Eating on Christmas Eve

The food plays a very important role in the Christmas of Finns. So this post is going to be about Christmas Eve’s dishes. Some of the dishes date back to medieval times and even before. Of course they have been updated during the centuries.

The centerpiece of the dinner table is ham, but in some home’s it has been replaced by turkey or even a dish out of vegetables. Because this blog is about Finnish traditions and there are many different ways to eat in Finland on Christmas Eve I shall focus on my family’s food traditions. We have been eating the same dishes for decades and the recipes have been given from mother to daughter for some generations already. Mostly the Christmas Eve’s dinner is eaten in Finland at home, not in restaurants.

We eat very light breakfast, because for lunch just after the Christmas Peace has been declared at noon we eat rice porridge (riisipuuro). It is made out of white porridge rice and milk and let stew on stove for 1 - 2 hours, mixed couple of times during stewing. One pealed almond is mixed into the porridge before it is served. Everybody eating try to find the almond, because the receiver of the almond will have good luck for the upcoming year. The porridge is scooped to one’s plate, then powdered, dried cinnamon (kaneli) and white sugar (sokeri) are added on top of the porridge and finally milk (maito) is poured to the plate.

The actual Christmas Eve’s dinner is served around 5 pm before the Santa visits. The dinner consists of starters or the so called fish table, the main dishes and the of course the desert.

The fish table is filled with cold fish dishes and other cold dishes. Our tablet has the following:

gravlax (graavilohi), made out of fresh salmon or usually at our table rainbow trout by covering the fresh fish file with thin layer of sea salt, some sugar and fresh dill, wrapping it to a foil and let stay there for few days

shoemaker’s salmon (suutarin lohi) made out of Baltic herring, that has been placed to a liquid made out of vinegar, water, salt, sugar, onion, laurel leaf and pimento, the liquid is replaced few times during the about 5 days that it takes to make this dish

glassmaster’s herring (lasimestarin silli) made out of Atlantic herring, that has been placed to a liquid made out of vinegar, water, salt, sugar, onion, white pepper, pimento, laurel leaf and carrots, the liquid is replaced few times during the about 5 days that it takes to make this dish

mustard herring (sinappisilakka) made out of Baltic herring in a mustard sauce

boiled eggs

meat jelly (aladobi) usually the meat is from calf

liver paste (maksapasteija)

mushroom salad (sienisalaatti)

pickled onions (hillosipuli)

pumpkin pickles (kurpitsapikkelsi)

warm, cooked potatoes (keitetyt perunat)

rosolli salad (rosolli) that is served cold and contains cubes of cooked carrot, cooked beetroot, pickled cucumber and onion

rosolli sauce made out of whipped cream that is colored pink with vinegar beetroot liquid

rye bread, sweet dark and light Christmas bread (spiced with dark syrup, anise, fennel), milk, butter, cheese

The main course table contains then

The Christmas Ham (joulukinkku) baked in the oven for several hours, the ham weighs usually about 10 - 12 kg, incl. bone, or a ham with attached bone about 6 - 8 kg, it is cooked in the oven in 100 - 125 C about 1 - 1,5 h / kg until the inside temperature is around 80 C, let cool to under 60 C, surface is pealed off and the upper side of the ham is covered with mixture of raw egg, sugar and mustard and then fine breadcrumb is sprinkled on top of the the ham, baked in the oven in 225 C for 6 - 10 minutes until the surface has a nice brown color, then stored in fridge and served cold

carrot casserole (porkkanalaatikko) made out of rice porridge, dark syrup, eggs and cooked carrots in oven, served hot

rutabaga casserole (lanttulaatikko) made out of cooked rutabaga, dark syrup, egg, spices and cream in oven, served hot

potato casserole, sweetened (perunalaatikko, imellytetty) potatoes are pealed and cooked, then they are smashed and wheat flour is added, stewed in oven in 55 - 60 C about 8 - 10 hours, milk and dark syrup are added and then baked in oven for 2 - 3 hours at 150 C

liver casserole (maksalaatikko)

warm, cooked potatoes

ham sauce (kinkun kastike) when the ham is baked in the oven the bouillon is collected, it is filtered and cooled, some of the bouillon is taken, water added and wheat flour and heated and boiled, cream is added and let boil for just few minutes, served warm

For desert we always have plum cream (luumuvaahto) made out of cooked plums, sugar and whipped cream

After the Santa has visited we have the coffee table, which contains gingerbreads, sour milk coffee cake, mince pies (containing plum jelly) and cream cake plus chocolate cordials.

