The Most American Man in Europe

[blues music]
[Peter] All right, guys,
this should be an interesting day.
One of you guys out there,
one of my followers said,
“Hey, Peter, you got to check out
this place north of Helsinki.”
So I got in the car this morning,
drove four hours north.
And here we are.
-Susanne.
-Yes.
This is amazing.
-Wooden revolver here.
-Yeah.
Little stamp machine.
Your father keeps it original.
Well, this is a first for me.
-Welcome to the store.
-Oh, wow.
[Peter] Cowboy hats galore.
You even have the saddles.
Hot wheels, I played with these
growing up as a kid.
-And these are also
like really popular collecting items.
-Okay.
There he is.
-Jari.
-Yes.
Hello. My name is Jari Maki.
-Nice to meet you, Jari.
-You got the classics.
-Yeah.
-Even military uniforms.
-Yeah.
Uniforms.
This is Florida flea market.
-Florida flea market you got this? Nice.
-Flea market, yeah.
And same name, Daley and Daley.
And here is the sheriff’s jacket.
I have uniform
and two sheriff car and one FBI car.
-You have a sheriff’s car?
-Two sheriff car and one FBI.
Okay. Can we see those today?
Yes.
[Jari] My pictures.
-That’s you?
-Yeah.
[laughter]
[Peter] So you imported that car
from the US. obviously.
Yes.
-That’s wild.
-And lights, horn, like movies.
And I drive it.
[Susanne] It’s original.
[Jari] I’m looking police movies.
60s, 70s, 80s, 90s,
20, again and again.
And Hill Street Blues, Heat of the Night.
-And what was that show that was canceled
for the night when Kennedy was shot?
Al Capone police movies.
Kennedy died and police movies down.
-Many, many weeks.
-Cancelled.
Okay. And then you got
the Bill Clinton book back there.
Yeah, book.
-Do you remember John McCain?
-John McCain. Yeah.
And Coscen-Corva?
No, Coca-Cola, Coscen-Corva.
Because village is Koskenkorva.
Don’t mess with Texas.
-Don’t mess with Texas.
-[laughter]
Because it’s all people is there
drive truck and cap and Stetson hat
and jeans and boots and…
Really like Western movies.
And I collect American president.
George Bush older
and Eisenhower and Roosevelt
and Kennedy, Bush,
Reagan and Clinton.
Maybe later is Trump.
Because I have same car to Trump.
Have Escalade.
And American seal, President seal,
and tailgate and license is US10.
And same Escalade, same model.
-[Susanne] We will see that car today.
-Yeah, later.
Jari, have you been?
Have you driven America out here?
Maybe 45 state I visit.
-More than most Americans.
-Not here.
Because here is wintertime
and I’m very busy summertime.
[Susanne] But you know what?
You should go to Montana
because it’s the place for Yellowstone.
Yeah, Yellowstone.
-You like Yellowstone?
-I like Yellowstone.
You know where you guys
would find interesting?
I was just up here.
Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan.
A lot of Finnish people up here.
-Yeah.
-Right up here.
It looks like Finland.
I remember this little village
name is Finland.
-Some towns
even the street signs in Finnish.
Yep.
[Susanne] In Finnish way,
“Peyter Santaneylo”.
[Peter] That’s beautiful.
My name is here, Jari Maki
and when we moved to US is Tim Hill.
Maki is upside and hill is upside.
Like mountain.
[chuckling]
[Peter] All right. You have
the classic American candies.
-And soda.
[Jari] Dr. Pepper, Canadia Dry,
Mountain Dew, root beer.
[Peter] You’re stocking up on
peanut butter products.
Okay. Yes.
-So you want to try these?
-Of course.
These are classic.
All right Jim Hill.
Let’s go check out the cars.
-Okay.
-See you guys. All the best.
-It’s okay if we come too?
-[Susanne] Yeah. Sure.
This area name is USA.
This is Little USA. It’s Little USA.
But actually the name
for the property is also…
-This one.
-[laughter]
The name for the property here
is officially also USA
because when my dad bought this,
the land in 1980s,
it was just forest.
And when you buy a property in Finland
you have to name that officially.
So now on the map it’s officially USA.
-Oh really?
-Yes.
[Jari] And made in Texas.
This pump is made in Texas.
