What to sell to Finland. What I bring from Finland and to Finland. Household chemicals and cosmetics

This method of earning money is most likely typical for border cities, but any Russian citizen of our vast Motherland can use it.

http://www.koli.ru/images/4403258d24c93.JPG" hspace="4" width="200" align="left" vspace="4"/>This method of earning money is most likely typical for border cities, but any Russian citizen of our vast Motherland can use it. There are precedents. So, Vyborg is a city bordering Finland.

Opening the page of free advertisements in the local newspaper, we find the “Labor Exchange” section and see what is in it. First, in alphabetical order, a lone accountant offers his services, then, rather sluggishly, a couple or three drivers with their cars, and then... A whole column starting with the letter “P.” As Mikhail Zadornov says, the Americans will never defeat us, because only in our dictionary there is such a word as SMART. Well, in what other country in the world could the profession of PASSENGER TO FINLAND be invented! There are about 30 of these passengers in the newspaper advertisements after the poor accountant and drivers. Both with their own car and without them, with children and with grandparents.

The history of the emergence of a new profession began several years ago, when another decree of the State Customs Committee was issued, aimed at combating the “greedy” population of border cities, in particular, and the shadow economy in general. The meaning of this decree comes down to the fact that from abroad a citizen has the right to bring goods weighing no more than 50 kg to Russia.

If the weight of the goods exceeds this value, then you must pay a duty of 4 euros for each extra kilogram. Well, who will pay a duty of 120 euros for a two-chamber used refrigerator bought somewhere on a farm from a Finnish peasant for 40-50 euros and weighing 80 kg? That's right, no one! Therefore, enterprising shuttle traders began to hire poor, unemployed or simply lazy Vyborg citizens with Finnish visas to transport “extra” kilograms. And everyone lived well and happily: the shuttles transported and sold their wonderful imported goods, the passengers, bored in the customs line, read books, knitted, studied the Hindi language and calculated on a calculator their dividends from sitting in the car.

During this golden time, passengers acquired the nickname “sausage maker”, because wholesale shipments of goods on the Finnish side were distributed into 10-20 cars with passengers and then this “sausage” solemnly traveled to Russia. Of course, there were also negative consequences of this phenomenon. For example, car repairmen in garages stopped repairing cars.

And why, if “having eaten sausage” once a day in Finland, he received 12-15 dollars from the organizer, and if he was the driver of his car, then all 25. But the Russian customs did not sleep! Having discovered that she was “flying past the ticket office”, which was passing by her relatively honestly and peacefully every day, customs introduced the concept of “indivisible cargo”. Now, in order to transport the desired refrigerator across the border, it has become necessary to have a relative as a passenger.

Relatives transport goods for joint use, which means the weight of duty-free indivisible cargo increases. But there was confusion in this place. Who is considered a relative? At one customs office all relatives are relatives, at another - a mother and child are relatives, but, for example, a husband and wife are not. In the Vyborg region there are three customs crossings, separated by fifty kilometers from each other, and each has its own concept of relatives, which also depends on the shift you are going to. In general, having become completely confused about their relatives, the people made the only correct and correct decision. To become a relative, you have to pay for it! And they are still paying!

The consequence of these innovations was an increased demand for single women with children and more frequent border crossings for citizens earning their daily bread. At this historical moment, when, according to legend, an unknown hero crossed the border five times in one day, the term “jerboa” arose.

How can you start “stuffing” while earning banknotes? To do this, you first need to decide what you will transport and for whom. Today, “tushkans” bring from Finland products that are in demand on the market: Used refrigeration equipment, used washing machines, used electric stoves, used and new leather furniture, custom auto parts, car paint, used car tires. used and new, used and new TVs, home theaters, computers and components from Germany, heating cables, power tools, cubic plastic containers for liquids and much more that I don’t know. For crossing the border, which is 60 kilometers from Vyborg, “Jerboa” receives 10-12 euros, the driver - 25 euros.

