with my backpack, at a bus stop in the middle of nowhere, at least -8 degrees, alone, with nightfall approaching, and no one around. Just a café and a market that I wasn’t even sure was open because it seemed so still, with a couple of houses and a few cars passing by.
Minutes went by, and it was getting late. No one showed up, and no one answered my calls. I started to wonder if I was in the right place at all. As my hands started freezing, I decided to look for the place myself. At first glance, I wasn’t sure which direction to take, so I asked a couple of people nearby if they knew where the house was. Strangely, no one knew the address, and they looked at me a bit oddly, probably because I was the only one speaking English, not Finnish.
Is Anyone There?
When I finally found the address, I opened the door and stepped inside. Yes, I entered the house. It wasn’t locked. I saw a pile of shoes at the entrance, so I assumed I was in the right place. Still, I felt super awkward, standing in this open, empty, unfamiliar house. I kept thinking, “What if someone walks in and finds me here…?”
To make things even better, just as I pulled out my phone to make another call, it died at 70% battery due to the extreme cold, which didn’t help matters. Luckily, I revived it with my PowerBank, but since no one was around, I decided to go look for signs of life.
There were lights on and voices coming from the building next door. I peeked inside and saw a group of people talking, so I asked if this was the place I was looking for. To my surprise… it was! Thank goodness! Turns out the lady organizing the volunteer project got the dates mixed up and thought I was arriving the next day. That’s why no one came to pick me up. The best way to start my stay here, right? 😂
Downhill, And Without Sleds
After that, everything went smoothly. They explained how everything worked and showed me to my room. Once I was settled, we geared up with the right clothes and headed to some snowy slopes for some downhill fun. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve gone sledding… so I have to admit, it took me a bit to get into it. The funny part is, we didn’t even have proper sleds, just this boat-like thing and a red platform with handles. The adrenaline rush and speed you can pick up are pretty amazing!
When we got back to the house, we made dinner (Polish dumplings!) and, after some time chatting, we headed to bed. Tomorrow, they’ll explain my tasks for the volunteer project, house rules, and so on, so… time to rest!