This working.
This pump is working.
[machine whirrs]
-Now.
-You have some oil here, Jari?
A few days. A few days. I hope so.
-Jari, you have a monster truck over here.
-It’s actually customer’s car.
-Oh, customers.
[Susanne] All these outside
are customer’s cars
’cause we have that car service.
Okay.
So the outside ones are customers
except that Lincoln is my car.
-That’s yours?
-That’s mine.
Oh, that is sweet. Look at you guys.
You got a Hummer over here, a Corvette.
I feel bad for that guy.
That guy’s gas bill is pretty heavy.
This guy Jari is a character.
He is so fired up on his cars.
So massive collection in here.
He’s going to start pulling them out.
That’s the old Chevrolet Tahoe.
Jari, what is this like 1990 or something?
-1997.
-And you have a monster limo here.
-Yeah, 11 and a half meter long side.
And this is a Miami limo.
You take people on weddings?
Many people, party people, birthday people.
-Can we take a look inside?
Yeah, it’s possible.
[diesel engine rumbles]
[Jari] Ready to go. [laughs]
Take them all.
[Peter] That is huge.
[Peter laughing] Look at this.
[Jari] This original FBI car.
License is FBI 1.
-Okay.
-And this is 2005.
-I live in Palm Beach County.
Yeah. I collect…
[Susanne] Yeah, he collects
Sheriff car doors.
[Finnish]
You have a connection
with Florida, don’t you?
Yeah. West Palm Beach
and Lakewood and Trump.
[Susanne] And there are
a lot of Finnish people…
-You and Trump spend time together?
-Yeah.
-You’re friends?
-Yeah.
Original Hummer… how to?
-[Susanne] H2.
-H2.
A license is Maki in English.
Maki and Maki.
And President car.
George Bush older is sitting here
and Gorbachev in Russia
and Sweden king,
English queen,
Norway king,
29 state president and king
around the world sitting in this car.
[Susanne] When they visiting.
[trunk creaks open]
Oh my god.
-[laughs]
-[racks shotgun]
-You’re ready, Jari?
-Ready.
-Ready.
-[Jari makes gunshot sound]
[chuckling]
[metal clanks]
And…
[into bullhorn] Okay. Let’s go.
[laughter]
[police siren blares]
[Jari] Look like same, Las Vegas.
-Yeah, I see that.
-Welcome Fabulous Las Vegas.
Welcome Koskenkorva.
Koskenkorva West.
[Susanne] Now when we turn here
on your side there is the alcohol factory.
[Peter] Oh, that right there.
What kind of alcohol?
Liquor is sale to Koskenkorva Vodka.
[Peter] So this is your
standard Finnish small town?
-[Susanne] Yes.
-[Jari] 2,200 people.
[Peter] Everybody knows everybody?
[Susanne] Basically, yes.
-And I’m sure everyone knows your father
driving the way he does in these vehicles.
This is normal for me.
I drive around Koskenkorva in Sheriff car.
Welcome to Koskenkorva village.
Like American,
welcome to West Palm Beach. [chuckles]
Who’s the mayor here?
-Me.
-I think so, yeah, and the sheriff.
And sheriff.
[Peter] Okay, so we’re gonna
cruise around town
and then get out to
what’s very important in life here, right?
-The countryside home.
-The countryside, yeah. The cabin.
[Susanne] Most people in Finland,
they either have their own cabin
or at least they know someone
who has a cabin where to go.
-So even when you live
in the countryside like this,
you go more country, deeper into the woods.
-Yeah.
-What does it cost for
a normal home here would you say?
[Susanne] You can buy a house
for 50,000 Euros
but if you want it bigger
it would be like 100,000 150,000.
-That’s it?
Or like 300,000.
-Is a great house?
It’s a really great house in this area
if it’s 300,000.
-Okay, so I would think in Finland,
wealthy country,
that you wouldn’t be able to get
a house that cheap.
Well, it depends on city.
It depends like where.
If you go to Vaasa,
you go to Tampere, Helsinki,
then of course you have
to 500,000 to million Euros.
-Right. But this is a nice looking place.
It’s a nice little town.
-[Susanne] People just drive around here.
-Oh yeah, that’s great.
[Susanne] Finnish baseball.
-Finnish baseball?