Having decided on your desires, you need to obtain a foreign passport and a Finnish visa. You order your passport at the nearest OVIR office. Minimum cost passports cost 250 rubles, but you will receive it in two months. It’s easier to get a passport through any travel agency. You can apply for a visa to Finland yourself by contacting the nearest Finnish consulate or through a travel agency.

For the first time you need visa for 30 days for a period, for example, for six months, for a longer period - they are unlikely to give it. This means that within six months you can stay in Finland for no more than 30 days, but cross the border at least 100 times during this time (until you run out of pages in your passport or your nerves). The consulate charges 55 euros for a visa.

Mandatory medical insurance . Its cost for 30 days is about 300 rubles. If you are driving your own car, then at the border you need to purchase international car insurance, without which Finnish customs will not let you through. A month of insurance - 600 rubles.

Even if you live several hundred kilometers from the border, you can do as my Tula colleague did. He issued a passport, received a visa, rented an apartment in Vyborg and began intensively driving a Gazelle to Finland and Tula. It ended sadly, or maybe happily. He earned money and is still earning money, but he divorced his wife because during his travels he found another.

All sorts of metamorphoses and combinations occur with goods on the way to the consumer. Most of all, I was shocked by the cycle of used electric stoves in nature. In Finland, as strange as it may seem to us to hear, municipalities carry out regular major renovations of buildings. At the same time, all unnecessary working equipment built into apartments is taken to the landfill FOR MONEY: refrigerators, washing machines, including electric stoves. Builders sell slabs for 5-10 euros, or even for a carton of cigarettes.

Further in Vyborg, valiant representatives of sunny Dagestan buy slabs at a price of up to 800 rubles apiece and take them to their home through Kalmykia, where two years ago they exchanged one slab for two rams, which were then sold in Dagestan, where they bought vegetables and fruits that they brought to St. Petersburg or to Vyborg, where they sold all this and with the proceeds they again bought slabs, which... etc.

What are they bringing to Finland? Vodka, cigarettes, gasoline, money. The cost of a liter bottle of vodka or a block of “LM” on the Finnish side near the border is approximately the same and amounts to 10 euros (in a state store - up to 30 euros), but you need to remember that the police do not like this kind of trade and punish Russian sellers caught with a fine and deprivation of a visa .

A liter of 95 gasoline in Finland costs about 1 euro, so if you find a Finnish business partner (unless he is, of course, a millionaire), then you can safely offer gasoline barter. Like a legend among border guards, there is a story about how several years ago a certain Finnish lover of cheap Russian gasoline and vodka with cigarettes managed to cross the border nineteen times in a day. They also bring money to Finland. In order to be stored more reliably and make a profit in a foreign bank. But that is another story.

Finland is ideal for ecotourism. Photo: visitfinland.com

1. Choose buses

You can get to Finland cheaply by Lux Express buses (prices start from 10 euros) or by ferry St. Peter Line. During the season of special offers, for which you can subscribe by email, a cruise to Helsinki will cost only 25 euros.

If you are planning to take a ferry from Finland to other countries, please note that the Prisma store card offers discounts on cruises from Silja Line.

For trips around the country of lakes, it is worth taking a closer look at the Finnish bus carrier Matkahuolto. The price of a ticket for travel between Finnish cities starts from two euros (plus a service fee of 50 cents).

Car travel in Finland is not the most budget option. You need insurance, and gasoline in Europe is more expensive than here. So meeting Finns at a Russian Neste gas station near the border is a common thing. By the way, it is possible to transport fuel across the EU border, but the permitted volumes are so small that this is unlikely to save the situation. The easiest way to save money is in two ways: either refuel heavily in Russia, or collect big company friends and share the fuel costs among everyone.

2. Don't skip lunch

Finnish Lounas, that is, lunches, will help you save on food. Lunch time in the cafe is from 11.00 to 15.00 (sometimes until 14.00). At gas stations of the ABC network you can dine in a buffet format until 17.00 (check on the ABC website). Lunch prices range from 9 to 13 euros. Burger King and McDonald's have Special offers– lunch for five euros. In addition, in Finnish stores you will always find products with expiration dates. In this case, the discount on bread, dairy products, meat and ready meals can range from 20 to 50%. An excellent option for a quick dinner.

