Happy Easter!

Hyvää Pääsiäistä!
                       Glad Påsk!
                                    Happy Easter!
                                                       Frohe Ostern!
                                                                         God Påske!
                                                                                     Joyeuses Pâques!
                                                                                                        ¡Felices Pascuas!

I wish you all a happy Easter time. Enjoy the free days with your families but don't forget what we are actually celebrating. :)

Hyvää Juhannusta!

So it was Juhannus last Saturday. Or as the Swedes would say: Midsommar. Which might be more familiar to all the IKEA shoppers out there. In Denmark and Norway it's called St. Hans. So well it's all the same in the end.

And it's the same tradition i would say in most of these countries. You light bonfires on the lakes, go to dances (mostly the older generations), spend time with family and friends at your summer cottage. Have lots of bbqed food and even more to drink, go to sauna (at least here in FIN) and just have a good free day.

Juhannus starts already Friday evening like all mayor holidays here so the shops were closed by Friday afternoon and the city almost completely empty by Friday evening. It is like the whole country is outside in the countryside and the cities are practically dead!

Speaking of dead, Juhannus is also a day were a lot of people die here, either because they drown since they are so drunk, burn because the are drunk while dealing with the Juhannus fires or just have other accidents because of alcohol abuse. Although this year the number of people who died on Juhannus was pretty low with 'just' 9 people. Last year there were 23!

That's why I'm happy that me and my friends don't drink so we had nothing to worry about. I was invited to go on Saturday afternoon which a bunch of friends to the mökki (cottage) of a befriended family. We had a wonderful time with playing games, eating good food and just enjoying the good company. Unfortunately the mosquitoes enjoyed my company as well. During the 4 hours we were outside I was bitten by around 40 mosquito and ants. I counted the bites afterwards! My legs really look like a crumb cake! So bad. But besides that It was a lot of fun.

Hauskaa Vappua!

Happy Vappu to you!

The most important days for Finnish students are the April 30th and May 1st! If possible, it's a week long party with lots of pick-nicks (if the weather is good), Tippaleipä (funnel cake) eating, Sima (bäähhhh) drinking, wearing student overalls and student caps. In general a crazy time where most of the people are just drunk all the time. But there is also a lot of tradition behind it. :) Finns love traditions!

Hyvää Pääsiäistä!

Glad Påsk! Happy Easter! Frohe Ostern! God påske! Joyeuses Pâques! ¡Felices Pascuas!

I wish you all a happy easter time. Enjoy the free days with your families but don't forget what we are actually celebrating. :)

Hyvää Joulua!

Due to the lack of money and the fact that i know too many nice people here now I spent Christmas again in Finland. I just came back from a traditional Christmas diner with ham (kinkku), different mashed vegetables (laatikko), fish and way too much other delicious stuff. So I hope you all have also a great time with your families and loved ones.

Hyvää Joulua! Gud Jul! Merry Christmas! Frohe Weihnachten! Joyeux Noël! ¡Feliz Navidad!