-Finnish baseball.
So different than US. baseball.
It’s totally different than US. baseball.
So the field is different.
In American baseball
the pitcher is right there
and he’s throwing it there.
But here they are doing it from down to up.
-They’re not throwing like this
-They are not throwing it…
-They’re throwing up.
-Throwing it up.
And then move back and then…
Oh, interesting.
And then where are they running here?
It all happens there.
and there is first base there
and second is here and third is there.
-Interesting.
And then it’s just over like a sand.
-Yeah.
[Peter] Looks like a big deal here.
I mean for the size of the town,
look at the stadium.
[Peter] Okay, so this is standard
countryside neighborhood?
-[Susanne] Yeah.
-[Jari] Typical neighborhood.
-Typical neighborhood?
-Yeah.
So what does a home
like one of these homes cost roughly?
[Jari] $150,000.
Okay.
$150,000, bigger is $200,000.
-Do a lot of the young people
stay in town or do they leave?
They go to Helsinki or they go other areas?
I think like young people
go for studying in bigger cities
but some people
come back here after studies
and some people stay.
[Finnish]
[Susanne] It’s really safe neighborhood.
-[Peter] Oh yeah it looks.
-Yeah.
Because I’m here.
-That’s right. We have the Florida Sheriff.
[folk music]
[Peter] This is amazing.
[Susanne] Why this is here. It’s silent.
-[Peter] Gator crossing?
-[Jari] Yeah.
-You really love Florida don’t you?
-Yeah. [laughs]
Florida site. Can gators live here?
[Jari grunts]
[Finnish]
-Yeah.
-[Peter sighs] Yeah.
[Jari] Now is few minutes holiday.
[chuckles]
[Peter] And the kids just swimming here.
[Finnish]
-Fishing.
-Fishing.
-You guys swim in here?
-Yes.
How’s the water? Cold yet?
[Susanne] I don’t know. There used to be
a thermometer in the water.
-I bet it’s um…
[Finnish]
[Peter] It’s 58.
[Jari] We and one neighbor.
No more. Very safe place.
And a boat.
[Peter] Just the the wind and the leaves.
The clouds here.
Crisp temperatures.
[Peter] So you come out here.
How often you guys do the sauna?
[Susanne] People do sauna
like every week, twice a week,
because everyone has
a sauna at home also.
-You have one at home also?
Yeah we we have one at home
and some people might have at home
like inside sauna
and also like outside sauna
in their own yard.
We don’t have the outside one at home
because we have this cottage here.
-Right.
So we have just inside sauna
but people in Finland
they do sauna once or twice a week.
Some people do every day.
-Okay, so you do your session over there.
-Yeah.
-And then you come over here
and you eat or…?
-That’s like relaxing and changing here.
And then there’s the main cabin up there
where is the like kitchen and…
Other building.
-Can I walk in?
-Yeah.
Oh, this is great.
So you go in, you put your time in.
-You jump in the cold water.
-Yes.
You come back here.
Yeah.
You dress back up,
you go in the house, eat, drink.
Eat, do barbecuing.
Then we have campfire place here.
So we can do campfire.
And…
-[Susanne] There is also fire place.
-[Jari] Yeah, fire.
Yeah.
And…
Yeah, I’m feeling that.
[Susanne] And even though
that it was hot summer
people still like to go to sauna.
Because in sauna, it’s even more hot.
Yeah, yeah.
When you go outside it’s
like the weather
doesn’t feel that hot anymore.
Because the sauna is hotter.
-Right.
I visit the Cracker Barrel.
Many Cracker Barrel in Florida.
And the Cracker Barrel sell.
[Susanne speaking Finnish]
So Jari, you said you went…
You used to go to the US
and come back with suitcases of parts.
And now you come back
with containers, right?
Containers of everything.
Container shipping Miami to Helsinki.
And the truck is drive
the container in Koskenkorva.
[Peter] Wow, what a place.
-And that’s reindeer hide?
-Yeah.
Yeah.
-Florida.
-Florida.
[laughter]
Koskenkorva.
-Is it good vodka?
-Yeah. Very good.
-Very good?
No too much, but little.
-Just take a little? Okay.
-Yeah, a little.
[Susanne] That’s my mom, Katarina.
-[Peter] She’s passed?