Remember that food prices at local weekend fairs or port markets can be one and a half to two euros higher than in a regular store.

3. Love camping

Finland is a country of campsites, so you can stay there from mid-spring to mid-autumn. The cost of spending the night in a tent varies from 18 to 25 euros for two people. If your group is larger, it will be cheaper to rent a cabin (without amenities) or a cottage. There is no point in looking for camping books on Booking.com; there you will only find offers with cottages, and not the cheapest ones. So feel free to search for “camping” in Google Maps or on the Eurocampings website.

You can get a discount on an overnight stay at a campsite using a loyalty card. The cost of the card itself is 16-18 euros; you can purchase it online in advance or upon arrival at the campsite. The discount for Camping Key Europe, ACSI and other similar programs starts from two euros, and for a long stay the card gives you the opportunity to spend one night for free (for example, you pay for seven days and get one day as a gift).

5. Plan your budget in advance

A budget for one day in Finland can range from 60 to 80 euros for two, taking into account all expenses. It’s trite, but any journey begins with careful planning. Determine how many vacation days you have and how much money you are willing to spend during this time. To simplify the calculations, create a table in Excel and enter all the necessary expenses there. In the table, make columns with days, cities, mileage, insurance costs, travel time, visiting attractions and museums, the cost of entertainment, food and parking. By the way, if you are planning a trip for the weekend, then you can save a lot at the last point, since usually after three or four o’clock in the afternoon on Saturday and all day on Sunday you can park for free. Parking in Finnish cities is usually divided into zones. You can get acquainted with its cost in Helsinki.

Free Internet can always be found at gas stations, cafes and museums. But if still mobile connection and you need the Internet constantly, then buy an international SIM card. The price varies from 9 to 17 euros depending on traffic. Very convenient if you want to save on roaming charges from your mobile operator.

Many people don’t even realize that visiting Finland is absolutely free. It turns out that everything is very simple, residents of St. Petersburg have long been accustomed to going to border Finnish supermarkets for cheese, chocolate and just to take a walk...

One-day shopping tours to border cities cost from a thousand rubles. In St. Petersburg, every second person already has a Finnish Schengen visa. St. Petersburg residents usually travel along it to supermarkets in the Finnish border towns of Lappeenranta and Imatra, go for cheese, fish, chocolate and even toilet paper. Some things can be imported into Russia with restrictions, some are not allowed at all, but every day hundreds and thousands of residents of St. Petersburg bring tons of kilograms of sanctions to their New Year's table. Several large supermarkets are located literally five minutes from the borders, almost in the forest. But the line at the checkout in these supermarkets is inevitable; hundreds of cars and buses with Russian license plates fill the huge parking lots.
One-day shopping tours to Finland from St. Petersburg start every day, such a trip will cost about a thousand rubles, the start and finish of the tour is at seven or eight in the morning near some metro station.

The catch lies in the rules for importing goods into the territory Russian Federation. One person can import 50 kilograms of goods from the territory of the European Union (there are special restrictions on products). And resellers of goods drive such “free” minibuses; the scheme is simple and primitive: they buy cheaper there, sell more expensively here. And they buy from Finland not one, not two, or even a hundred kilograms of goods at a time. Once in a minibus with a driver, you may hear something like this:

Today we are transporting tires and suitcases. Everything is legal, but you will need to tell the customs officers that the tires and suitcases are yours, we will decide who is carrying what on the spot, depending on how much we buy, someone may not get anything at all. You can take five kilograms of any goods for yourself. If someone, for moral or other reasons, is not ready to say such a thing, then it is better not to go, otherwise there is a chance of being stuck at the border all night.

