For one of our EOTO meetups, we chose to spend the afternoon thrift shopping together.
The activity was part of TREY’s Event Department Collection during Well-being Week, where they organized a Flea Market/Thrift Store Appro. Instead of visiting bars like in a typical pub crawl, we moved from one second-hand shop to another around Tampere. Appro events are very common in Finland—they’re essentially themed routes with tasks or stamp collecting, and they’re a big part of student culture here.
student events back home in Germany can be similar, but they usually focus on parties or sports activities rather than themed shopping routes. In the Netherlands, student appros are also popular, often involving bars or cafes instead of thrift stores. It was interesting to see how Finnish students incorporate exploration of the city and shopping into these events.
This time, our main goal wasn’t language learning but rather connecting as a group and getting a feel for Finnish student life. While browsing through different stores, we talked about random things—such as our holidays—and shared our thoughts on the clothes and the surprisingly high prices some shops had.
Because of that, we didn’t focus much on teaching vocabulary or grammar. The idea was simply to take things easy, enjoy the atmosphere, explore the city, and have fun together while checking out all the thrift shops.
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