-She passed away nine years ago.
And like many people say
that I’m really like her.
-Okay.
I don’t know, maybe I am, but yeah.
Your other sister
lives in Lapland and has huskies.
Yes, and that’s one of her huskies.
-That is the coolest picture.
-Yeah.
It was actually taken here by that lake.
When she lived here in Koskenkorva.
So that picture is taken.
Yeah, and so we’re four hours
north of Helsinki.
Lapland, if we’re to drive is another,
what, six, seven hours?
-10 hours north.
-10 hours north to Lapland?
10 to 12 hours, depends what part
of Lapland you are going.
-But 10 to 12 hours north.
-Okay.
Yeah.
-And then the kitchen?
-Kitchen.
[Peter] Oh, fantastic.
Beautiful.
[Peter] Jari, how many times
you been to the US?
63 time.
And first time is 1979.
And last time is six month ago.
-You love it?
-I like it. I like it.
Why do you love it so much?
[Finnish]
Freedom… Freedom.
-You feel it there?
-Yeah.
[Jari] USA is 50 state.
Different state.
Like Europe but I like it because USA is
same language, same money,
same system run on the US.
-Yeah, the states have their own
laws and differences and quirks,
but the federal system
holds it all together.
Yeah.
First, I like car, big car, V8,
gasoline, pickup, Ford, Ram, Silverado.
What do you love about Finland?
Finland is very safe.
-Yeah
-Very clean and safety.
All right guys,
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whether in Finland
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Now back to the story.
That’s our Gas Station. [Finnish]
Which is our… another business.
-It’s your guys’?
-It’s our business.
We have our own gas station.
-V8. [laughs]
-You need your own gas station.
Yeah, so 1.71 Euros a liter.
That’s $6.80 a gallon.
-Yep, six.
-Per liter.
What percentage of that amount
is taxes here?
-82%.
-Phew!
Ah, it’s like a diner. There we go.
Yeah, Miss Liberty.
Another Statue of Liberty.
-Are you serving American-style
or what style of food?
There is burgers
but it’s only for the lunchtime.
And evenings and weekends
there is a burger menu.
-Back to ’70.
-Back to the 70s, yeah.
-And you have Elvis over here.
-Elvis is here.
-It’s what, 3:00, 3:30?
-Yeah, 3:30.
So that’s why no one’s here for lunch?
Yeah.
[Finnish]
[Peter] Is this Finnish?
[Susanne] Yes, it’s really Finnish
and it’s really good.
-What’s it called? Karls…
-Karlfazer.
Karlfazer.
Sheriff, you don’t have doughnuts?
-No doughnuts?
-No doughnuts today, because I don’t know.
It’s empty. [laughs]
Empty but is good.
That’s best chocolate in the world.
It’s way better than
any American chocolate.
You should try.
-Better than Swiss chocolate?
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
[Jari] Yeah.
This is best. Hershey is second.
American Hershey.
Hershey’s? No, Hershey’s is…
We have way better chocolate.
This is number one.
Marabou Sweden, number two
and Hershey’s is number three.
Hershey’s is like number 55.
Mm-hmm.
[Peter] How often
do you dress up as sheriff?
One time per week.
-One time per week you go sheriff mode?
-Yeah.
Maybe Susanne is think
is so cool I drive the sheriff.
Were you ever embarrassed, Susanne,
when he was doing this sheriff costume?
Yeah. And when I was
in my teenage, I was like, “Please”.
But I’m so used to it
that I’m just like, whatever.
Does anyone have problems with it in town?
-Well, of course there are those people.
-Of course.
Yeah. There are always
those people who are like…
Alcohol, alcohol factories.
-Oh, yeah, that’s huge.
Yeah.
[Peter] How you doing?
Great. Welcome to Koskenkorva.
Thank you. You’re friends with these guys?
Yes, we’re friends.
Okay. And the sheriff, of course.
Yes, yes.
What’s your name?
I’m Jaakko Koskenkorva.
-It’s in the name?
-It’s in the name, too.
It’s the name of the estate.
This is our family estate here.
It’s our surname.
It’s the name of the village.
And it’s the name of the vodka
that’s made across the road.
Koskenkorva has been here
for a long time.
And our family has lived here for
around 140 years.
-Okay.