The driver’s short monologue-story-warning is over, all passengers are ready to lie to customs officers, and the minibus sets off. You can get to Finland through two border checkpoints, both take a couple of hours to drive, crossing the border from 15 minutes on weekdays to several hours on weekends and pre-New Year rush days. A clear advantage over “official” shopping tours is that you are not traveling on a huge bus and the driver can make stops “on demand” at any store along the way, and in general he can make stops anywhere not according to the program.

It’s morning, and there’s a rush in the stores, price tags in Russian, Russian-speaking sellers and hundreds of Russian sanction lovers :)

Many stores just look like a big warehouse. Tourists from Russia shop with packages

Why else do people go to Finland? Good luck!
In Russia, slot machines are prohibited, but there they are not, St. Petersburg grandmothers and others are just trying to win the jackpot so they can spend it on kilograms of Finnish cheese!

Let's return to our tires. Before the border, the driver distributes goods among passengers (some people really don’t get anything) and gives instructions:

The main task of the customs officer is to get you to admit that the tires are not yours, most likely they will not find fault with the suitcases here, the tires are heavier and they will be interested in them. They will scare you with detention and fines just to get you to confess! If you only insist that you are bringing tires for yourself or your children/parents, then they won’t be able to show you anything and they will calmly let us into Russia!

The driver talks about examples from practice:

Yesterday we fell for these customs officers, they interviewed everyone for almost several hours, one girl wrote to them explaining that the tires were mine... As a result, I had to stay there for several hours and then they let me through for only two thousand... Or they could even return me to Finland , and the store there was already closed, everyone would have to spend the night there together.

On this trip, the customs officer only asked the “owners” of the tires to whom they were taking them and why (they were all taking them to children and parents), weighed the sets, they came out at 43 kilograms, that is, they easily fit into 50. Passengers without tires were not even asked anything. A couple of hours later everyone was in St. Petersburg.

Photo of a car with free travel to Finland at Russian customs. Are you ready to go shopping in Europe?

Today last time Before leaving, I went shopping in the city. Once again I thought about how different things people consider it necessary to bring from country to country.

Our older relatives, for example, ask us to bring them butter, coffee, cheese, and sausages from Finland. In general, many people bring oil, as far as I understand. But on the contrary, I take the oil with me to Finland. Because in Finland it is almost exclusively salty, and therefore tasteless to me. You can find unsalted one, but it’s difficult and it’s noticeably more expensive. I don’t drink coffee, I don’t eat sausages, but I eat a lot of cheese and enjoy it. But I don’t bring it from Finland, because it costs the same and in terms of quality, IMHO, cheap Finnish Edam is exactly the same as some Russian one. But sometimes I bring several packs of mozzarella. It tastes the same, but for some reason it’s cheaper in Finland (however, now I don’t know if it’s cheaper - I didn’t recalculate it after the price jump).
I know that many people bring red fish. But we somehow didn’t master the stop at special shops along the way, and in Turku itself you can buy salmon for the right amount of money only through K-market promotions, once every few weeks, if you’re lucky. There is no smoked fish for adequate money at all (it costs about 20 euros per kg - it’s choking toad).

I myself am bringing a rather strange set of products from Finland:

Bread and roll. Black malt "archipelago" bread Saaristolaislimppu and "kefir" bread Piimälimppu. They are expensive - today I paid 3.5 euros for bread and 2.8 euros for a roll. But Kolya, for example, and my mother don’t eat them at all; they say that the bun is too rich and sweet, and the bread is sweetish and has too rich a taste. I just adore it, I really miss something like this in Russia, so I always bring one with me.

Bell peppers. Because here they cost 5 pieces for 1 euro. Beautiful large colorful peppers. And in Russia there are so many that, despite all the love for this vegetable, we have to do without them in winter

Chamomile tea in bags. It's not expensive at all. It costs a penny in Russia too, but I like Finnish much more. It tastes a little different.

Syrup. Well, that’s understandable, I need it for gingerbread. And also sprinkles. I used to carry dyes too, but now I’ve discovered where to buy them in St. Petersburg, and it’s cheaper.

Sometimes some other desserts. I like mint candies and chocolate with mousse and milk filling. I also love chocolate mousse, but this stuff is completely perishable. And also semolina lingonberry mousse, but for some reason I didn’t buy it this time.

