A Greek woman went to Finland to work in "frozen" restaurant

On the edge of the Arctic Circle in Rovaniemi, Finland, lies one of the strangest restaurants in the world, Snowman World. It is rebuilt every November when winter comes and demolished every March when the temperature begins to rise to almost 0°C.

It is made entirely of ice, and the walls are decorated with impressive relief designs. In its icy surroundings, customers are dressed in their warmest clothes and their order usually begins with the famous venison soup or, alternatively, salmon soup. A young Greek waitress, Eleni Tsami, scurries effortlessly between the tables that look like the stage of a theatrical performance.

As she told iefimerida, she came to Rovaniemi last December to work there for a season and had an amazing experience. “I left Athens disappointed because I didn’t find a job in my field. I also worked last summer in Norway, so it was easy for me to make the decision,” notes the girl, enthusiastically talking about herself.

“What I’ve only been able to see in a few countries is the northern lights and the awe they evoke, and the fact that I haven’t seen the sun for a month and a half. The first day when the sun rose and I saw its rays again, I was touched by it, and then I realized how much I missed it.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ESQ4a_ixNA
In this frozen place, where last winter the temperature reached -46°C and for a long time was close to -30°C, Eleni Tsami found, in her words, the warmest people. “I was surprised by how welcoming and friendly the people are here. I think if I need to work here next winter, I will definitely come again,” she notes, explaining that this part of the world has very favorable working conditions.

Here a waiter can earn up to 16 euros per hour. All overtime hours are paid at a 50% premium, or even 100% if you work more hours, and all Sundays and holidays count at double rate.

There is also an increase in salary if you work after 6 pm and even more if you work after 12 pm,” says Eleni Tsami, who studied acting but worked in restaurants for several years. Indeed, even in Rovaniemi… Santa Claus has a schedule: in the morning he goes to his house, greets visitors and leaves in the afternoon.

Eleni Tsami walks to work, covering a distance of 2 kilometers in the snow every day. “I have nothing to fear because crime is zero. As for wild animals, bears are hibernating, and wolves move further into the forest,” she explains.

In a few days, the frozen restaurant will be demolished, as it happens every year, and Eleni is already packing her bags to return to Greece. In Rovaniemi she met people from all over the world, especially during the Christmas season, as this trip is a dream for young and old. “What I will miss most is these wonderful month and a half without the sun, the so-called polar night, when we had about 4-6 hours of daylight. At this time, the sky is illuminated with unimaginable colors: pink, bright orange and red, as if constant sunset.”

Although she had already worked in Greece for several seasons, from Corfu to Tzia, the “frozen restaurant” Snowman World, owned by the Snowhotel family along with Artic SnowHotel & GlassIgloos and the Santamus restaurant in Rovaniemi, was the experience of a lifetime for Eleni.

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