The people here are very religious but do not look down
upon our faith. When our priests in the border villages
have their Bible readings and other meetings, it
is not unusual for peasants from the nearby Russian villages
to come to listen to them. I heard many of the peasants
saying that they liked the way our priests explained the
Word of God more than the way theirs do. Four times a year
there are joint celebrations which last a week or two at
a time. A certain kind of hospitality has become the custom
in these festivities and the duties of host go from hose
to house among those inclined to offer such hospitality.
During these celebrations, people gather from certain houses
and villages - as many people as possible - at the person's
house whose turn and obligation it is to feed guests as
long as the festivities last.
Farming seems to be more neglected there than among us
Finns. The fields are usually small and inadequate, nor
are the pastures very good. As a result, most farms, maybe
all, have few animals - a couple of cows and a horse. Milk
is not as important in their economy and as a food as it
is for us. As a matter of fact, there are three days in
a week when they don't eat foods made from milk - Sunday,
Wednesday and Friday. These are days on which people fast.
I can remember a case which shows how dreadful this fasting
can be. A Russian Orthodox peasant from Akonlahti accompanied
me on a return journey to the first village on the Finnish
side of the border. We came to Lehtovaara
and the woman of the house set the table for us. But it
was Friday and my companion felt he could not have milk
or butter, which was all we were served besides bread. I
tried to convince him that on our side of the border it
wasn't a sin, but he replied, and most sensibly: "It's not
a sin for you but it's a sin for us wherever we break our
rules." These "Finns" are far behind us in the skill of
making good butter. I didn't see any that was even passable.
Since there are plenty of lakes everywhere, the fishing
is good. Fish is in fact a food which is not regarded as
fouling the stomach even on a day of fasting. In general,
these Finns seem to be wealthier than our people living
along the border. I think this is because there are virtually
no vagrants, who are a veritable scourge in many parts of
our country. Another reason they're so wealthy here is that
they use their rye in the form of bread, which is good for
the stomach, whereas we let the power of the rye go to our
heads, leaving the stomach empty and the body to suffer
accordingly. The greater energy and care those Finns show
might be another reason for their superior wealth. When
one goes over there from Finland, one quickly notices their
greater energy in every respect. The common people in Finland
generally show an excessive slowness and lethargy in whatever
they say or do.