Needles to say that we have been eating excessively after even tasting all of that.

And the ham lasts about week and so do the casseroles. On new year’s day the rest of the ham is traditionally used in the making of a pea soup.

:)

Joulupukki

November went by without a single blog post from me. Sorry. But now it is finally December.

As the independence day of Finland (6th of December) is already on this week and it happens that the so famous Saint Nicolaus is having his day on the same day, I decided to write about the Finnish Santa Claus (Joulupukki).

Well we know that the Santa Claus lives in the northern part of Finland, in Lapland (Lappi) on a fjeld (tunturi) called Korvatunturi (in English Earfjeld). He is accompanied there by his wife (joulumuori), the elfs or elves (tontut) and the reindeers (porot). The Christmas elfs (joulutontut), a very special type of elfs, help Santa to make all the presents. The Christmas elfs assist Santa also by spying on the children and making a list who has been nice and who has not been.

Santa visits our homes on Christmas Eve. We actually believe that he has only one reindeer pulling his sledge. Santa leaving Korvatunturi is shown on national TV every Christmas. You can even nowadays watch it from internet

http://www.visitrovaniemi.fi/In-English/Sights/Events/Santa-is-on-his-way

On most of the Christmas’ we do not see Santa. We just hear him knock on the windows or door and then there the gifts are. He is so busy on Christmas Eve. But every year some of us get lucky and have Santa visiting their home. If we are not at home, we shall write Santa a note and leave it beside the Christmas tree, that please this year bring our presents to the following address. And imagine, he always delivers them in the right place.

Because Korvatunturi is located in the wilderness, Santa has moved some of his businesses to Rovaniemi, which is located right on the Polar circle. There is also Santa Claus Main Post Office. Read more about it here

http://www.posti.fi/english/postisservices/salesnetwork/santaclausmainpostoffice/

Want to see Santa? Click to

http://santaclauslive.com/en/

As Christmas is a Christian celebration once again, when Christianity entered Finland the old and the new were mixed. We have always had elfs. They are really small, bearded men, who can be centuries old. People believed in those elfs really strongly even during Christianity. There was one elf living in the sauna, one in the stable, one in the barn and so on. When the household was nice to the elfs, the elfs took care of the wealth and well-being of the household. Though this mixing of legends and beliefs, a character called nuuttipukki was born. Somebody dressed as a mixture of goat and man and went from house to house on January 13 (Nuutinpäivä), begging for leftovers from Christmas. He took away the Christmas and the celebrating time was over. During centuries the Nuuttipukki was transformed to Joulupukki. Still in the 1970s some of the Santas visiting homes in Finland wore mask like the Nuuttipukki  used to do. And even today if you are lucky and in Finland at the right time, you may meet Joulupukki on Christmas Eve or Nuuttipukki on January 13.

I wish you all a really nice December!

Kekri

Kekri is a very old Finnish celebration that has been celebrated since the medieval times and even before that. It has always been a time to celebrate the ending of the year and the crop that has been collected from the fields. In the old times it was not fixed on one date. Every farm usually celebrated it, when the harvesting was finished. That happened between end of September and beginning of November. In the beginning of the 19^th century it became custom to celebrate it near or on the All Saint’s Day (Pyhäinpäivä) in the beginning of November. Nowadays it is celebrated in some cities or parishes and more or less in kindergartens and schools as a competitor for Halloween. Actually Kekri is the cousin of Halloween. ;)

In the old days the hired help of the farm house got their one week holiday starting from Kekri. And the year was changed at Kekri not on New Year as it is now. After the Kekri had been celebrated on the farm the hired help (maids and farmhands) could travel to their relatives and spend some time there.