In terms of non-edible items, I mainly bring clothes for girls, which I buy in kirputoria (thrift stores). I know that people usually buy new clothes somewhere in Finland, but I don’t understand where they get them - for me, new clothes here, even taking into account sales, cost absolutely incredible money. And it looks terrible for the most part.

I always bring tomato paste to Finland from Russia, because here it is either exorbitantly expensive or tasteless if you buy it in Asian stores. Mom also usually asks for buckwheat, vegetable oil, condensed milk, mayonnaise, and cigarettes. In Russian departments big stores There are also sprats, canned borscht and canned cabbage salad on the shelves. Although this time, as I already wrote, we brought a lot of edibles; after the jump, the difference in price for the most ordinary products became very large.

I also know that people usually use border Duty Free stores. But Kolya and I somehow don’t see any sense in them for ourselves. We don't smoke, don't drink, don't use cosmetics. There are some sweets left, but they are very expensive in Dyutiki.

I went in 2013 for just over 2 months. I myself lived in Kazakhstan at that time.

Background

It all started when my friend and I decided to cheat during our pre-graduation internship. We studied to become biotechnologists and in the 3rd year, willy-nilly, we had to confirm our pre-graduation internship during the summer holidays. My friend and I decided not to go through it, but to go to Finland, in particular to one of the many strawberry farms. We explained everything to the teacher in such a way that we would go there in order to find out how they modify varieties for growing berries in especially rainy areas. In fact, we went there simply to work and travel.

How it all began

An invitation to the country from a farmer-employer (analogous to a jobfer) and a visa were received and issued to us by a company to which we paid money for this.

Initially, we were promised “mountains of gold” that all expenses there would, in the worst case, pay off, and in the best case, we would come out with a big plus.

There was also talk about separate rooms upon arrival. We, of course, didn’t really believe in it, but we still didn’t think that in reality it would be completely different.

Having collected our things, we went to our starting point - St. Petersburg, and from there we took a bus to Finland.

Arrival

Upon arrival at the farm, it immediately became clear that there were no separate rooms to speak of. We were accommodated in different houses, 4-5 people per room. In principle, the rooms were spacious, with tables, chairs and bunk beds, but a little unkempt.

Also, almost immediately after arrival, it turned out that we arrived in the “off season”, because... Strawberries this year, as it turned out, “started” earlier and had already begun to decline by the time we arrived.

An interesting point is that we arrived at the farm during the celebration of some kind of birthday, because of which almost the entire Russian-speaking population was either succumbed to or wasted. If it weren’t for the red houses and Finnish paraphernalia, this farm’s surroundings could easily pass for a small Russian village.

My friend and I, to be honest, were a little scared, because... some personalities were frankly not very friendly, and a couple of people literally started telling us with obscenities that we had been deceived and that we certainly wouldn’t be able to make money here. Some Kazakhstanis, after sitting on their suitcases for a couple of hours, stupidly went back to the airport and are suing the company that sent us here. My friend and I, although we were in shock, still decided to stay, because... Our main goal was not making a profit, but an adventurous journey.

Having sorted out our things, we hugged our suitcases and went to bed in our clothes, because... everyone was tired and it was late, but the rest of the population continued to celebrate.

Next morning

We were woken up at 6 in the morning, which most of the new girls were not ready for, there was no time to have breakfast and we, having changed into the special uniform that we had brought with us, stuffed our things under the beds, took everything valuable with us (you never know) and went to the fields along with everyone.

On the way, we were given baskets in which we would collect strawberries. Walking in the crowd, my friend and I were amazed by the greenery and humidity of Finland, and we were also a little amazed by the men who, being hungover, also go to work with baskets. As it turned out, this did not promise anything terrible, because the controllers were all Russian and last night they also took part in the celebration, although unlike the majority, they did not drink much or did not drink at all.

First work day

When we reached the field, we were given a short briefing: picking techniques, which berries to collect, which ones to throw away, where to carry them, how to behave if the row is over, who to contact if something happens, etc.

