Tuesday 11 November 2014

Learning About Finland: Move Over Helsinki!

Ah Helsinki, the capital of Finland.
Also noted as one of the "most honest cities for returning a wallet".

Well, you can move over now Helsinki - I want to put Jyväskylä on the map of honest cities.
Friday, October 31st - I lost my wallet.
I was planning to take my A-Man to day-care via bus, as we have the monthly un-limited usage cards and because he enjoys "paying" for the bus (taking my wallet and pressing it on the electronic panel) and saying "MOI!" to the driver everyday.
And he equally loves waving good-bye to the bus when we get off and telling it "HEI HEI" (good-bye) and often tells it to be a good boy.
But that particular Friday he wanted to go "bizzy".  He wanted me to bike him to day-care.
Fine - I forget what I had for dinner the night before, but I'm sure I need to lose a bit of flub anyway.  So off we go - orange wallet in the basket and down the hills.
I remembered bringing my wallet into the day-care and I don't remember bringing it out of the day-care.
So I went insane that day trying to find my wallet.  I even went back to the day-care twice to look for it and back my 30-minutes hiking route I had taken with the dogs - nothing.  I was exhausted.
But no money was taken, my residence permit wasn't inside my wallet - just a whole bunch of other stuff.
Like what? (I know you're curious).
  • Library card
  • Finnish ID card - extremely handy (and expensive!) so I don't have to tote around my passport.
  • Pictures of my children
  • Kela cards - mine and my 3 children's cards too
  • Subway card and other little membership/discount cards
Well, I wrote about what to do if you lose your wallet in Finland and only posted it this morning.
I figured I'd write a proper update and perhaps clarify why Jyväskylä needs to be named a super honest city too.

I went to the library this morning and paid 2€ for a new library card.
I'll miss my blue and white one but I love going to the library and taking the kids there too.  I also enjoy borrowing their wide selection of books and movies - it's a really great library!
(OOOH! And if you have a city library card in Jyväskylä, you can use your card to get into 4 museums for free on any day of the week from the beginning of November until end of January 2015!)
So I now have the new animal-printed one.
I told the lady that I needed a new card and thankfully had 2€ in change and my passport with me.  I advised her that I lost my wallet a couple weeks ago and she confirmed that nothing had been taken out on my card and no fees were owed.  Great!
"Oh that's unfortunate you lost your wallet." - librarian
"Yeah it's my first time having to report everything missing - ever." -me
"Oh really?! It's your first time?  Oh wow that's really something!" - her
Yep it was - that or she thinks I'm much older than what I am and I'm really impressing the pants off of her.
After that, I moved on to gander around the yarn shop with a friend then meet up with another friend and gossip and have McDonald's for lunch (we're classy like that).
As friend 2 and I parted ways, she suggested that I check the police station anyways because why not?
I was planning to go to Kela afterward and replacing my Kela card (along with the kids') and thought, I have time - why not?

I walked into the police station and the same two ladies were working there and I got the same one who didn't ask me to file a police report or anything a week and a half ago.
This is going to be a waste of my time...was my initial thought.
Well!  I walked up to the lady and showed her my current wallet - which is the same model but "caramel" coloured and told her:

"I was here a week and a half ago - any chance this wallet but orange and full of stuff is here?"

She looked at me and said, "One moment."

WELL! That was promising within itself!  She didn't flat out say "no".  She even went out back and talked with someone and came back...with my little orange wallet in her hand.
My jaw smacked the desk with shock and relief!
She opened it and went through it until she found my Finnish ID card and confirmed my ID that way and I was thrilled. 

For whatever reason, I suppose we'll call it "extra safety measure", the police officer beside her questioned her in just giving me back my wallet - of course in Finnish...then the lady helping me confirmed to her that she's looking at my Finnish identification card and yep - it's really the owner of the wallet.

I was so thankful and happy - I didn't even ask where it was found or when it was brought in - because she did tell me last time that someone would call me...nobody did by the way...

Anyways, I took a gander through my wallet once I left and everything was there.
There was actually  more than I remembered:
  • Tapestry needles for sewing knitted projects
  • SD memory card full of photos
  • More than 2€ in coins - I didn't count but it might've been closer to 3.50€-ish.
  • Other bits and bobs...
This is the first time that I lost something "huge" or "extremely important" - so I'm really grateful for the stranger that found my wallet and brought it back to the police. 
I've lost mittens, my friend has lost her backpack which contained her most important documents (visa, passport etc.) on a bus in Jyväskylä...

So I vote - Jyväskylä for the "Most Likely To Get Your Stuff Returned To You City**".
Thank you so much again stranger and if you're reading this - I'd love to buy you a coffee.
More importantly, thank you Finland for allowing me to show the world how awesome of a country you are.  And I'm honoured to call Jyväskylä my home.

BIMU 

** Unless your bike isn't locked properly or your lock sucks.  Some exceptions may apply. 

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