-So I’m the fourth generation
to live here at this estate.
This is beautiful.
Yeah, this used to be a big farm
and lots of farm animals and such.
But nowadays this is a place
we hold events here and parties and such.
-Okay.
[Susanne] My wedding was here.
-Your wedding was here?
-Exactly.
How do people in town take the sheriff?
Are they loving the sheriff in town?
-Of course everybody loves the sheriff.
-[laughter]
Extremely important figure in the village.
[Jaakko] So the one thing
we are famous of is the saunas.
Open sauna evenings
and private sauna evenings.
You can build a sauna
inside almost anything.
And this sauna is built inside
a 10,000 liter whiskey barrel.
[door thuds]
-Oh yeah. That’s nice.
-Yeah.
It’s ready to go.
-Can I walk in?
-Sure.
Yeah, that’s hot.
It takes your breath away at first,
you know?
Yeah.
Just keep the fire going.
-So you like having wood
over the electric, obviously.
Yeah, this is…
-There’s something about hearing
the crackle of the logs, you know?
Exactly.
So what you do in a sauna,
of course, you throw
water on the stones.
But we like to make it more interesting
here at the Koskenkorva village.
I’m going to add some whiskey in it
because we are in a whiskey barrel.
[Peter laughs]
And then it goes to the stones.
I’ve learned this the hard way.
Do not pour whiskey or vodka
directly on the stones.
-Okay.
Because it will burn with a blue flame
and you can burn down the sauna.
But when you mix it in the water,
that’s good.
Then you put it here.
[water sizzles]
Oh yeah. Wow.
-You can inhale some spirits in the air.
-Woo.
Yeah.
That’s sauna in Koskenkorva.
So Finland and the US
has a really big common thing
with regards to alcohol history.
We both had prohibition.
-You had it too? I didn’t know that.
-Yes.
We had it roughly at
the same time as in the US.
Put shortly, it didn’t go well here either.
Okay.
But it had a really big effect
on Finnish drinking culture.
So yeah. What happened in Finland
during the prohibition,
basically the same thing as in the US.
People started doing
their own moonshine in the forest.
Yeah.
And they smuggled in a ton of alcohol
from other countries.
In Finland’s case,
mostly from Germany and Estonia.
Of course, nobody smuggled in beer or wine.
They smuggled in like hard spirits.
And that had a really big effect
on Finnish drinking culture.
Which for a long time after that
was based on drinking
pure vodka and lots of it.
When prohibition ended,
the State Alcohol Company was formed.
You could only buy drinks
from official government stores like this.
-How long did that last?
It’s still going on.
So still the only place is
to buy strong drinks like vodka.
You can only buy them
from the state-owned stores.
[Jaakko] Distillery here
in the small village of Koskenkorva.
-This was government-run?
-Yes.
That was government-run for until 2018.
-Oh, wow.
-For a really long time.
Nowadays it’s a private company.
-That’s interesting. Government-owned
and operated vodka distillery.
Which sold its product
as a monopoly to Finnish citizens. Yes.
That is wild.
Is that wild to you or you’re used to it?
It’s pretty wild. We’re used to it.
But it’s a really interesting setup.
-It is.
-And it had a lot of problems.
-[laughs]
-Okay.
Because at the same times
the state wanted tax income from alcohol.
But on the other hand,
they wanted to keep the health…
problems to a minimum
from excessive use of alcohol.
So it was constantly like this balance.
Here is actually what
the vodka bottles look like.
So this you can also find in the US.
-Oh, you can buy it in the US?
-Yeah, yeah.
Alright guys, so the plan is we’re
going over to Jari’s house for dinner.
We’re eating a traditional Finnish meal
to my understanding.
And then he’s got
a bunch of buddies coming in.
Later, right? With their cars.
[Susanne] Yeah, yeah,
for the cruising night.
-Oh, he has one more car there.
-He’s got more garages, more cars?
It’s such a great zone here.
This whole area.
Oh, he’s got the President’s seal.
President car.
-You like this one? One of your favorites?
-Yeah, I like.
Yeah.
[Peter] Oh, it smells good.
-Hello.
-Hello.
-Welcome.
-Thank you.
[Finnish]
[Susanne] So that’s my grandmother.
[Finnish]
-Anne.
-Peter.