We worked until 14:00, after which we worked. the day ended and we went home. Personally, my first day was not very productive, because I was not very well prepared physically; still, standing on my knees or squatting for several hours was quite difficult for me, especially immediately after the trip. It was not possible to collect many baskets, but I ate plenty of strawberries (this was not prohibited there).

After arriving at the lodge, it was nice to realize that there was still a whole day ahead. The first thing we started doing was washing our clothes and boots and getting in line for the shower. By the way, about 15 people lived in our two-story house and there was one shower for everyone. Hot water was heated in a huge electric titanium, so even if you were last in line (which I almost always was), there was more than enough water. The queue was handled verbally, that is, no one stood in a line, everyone just knew after whom he was entering. Married couples came in together, fortunately the shower room was spacious. After washing, we made the beds, put things in order and began to think about food.

As it turned out, my friend and I were the most prepared, because... We brought with us a lot of cereals, pasta and other semi-finished products. Having teamed up with two guys in the room (who were also from Kazakhstan), we established a “food fund” into which everyone had to either donate all the food or money for this food. They agreed to take turns cooking, but over time, only those who were good at it continued to do it, and the rest covered it with other duties.

We lived on our food with my friend for almost a month, spending practically nothing on food, while our neighbors regularly took advances and chipped in for the store.

Towards evening, we became acquainted with all the members of the household, who all turned out to be citizens of Ukraine (only our room is from Kazakhstan), and they had all known each other for a long time, because, as it turned out, they had been coming to this farm for several years. Ages ranged from 22 to 45, and there were 2 married couples.

A note about our house:

A small 2-story, 5-room mansion with a side canopy, under which there were a table, an outdoor sofa and 2 armchairs. The house had a good shower and toilet. There were enough tables, beds and chairs. The kitchen had a refrigerator with freezer, gas stove with oven, microwave, cupboards and some cutlery.

In addition to our house, there were a couple of larger houses nearby, in which the others lived.

Living and everyday life

On the farm, in addition to us (Kazakhstanis) and Ukrainians, there were Russians (mostly from Petrozavodsk), a few Bulgarians and 1 guy from Afghanistan who had 2 higher degrees and spoke 5 languages, including Russian, Finnish and English. Later it turned out that he came with his girlfriend, who is Ukrainian.

Working day

As I wrote above, it was from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday are days off. After work during the day there were a lot of options for what to do, at first we simply explored the area, swam (there was a warm lake with a pier nearby), made acquaintances, played with a ball, performed everyday tasks (cooking, cleaning, washing, etc.)
By the way, if it rained heavily in the morning (this rarely happened), then they didn’t go to work and that was bad, because if you don’t work, you don’t earn money.

The closest store to the farm was in a village called Vesanto (about 5-7 km from our farm). You could get there either by bicycles, which were given as a thank you, or by a Finnish small car, which was rented out. You could drive it with any driver’s license, be it Ukrainian, Russian or Kazakh. When someone was going to the store, he openly announced it, so that he could be given a small list of the necessary products and money. Of course, everything is within reason, if you need a lot of things, then be so kind as to chip in to rent a vehicle and go with it.

There was Internet on the farm, although it was not available to everyone. It was distributed from the home of the farm owner and was quite powerful; the password was available to the controllers who worked there on salary. Later, my friend and I became friends with almost everyone and the Internet became absolutely unlimited for us.

We kept in touch with home mainly through Skype, but sometimes we also called each other via roaming.

Technique. We only brought smartphones with us, because... They were afraid to carry something heavier, they thought they would steal it, break it on the sly, and so on. As it turned out, it was all in vain. For 2 months there was not a single case of theft on the farm, because... everyone understood what this entailed: the minimum was deportation with a ban on entry into the European Union for 4 years.

Those who are not new to this kind of income (almost all Ukrainians and Russians) brought laptops, large monitors, Xbox consoles, etc. and so on.

