My first contributions to Savitaipale’s Flea Market
Savitaipale, February 1, 2018.
Today has been quite a full day, and not just because I started working at the Flea Market. To start the day off right, we had a big breakfast (or lunch, since it was so late). One of my roommates is from Indonesia and is known as the best cook in the group, and he didn’t disappoint. He made a rice dish with meat, prepared in his own style, and it was absolutely amazing. I’m not sure exactly what was in it, but the result was fantastic.
With a full stomach, I headed to the main house. The place where I’m staying is divided into three parts: the main house (where we work), the store, and the volunteer house. So, while we live in an apartment for ourselves, we work and eat in the main house. Still, our place is fully equipped. It has a kitchen, bathroom, shower, laundry room, living area, and even a room with extra clothes in case we get cold.
First Volunteer Tasks in the Flea Market
First, they explained the common tasks and how the Flea Market works. Each of us has certain responsibilities we need to take care of, like keeping the kitchen clean or organizing the Flea Market. Then, there are the daily tasks, which change depending on priorities or the items that arrive.
After lunch, I worked for a couple of hours to get a feel for my new environment. My first task was attaching alarms to clothes that will be sold tomorrow at the shop the owners have in Lappeenranta, the nearest large city to Savitaipale. Once that was done, I had to clean an old fridge that was extremely difficult to scrub down because of how old it was. It’s amazing how much something can change with a bit of soap and water—it looked completely different afterward!
The Wonders of the Flea Market
I spent some time browsing through the Flea Market to familiarize myself with the items for sale. Honestly, there are so many things that are new and you’d never guess they’re second-hand. It makes you think about all the things we throw away each day just because we think they’re broken. Often, we don’t realize that many items can be fixed with minimal effort. Plus, the things we no longer want can be valuable to someone else—and for much less than the original price.
The Flea Market has a bit of everything: coffee makers, kitchen utensils, office supplies, clothes, shoes, books, glasses, décor, toys… They sell items both in the physical store here in Savitaipale and online. Now, in winter, not many people come, but in summer, when tourists visit, sales increase a lot. In winter, most of the customers are Finnish locals. If anyone walks in speaking English, it’s likely a tourist from Russia, as we’re close to the border. Either that, or it’s someone who wasn’t picked up from the bus stop—like me!
Learning a New Language
After finishing the workday, we started studying Finnish on our own. Besides us, there’s a couple also doing WorkAway in the village, and both of them are already familiar with the language. One of the guys took on the role of teacher and explained the basics of Finnish to us. My first impression? Finnish is not easy. As Spaniards, we’re used to learning English and Romance languages like French or Italian, so languages like Finnish or German seem daunting at first. However, once you get the rules down and have enough vocabulary, it starts to make sense. Still, it’s going to be quite a challenge.
My First Finnish Sauna…
The highlight of the day was trying an authentic Finnish sauna. In Finland, it’s very common for every house to have a sauna, as well as public saunas in every city. There are different types of saunas, but the one we have at home is electric, which is the most common in Finnish homes. The process is simple: you put on your swimsuit, take a quick shower, and enter the sauna, which is usually heated to about 80°C. When it starts to “cool down” or if you feel like you need more heat, you pour water over the stones to release steam and get a burst of heat. The first time I went in, I had no problem. The second time, though, I had to step out early because I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the heat. No worries, though—a cool shower sorted me right out.
…With a Risk of Catching Pneumonia
No Finnish sauna experience is complete without stepping outside afterward. Now, imagine the cold outside… snowing and at least -10°C. The last thing you’d think about doing is going outside in a swimsuit. But since you’ve got to try everything at least once in life… there we were, giving it a go!
To my surprise, I didn’t feel cold at all. Okay, you can tell it’s freezing, but it’s actually quite bearable—definitely more so than I expected. At first, I thought I’d freeze right there, but your body is so hot that you don’t notice the cold. Since it was my first time, I didn’t want to stay outside for too long, so I quickly headed back indoors. No need to catch pneumonia on my first week in Finland! Still, I’ve made it a goal to stay outside longer next time. It’s the perfect shock therapy to fight off the cold!
