Luosto is a small village with around 200 inhabitants in central Lapland at the foot of the Pyhä-Luosto National Park. There is a small ski resort in the village. Numerous hiking trails start from here. Inka Piisilä deliberately chose this village as her home. It lies in the centre of her hometown of Salla on the Russian border, with a population of around 3,500, and Rovaniemi, where she studies.
Living on the Russian border has shaped her life. One consequence of the Winter War and the Continuation War was that Salla was divided. About half of the municipality's territory fell to the Soviet Union during the Second World War. The Finnish population had to leave the area. ‘Three of my four grandparents came from the eastern half of the municipality of Salla, which is now known as ’Old Salla". They were first evacuated to different parts of Finland and later settled in the western part of the municipality."
"In my childhood, Russia and the border did not impact my life directly, but Russians as ‘others’ could be sensed from the environments and the attitudes of people around. When I was a teenager, I became interested in our neighbouring country”, recalls the 28-year-old, ’I wanted to know who lived on the other side of the border. I learnt Russian at school and was actually able to travel to Moscow for a short holiday."
Her close family did not understand her interest in Russia. "There was hatred of Russians that was deeply integrated in the local society and everyday life. People I knew only went to Russia to refuel. That was the only thing they would accept." Inka also talks about the many prejudices against Russia that were widespread in her environment. ‘But I couldn't imagine that only bad people lived a few kilometres away.’
During her ‘International relations’ studies in Rovaniemi, she studied a lot about Eastern Europe, continued to learn Russian and was keen to spend more time in this country, which was still unknown to her. She applied for a semester abroad in Arkhangelsk. Unfortunately, it didn't work out because of coronavirus. Then she applied for an internship at the Finland’s Consulate General in St. Petersburg The war began, and she was unable to travel again.
Her master's thesis is also connected to her experiences in the small town on the Russian border. She is investigating the question of whether schools in remote areas that are threatened with closure can survive through an international orientation. She came up with this question because pupils from Russia have been able to attend secondary school in Salla since 2007. This was made possible by the opening of the border with Russia about ten kilometres from Salla. The school and the city pursued several goals with this cooperation: The future of the school was to be secured and the young people from Russia with Finnish school qualifications were to be able to study in Finland.
Salla was a pioneer, but other schools on Finland's eastern border with similar problems also opened their schools to young people from Russia and later also to people from other countries. While eleven pupils from Russia started at Salla in 2007, by 2024, 30 young people from Russia, ten from Myanmar and one from Belarus were attending the school alongside 30 Finnish pupils. The school is now known locally as ‘Salla Border High School’. In recent years, the school profile has changed somewhat, and international students combine school education with vocational training and practical work. Inka's research has shown that international students not only have a positive impact on the school's development, but also on the region. Many stay in Finland to work or study, some even in Salla.
Inka doesn't know when she will have the opportunity to get to know the country on whose border she grew up. ‘For me, it's important to differentiate between the country and the people in the country.’ It is also still unclear where she would like to go professionally. When she started her studies, she had the dream of being able to do crossborder work. She doesn't know whether that will happen. Her career prospects are also linked to her choice of a future place of residence. „I inherited my grandparents' house in Salla together with three other people. It's empty and my aunts are looking after it at the moment. But people keep asking when I'm coming to Salla to look after the house." Luosto is a compromise for her for now: “I can go home and take care of the house and property, and I can go to university and visit my friends in Rovaniemi.’ The small tourist town has another advantage: she can work in the hotel on the side and earn money. When she has finished her master’s thesis, she would like to travel and finally use her Russian, for example in Kazakhstan.