Products. Now I don’t remember everything, but I will try to describe what has been left behind. Vesanto (the village where we shopped) had all the products we were interested in. There we took vegetables, meat, beer, rice, sugar, butter, flour, etc. However, for reasons unknown to us, there was no buckwheat, which was a little disappointing. In addition to regular products, we also sometimes took sweets and fruit concentrates (1 liter of this can be diluted into 8). We bought dairy products from a local dairy farm for a cheaper price.

Alcohol and cigarettes. When we lived there, there was something like Prohibition in effect in the country. That is, everything except beer was sold only in large stores. points and only until a certain time of day (like until 18:00). We even heard that on weekends, Finns close to the border go to St. Petersburg solely to honk their horns and get plenty drunk. Cigarettes were a very expensive product (about 6-7 euros per pack). Non-smokers saved a lot of money. Those who had been coming for several years carried as many blocks of medium-sized cigarettes across the border as possible and sold them for 3-4 euros per pack. I must say, a very profitable business.

Once there was a case when a group of drunk Finnish women (of varying degrees of drunkenness) came to our farm in some broken-down compact car and in all seriousness wanted to exchange the car for 3 cartons of cigarettes. Of course, no one made this deal with them and they left. The Finns themselves reacted to this event as something ordinary, while even the experienced guys were a little freaked out.

By the way, over time, all newbie smokers, encouraged by experienced smokers, switched to rolling cigarettes: they bought special paper, tobacco, and filters separately. The quality of the roll-your-own cigarettes depended on the skill of the twister, and not everyone could distribute tobacco correctly and twist an even cylinder. However, over time everyone got used to it.

Bread. It’s very funny, but you can’t eat bread in Finland, because... It is sold there in the form of toast and is very expensive. Later, Ukrainian men taught us how to bake it, after which we bought flour and took turns baking 2 large loaves for the whole room every day. It should be noted that this was a very important experience in my life.

Leisure:

The more time passed, the more options appeared to spend my free time.

Fishing in the lake: stick+line+hook+bread=1 bucket of roach in 1.5 hours. The hungry fish almost jumped into the bucket itself.

Bathing + swimming on the pier (it was self-made and easily unhooked from the shore) used a shovel instead of an oar.

Walking through the forest and picking berries and mushrooms. There were forests all around, in all directions.

Celebrations. Sometimes with an occasion (birthday, departure, etc.), sometimes without. Everyone chipped in, set tables on the street and fried meat on a grill with a grill (which the experienced ones had also secured, by the way). Local beer was almost always used as alcohol. A couple of times we took expensive whiskey, but we didn’t like it. A couple more times we made mash from berries. It always turned out very tasty and not too heavy (about 12 degrees). One 25 liter bucket of this mash was sold out for 15 people in 1 evening.

Ball games. Of course, there were those who were for a healthy lifestyle (they lived in other houses), with them we often played volleyball and football (there was a net with a small field).

Impromptu poker club. The chips used were real euro coins. In order not to get carried away, there was a rule: no one could use more than 10 euros per evening. If someone has lost them, then they stay watching and don’t go for new ones. It was very interesting, because... at moments when there was a bank of 70-80 euros between two players, they didn’t even pay attention to the mosquitoes. By the way, this “club” was the initiative of our room and over time people from all the houses began to come to our canopy. Some for the sake of spectacle, some for the sake of the game. There were no mishaps or unpleasant incidents. Everyone played fairly and with healthy passion.

Movie viewings. The guys who brought large monitors often pulled them out under the canopy in the evening and invited everyone to watch a movie.

Bicycle riding. You could take them simply by asking politely. I did this often and traveled quite long distances, about 20 km. from the farm.

Games on consoles. Those who brought monitors teamed up with those who brought XBoxes, put everything under a canopy and let them play. This didn’t happen often, because... Mostly, Xbox owners played in their rooms.

Mortal Kombat tournaments. I always lost in the first round, because... Ukrainians and Russians were natural nerds, even the girls.

This is from what I remember. I can’t remember now everything we did there.

