Written in summer of 2005.

During one month this summer (8 June — 7 July), I stayed in Finland, in the city of in Tampere. It was my first trip abroad from Canada.

I wished to go to Europe also the year before, but it was expensive and my Russian passport had expired. Nevertheless, this year I decided to go.

I got a new passport. For this piece of paper I paid 240 CA$ to the Russian consulate and went twice to Montreal (70 $). I also paid 1150 for the plane tickets, 120 for the Shengen visa and the insurance, and 120 for trips to and from the airports.

So this project cost a lot of money, but I really needed a change. I was tired of Canada and wanted to go to Europe even for one month, for, until application for the Canadian citizenship it's better not to stay abroad long.

I also wanted to visit my friend. I had been corresponding with a Russian girl, Anya, who lives in Tampere, and she invited me to be her guest.

On a bridge over Tammerkoski in Tampere (Tampereen valtatie)

Trip to Finland

I started the trip in the morning of 7 June. First I came to Montreal by Allo-Stop. This company brings in touch drivers and passengers. I always try to use Allo-Stop for going to Montreal, because it's much cheaper than the bus.

Then I took a city bus to Montreal's Dorval airport. Now it is officially called Pierre Elliot Trudeau, in honour of the late Canadian Prime Minister, but sovereignist Quebecers call it as before and point out that Trudeau's name should have been given to Mirabel, the other Montreal airport, which is now closed for passenger traffic (except charters) due to scarcity of flights. I did not like Dorval — the airport was overcrowded and there was nowhere to sit!

I flew by Air France on a gigantic two-storied Boeing 747. It took off at 20.45 and flew to Paris all night. I do not remember ever flying at night, and this time it was over the ocean. A bit scary! It was almost completely dark outside, only the dawn glowed ahead. I felt sleepy, but couldn't sleep while sitting. I tried to watch a film (there was a little TV screen in front of each seat), but the films were boring and mainly American.

At 9 am (3 am in Montreal) the plane landed in Paris, where I was to change for a Finnair plane to Helsinki. In Paris I could see only its immense Charles de Gaulle airport (also known as Paris Roissy). There were crowds of people dressed in all colours and emanating perfumes. This was Europe and my first encounter with France. It was not possible to see the city, because it was 40 minutes' ride away and my next plane took off in just two hours.

Then there was another flight, 5 hours' long. At 3 pm the plane landed at the Vantaa airport near Helsinki. I rang Anya, but had to wait for my luggage two hours because it was sent with another plane. Finally I got my bags and took a bus to Tampere (180 km to the north-west).

In the bus I felt sleepy again, though I noticed at once the beauty of the landscapes. The forests seemed different from the Canadian ones: the trees were higher, less dense, and there were more pines and birches.

To stay awake and have some practice in Swedish, I picked up a conversation with a Finnish girl. She worked as a teacher in Holland and was coming to Finland to visit her relatives. (Unfortunately, she turned to be one of the rare Finns with whom I could talk in Swedish. Most people in Finland know English, but not Swedish).

After two hour's ride, the bus arrived to Tampere. I saw its factory buildings and smokestacks familiar to me from the pictures I saw in the Internet. In spite of its former industrial past, the city was charming. And in the days that followed I only liked it more and more.

Arrival

Anya met me at the bus station. In the first minute we felt abashed, but she quickly put me in her battered Lada and drove home.

She lives in the southern outskirts of the city, the area called Härmälä. It's close to the centre (5 km), quiet and adjacent to beautiful parks and the Pyhäjärvi lake.

Anya lives in a two-room flat. She put me up in the sitting room with a big divan and a TV set.

At Anya's home

Anya

Anya was raised in Vyborg, an old town in Russia near Finnish border. It was seized by the USSR from Finland during the Second World War.

Anya moved to Finland two years ago with her ex-husband. She is very attached to her family in Russia (parents, brother, niece, etc) and she drives home to Vyborg almost every weekend. Her relatives and friends from Russia often visit her in Finland as well.

During weekends in Vyborg Anya buys Russian food and other goods which are cheaper in Russia and fills the car tank with Russian petrol. (Petrol in Finland costs 1.20 euro per litre, while in Russia it is 2.5 times cheaper). Thus she can offset the cost of her trips.

For more than a year Anya has been studying Finnish. Now she is also studying to be a saleswoman. This summer she has been taking practical training at the S-Market food store near her home. She says that as a saleswoman she'll be able to work in other types of shops too, or she may choose a different profession.

Her working hours are between 6 and 12 am. She receives no wages, but gets a monthly allowance from the Ministry of Labour (Työministeriö). They also cover most of her rent, so she pays for her 2-room flat about the same as I pay for my tiny room in Quebec! She says that when she begins to work in a shop full-time, her income after paying the rent will be same as now, but she still wants to work.

In a park with Anya

We have been corresponding since autumn 2004. She is a good girl and I thought that she might become my girlfriend. However, after arrived I understood that we were different and that she had other plans for her life.

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