Peter, okay.
My mom don’t speak the English,
only Finnish.
-Okay.
Anne speaks very well.
-Anne, where are you from?
I’m from Kauhajoki.
It’s about 30 kilometers from here.
-Okay.
How did you meet your partner here?
Did he arrest you for driving fast?
No, 40 years ago.
-40 years ago?
[Jari] 45 years ago.
-She knew my mom as well.
-Okay.
They were friends.
Friends before 80s, 90s, early 90s.
-Okay.
But life goes there and life goes there.
So, something really odd happened.
[laughter]
-But I’m happy.
-Well, he’s an interesting character.
Yes.
-Stands out.
He is a kind person.
Kind, yeah.
And I understand who is head of this house.
Anne is inside. I’m outside.
Sheriff.
[laughter]
-We have smashed potato.
-Okay.
And this is the moose.
[Peter] Fantastic.
[Anne] Moose. This is from
our woods somewhere.
-Smells delicious.
-So, then we have lingonberries.
-Lingonberries.
-Oh, great.
Yes.
-Lingonberries.
-It’s jam.
-From the woods?
-[Anne] Yes, from the… nearby.
[Susanne] From the forest.
Yeah.
It’s a jam.
It’s cooked with sugar.
-Mm-hmm.
-Mm-hmm.
So, have you taken on the whole
American world that he’s created here?
I have been a little part of it.
-Little part of it?
-A little… very little part.
Do you like the big cars?
Yes, I do.
-When you go cruising together?
-I have Toyota.
-You have a Toyota?
-Yeah.
Jari allows that?
Hmm.
[Susan] But he don’t want to drive that.
He won’t drive it?
Yeah, I don’t see that happening.
[Finnish]
Okay.
And you can be next one.
-Ladies first, then.
No, you are a visitor, so please go ahead..
Okay. So, moose meat,
mashed potatoes, carrots.
[Anne] And pickles.
[Susanne] Are the carrots from your garden?
-No.
-Okay.
[Peter] So, my first time doing moose.
And eating first time in Koskenkorva.
-Yeah. First time. Everything first today.
-[laughter]
And I check what you…
Mm-hmm.
-You like it?
-I like it.
[Anne] It’s tender.
It’s tender.
It’s…
It tastes very healthy, right?
It’s pretty lean.
And it is really healthy
and it doesn’t have like fat almost at all.
Right.
-It’s really… Yeah.
-Fat free.
This is great.
I gotta say,
I have a lot of admiration and respect
for what you’re doing here because, look,
he’s putting on the sheriff’s costume
and driving around a Florida Sheriff’s car
and having a lot of fun.
And I just think it’s…
Whenever anyone lives their dreams,
Like it seems like you are here,
it’s a great thing to see.
-Mm-hmm.
-So, do you guys do a cheers
or anything like that?
Oh.
-Cheers to living out your dreams.
-Yeah.
-Cheers.
-Cheers.
And thank you for taking me around
and bringing me in.
Jari might be the front man,
but all of you together make it all work.
And your husband too,
is the mechanic over there.
The other mechanic.
So, it’s just a really cool thing to see.
But it demands work about 24 hours.
-It’s all hands on deck.
It’s all in his hands and…
-But if you’re loving what you’re doing…
-Yeah.
-That drives you through.
-You can see it.
-You can see it.
-Yeah.
So, he would take a picture
with every policeman?
-Mm-hmm.
-I did.
He’d shake the hand with the policeman
and went inside the police car.
Yeah. New police car.
And I was sitting, and I…
-He tried to drive.
-Yeah.
-No, he didn’t drive.
-No drive, but sitting.
He was allowed to go inside the police car.
-They let him inside?
-Yes.
Oh, that’s nice.
Wal-Mart place and Flea Market place.
-Yes.
-Yeah.
Outside the Wal-Mart is sheriff
and police is flea market outside.
So, the sheriff outside the Wal-Mart…
Very heavy police because [Finnish].
-Safety vest.
-Safety vest, yeah?
I have a safety vest.
You do? You don’t need it, though.
-Not yet. [laughs]
-No. Not in Finland.
I have to go back to work.
Okay.
Now I want to give you
a little gift from us.
Here’s something from our store
and some local candies.
I don’t know, have you. tasted salmiakki?
