The Busking Queen

I'm half-Finnish, half-American. I live in New York for most of the year, but I always like to escape the city every now and then. For the past two years, I have come to live in Helsinki for the summer. Last year, it was such an enriching and amazing experience that I figured I might as well try my hand at this northern capital once again.

The only difference is that, last summer, I had a job. This summer, I'm jobless and moneyless.

I made up my mind: instead of wasting my summer in a crap job (like one I had for a hot second working for Premiere in Kamppi), I would rather spend my time busking. I grabbed my typewriter, some paper and a cushion for my butt and parked myself outside of Ravintola Tori in Punavuori. I wrote stories and poems for people for money! In just over two hours, I sold three stories and one poem for a grand total of 19 euros. (Impressive to me, considering I only asked each person for 2 euros.)

And now, I have decided to document my experiences as a busker in Helsinki, for all to see and for memory's sake. From interesting customers to aggressive competitors – whatever I encounter, I'll list it here.

Read the original story about my first time busking on my XIHA Life blog.

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Phoenix – 1901