Earnings

In addition to the main income - picking strawberries. Money could be earned by picking raspberries (closer to August), and picking blueberries (around mid-July).

Raspberries grew on the farm, but there were much fewer of them than strawberries.

Blueberries could only be picked in the forest. Due to the fact that we were newbies, we “slept through” the start of the collection and came to our senses only when all the forests around were “clean”. As a result, we went to pick blueberries already 10-15 kilometers from the farm. We got there by car and driver, who, for a reasonable fee, took us there and picked us up when we called.

By the way, blueberry picking was the most profitable business, however, due to the fact that the “experienced” quickly emptied everything the right places, we, newcomers, only had to pick up what they didn’t take/not notice) If we had gone there next year, we would obviously have taken out a lot more money.

As a result, neither I nor my friend recovered the cost of the trip, because... we really arrived in the off-season + it was our first time there and we didn’t know much, but we left, of course, not without money.

The main reason for the lack of recovery was that we gave too much money to the company that prepared visas and received invitations. After talking with those who traveled more than once, we realized that in an amicable way, you can ask for an invitation yourself, and applying for a visa, having an invitation from an employer in hand, is not difficult. If we did everything ourselves, we would cut costs by 2 times, or even more. Of course, it was also decided by the fact that we were traveling from Kazakhstan and the road itself also cost a good amount.

By city

Of course, there were trips around major cities, which were organized by the farmer. I personally visited Kuopio and Jyväskylä several times. We arrived in the city in the morning and stayed there until the evening. It’s clear that everyone did what they wanted. Some were shopping, some were sightseeing, some were going to clubs, pubs, etc. We mostly just walked and took pictures; after all, this was our first visit to Europe.

Some curiosities, interesting things and “taste” of the whole trip

Long walks through the forest. One day we (with our room) went into the forest and got lost. We spent 5-6 hours there and seriously planned to spend the night there, because it was pointless to walk in the forest at night. Fortunately, they knew that there were no wolves there, but they were afraid of bears and moose, which were in the mating season and were especially aggressive. Having walked the “last” 50 meters at dusk, we heard the sound of cars, that is, we ran into the highway. Having reached it, we almost immediately caught a ride, which took us in the direction we needed. Since then, everyone has installed GPS navigators in their smartphones.

A bit of a "searing" experience. Walking around coastline lake, my friend and I found a small fishing house and some kind of beach. Without thinking twice we decided to take a swim. While sailing, some old Finn came ashore with an ax and, swinging, began shouting at us in Finnish obscenities (we learned this immediately upon arrival) combined with some kind of untranslatable folklore. Having come ashore, we began to apologize in English and say that we didn’t mean anything bad and were already leaving, to which we received even more menacing screams and false attacks with an ax. The decision was made immediately - we, being in swimming trunks, took our things in our hands and ran into the forest, away from the man, as it turned out later, through the nettles...
After we got home, scratching our legs, we couldn’t understand for a long time what we had done so terrible. Then one of the controllers came and said that they had complained about us because... we snuck onto the neighbor's private property. And then everything fell into place: some migrant workers climbed into your yard and began swimming in your beach, hence the owner’s reaction. This is how we found out that in Finland it is not customary to erect fences, and sometimes there may simply be no markings of private territory.

A trip to the Burn-out festival. The festival took place in the same village - Vesanto. We went there with a small group consisting of our room (4 people) and 2 Ukrainian girls.
The point is that first there will be a show with “tire burning”, this is when cars on the brakes “accelerate”, thereby burning the tires to zero, and then there will be a concert in the bar by some little-known rock band. When we got there, we almost immediately met the Swedes, who arrived in rare American cars. They were all already tipsy, and one of them spoke English very well, and we communicated with him the most.
We stayed there almost the whole day and during this time we managed to: learn a lot about Finnish and Swedish culture, drink elite Swedish liquor for free, take part in an extreme wheelchair riding competition, watch a burn out and quarrel with local drunken hillbillies. In the evening we left there in a car that came for us from the farm. The carriage was impressive.