-No.
It’s very salty.
-Okay.
And this is handmade in here.
-Oh.
10 kilometers from Koskenkorva.
This is mangosalmiakki
and there’s also Kossusalmiakki.
Which is Koskenkorva vodka salmiakki.
Yeah and you can mix
these candies with vodka
and it melts there.
-It melts there to make the flavor.
-Then you can drink it when it disappears.
-Thank you.
Yeah, but it’s…
-Thank you so much.
Thank you. That is so sweet.
And now I have to leave.
You have to go back to the shop. All right.
-See you later.
-Thank you.
Jari, so is it interesting that
as a young boy,
you watched the movies,
you admired the policemen,
you watched the policemen
and now look what you’re doing in life.
And now I live my dream.
-You live your dream?
-Yeah, dream.
Because my dream is
when I’m young I’m watching TV,
and big car, beautiful car,
big house, people is speaking English,
and not look like same in Koskenkorva,
but few American car here,
and I’m watching TV night time,
same car, and look like same.
And 20 years later, 1979,
I’m flying in US.
-Like movies, but not…
-[Anne] Subtitles.
Subtitles.
And remember
I don’t like my English teacher.
My English is no good.
-No, it’s…
-But I’m looking at… watching TV.
And looking newspaper
and go to US.
And I drive and very easy.
Like…
my dream.
And again, again, again.
And ’79 is 40…
46 years.
-Yeah.
-46 years, yeah.
I hope so, I believe,
more… 30 years.
Many time again, US, me and Anne flying.
He wishes.
Yeah.
That is so cool. And you just learned
your English from movies?
From going to the US talking to people?
Yeah.
-That’s it?
-That’s it.
That’s very cool.
That’s it. And now little America is here.
And we sell and I drive here, American car,
and I drive US, American car.
And when I rent car, only American.
-I very, very… Very import for me.
-Oh, wow.
-[Susanne] Important.
-Sorry, sorry.
[Peter] You’re more American
than most Americans.
Sorry, no Toyota,
no Volkswagen, no Mercedes. [laughs]
I like it.
My other home is in American
but I’m back Finland again.
American and back to Finland,
American, back.
Many question for me,
“Why not move to American?”
But do you remember
families, friends, all people.
-Anne is here.
-Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
-My mom is here.
-Mom is here.
Yeah.
-So you’re living an interesting life.
Yeah. Yeah.
-In both worlds.
-Yep. Yep.
When we went to Florida…
Yeah.
He knew how the roads go.
This way, this is the main road.
-And then…
-He just remembers.
-He remembered the names.
-No GPS. No.
The places in those roads.
Maybe not possible.
My dream is visit to Air Force One.
Maybe it’s possible, maybe not.
But maybe later the airplane
is inside the museum
and it’s possible visit.
Many people who are in the US government
watch this channel.
So if any of you are out there,
Jari wants a little tour.
Maybe they can make that happen.
That would be dream come true.
Yeah.
Yeah.
-Really, I mean, it all makes sense now
because it’s working
but at the time it’s a pretty crazy idea.
Yeah. And that was like
late 80s, early 90s.
So it was the time also that…
So he’s very much an entrepreneur.
-An entrepreneur.
-Yeah. Yeah.
Entrepreneur mentality.
[Finnish]
And she was afraid
when both my mom and dad
were working for other companies.
When my dad started the business
they quit the job.
“How are you gonna manage with everything?”
You just quit your job and you think
the business will go that well.
And she was just afraid of all that.
What’s going to happen.
You are going to lose the house
when you just quit the job.
-She’s proud of him?
[Finnish]
Not too proud, but happy.
Okay. It’s probably the wrong word.
-Doesn’t translate right.
-Yeah.
[Finnish]
Yeah.
[Finnish]
[Finnish]
So the life is happy
and there are nice people around here.
And even that there have been those
passaways like my mom
and my dad’s brother
passed away and my grandfather.
So it’s been also sad years.
But now everything is going on and it’s…
It’s… Well, people are happy.
Here is grandmother’s pancake
and we call that kroppsu.
Okay. Not pannukakku.
Pannukakku is like a formal way to say
but here in this area where we live
it’s called kroppsu.
-Kroppsu.
-Kroppsu.
-Kroppsu.
-Yes.
And she made that.
-Oh, wow. Great.
-Yeah.
And it’s the world’s best pancake
but it’s kroppsu.
And strawberries.
[Finnish]
-Finnish strawberries?
-Finnish strawberries, yes.
The strawberries are really sweet.
Yeah, the small ones,
like when I was a kid,
that’s how they used to be
because they’re natural.
[Finnish]
Oh so she just said
she’s never been on those cruisings.
So like she always comes
to the American Classic Car Meeting
but she never goes with the cruising.
-She gonna cruise?
-Yeah.
And now this time
she’s going to do the cruising.
-The first cruise?
-First cruise.
Yeah.
Okay.
Okay, here you are.
[Jari] Now, this way.
Some fresh kroppsu.
Mm-hmm.
That is good.
How do I say delicious?
Herkullista.
Herkullista.
Good.
[Finnish]
Alright guys, the car club has shown up
but I just wanted to show you this first.
Bike and walking path is no big deal
but when you’re in a town this small
and there’s nothing really around
it’s quite cool
that they set up this infrastructure.
Look at this.
[Jari] This is my best friend.
-How you doing? Peter.
-Hello.
-Welcome to Koskenkorva.
-Thank you, I love it.
Who’s got the lowrider here?
Do we have some Chicanos here?
El Chapo’s boys.
[laughter]
Car El Chapo.
Okay, what do we have for cars?
I built this car.
-Okay.
-This guy’s car.
That’s your car? That’s your Impala?
Yes.
This is an Oldsmobile 1970.
Okay. We have a Rolls Royce.
Rolls Royce and this Mustang, 2000.
-2000 Mustang.
-And a Plymouth.
-The Plymouth, okay.
-Plymouth. Yeah.
And a Plymouth, other Plymouth.
And Keio…
And your car is there.
-The Oldsmobile is Keio’s car.
-That’s Keio’s car. Nice. Nice car.
-Peter.
-Keio.
-Yeah, nice to meet you, Keio.
-Same to you.
Many nice car.
And Cadillac
’57.
Cadillac and a Mustang.
And…
-[Peter] Hello.
-[all] Hello.
[Jari] And an Oldsmobile.
Plymouth ’56.
And a Fairlane ’62.
You all live in town here? Close by?
-Close by. Yeah, 10 kilometers away.
-10 kilometers away. Okay.
-This is Marty and he’s visiting…
-Marty.
Ukraine.
He’s been to Ukraine many times per year.
-You go to Ukraine many times a year?
-Yeah.
We have a volunteer team
we are training in Ukraine.
Border guards,
police.
Okay. You’re training their troops
or they’re training your troops?
-We are training their troops.
-Okay. Okay.
Your grandfather was what?
He was a rifleman in the winter war.
And after the winter war
he had to go to the army
because he was so young.
Actually he was in five years, war.
Second war for us.
Same to my mother’s father.
Served five years.
-’39 to ’44.
-Yeah.
So how is Finland right now, would you say?
The country is doing very well?
Yes. We have little economic problems
but everyone has in Europe right now.
We are well prepared
and NATO is one big thing.
We are now in NATO.
So we can get support from NATO.
We are a border country,
we can get the first attack against us.
And also, reservists.
That’s our strength.
-800,000 reservists? Is that how many?
Yeah.
And your population is 5.6 million.
-So that’s pretty huge.
-Mm-hmm.
[muscle car engine revs]
[soul music]
Action, action.
[giggling]
[engine cranks and starts]
[soul music intensifies]
[cars rumbling by]
[Peter] We have grandma coming through,
first cruise.
-Like movies.
-[laughter]
[music continues]
[engine revs]
[Jari] Action. Action.
[Peter] And how was grandma’s
first cruise ever?
[Finnish]
Very well.
She did well.
[Finnish]
She’s going to do a cruising
next year as well.
-Maybe a convertible.
-Yes.
Or a low-rider.
We have a low-rider out there.
[Finnish]
[Peter] Thank you for today.
-Thank you.
-That was awesome.
It was so great to see you.
You put that all together.
That was awesome.
You’re welcome.
-Thanks.
-Jari, appreciate today.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
-Thank you, all.
-[all] Thank you.
Thank you, audience.
Until the next one.
[soul music continues]