The house was cleaned well for Kekri. The tables were full of fresh food made from the just harvested crop. Soups, bread, lamb, porridge, fish. The more there were food from dawn till dusk, the better the crop would be next year. And if they run out of food, it meant that next year there would be hunger.

There were plays, singing and dancing on Kekri. Most of the people drank quite much alcohol at the Kekri party. Depending on the parish the master’s drinking ability was well followed. In some places it was thought, that if the master was well drunk during Kekri, there would be a very good crop next year. In other places it was thought that if the master drank too much or passed out due to excessive amount of alcohol, the crop would flatten next summer.

The Kekri time was the last time before next summer to get actual fresh food in Finland. The fall was time to butcher animals, so there was fresh meat. Rest of the meat was stored in salt liquid or dried. The potatoes, carrots, turnips and beetroots were fresh. Then they were stored in the cellar or preserved. The barley, wheat, rye and oat were just harvested. And usually there was still fresh milk. By Christmas most of the cows were no more producing milk.

At Kekri we can also manufacture Finnish lantern. It is not made out of pumpkin, although those can be nowadays also seen in the yards in Finland. Lantern here is called kitupiikki (cheapskate) and it is made by caving a turnip hollow, putting some lamb ‘s sebum on the bottom and inserting a thin stick into the sebum and then lightning it. It gives a very dim light, that’s why the name.

Hyvää Kekriä!

Happy Halloween!

Happy harvesting party!

Funerals in Finland

This time the post is going to be somewhat dark. Tomorrow a year has gone since my dear friend’s death. Still not a day goes by that I don’t think of him and be thankful for his friendship. I’m so glad to know that he knew how much I valued our friendship. He loved a Finnish/Russian proverb: you live as long as you are remembered. 

As sad as the topic is I dedicate this post to my dear friend. I shall remember You always.

Already in the prehistoric times the Finns buried their deceased to a wooden box. People in those days believed the coffin to be the deceased person’s home. Quite often the box was made by the deceased himself and it had served as a storage box. People also remembered and worshiped the late relatives. Advice and protection was asked from them. But they were also feared and all kinds of spells were done to prevent the deceased to come back among the living.

The arriving of the catholic religion changed the traditions but not much. Until the early 20th century some tools, jewelry or other personal items were buried with the deceased. The deceased was dressed to his/her best clothes and buried with them. During the 19th century it became custom to bury the deceased in long sleeved, long shirt.

For centuries people were buried under the floor of their church. During the 18th century it was realized that it was little crowded under the floor and people also noticed that it smelled inside the church. So at the end of the 18th century it was forbidden to bury under the church’s floor and the cemeteries, as we can see them now, were formed, usually around the church.

The funerals (hautajaiset) as such have been quite ascetic. Local priest said the prayers and blessed the deceased. The mourners (saattoväki) used to bring the food with them to the mourning house (surutalo), because the distances were long and the people had to stay in the house for a few days before heading back home. During centuries people got richer and it became custom to serve food and drink to the mourners. In a way it also reflected the status and richness of the house and showed f. ex. after the master’s death that the house would survive.

Nowadays it is custom to arrange the funerals within 1 - 3 weeks after the death. The deceased is put into the coffin in the place, where he/she had died. A hearse of the undertaker the relatives has chosen will pick up the coffin and drive to the morgue. The closest relatives or friends will follow the hearse in their own cars, thus forming a funeral procession. The coffin will be held in the morgue until the funerals.

The invitation to the funerals can be send by mail or email, write to the obituary published in a local or national newspaper or the invitation can be told over the phone when announcing about the death of that person. If the distance is not too long, everybody invited try to participate. If one cannot participate to the funerals, it is then custom to send an address (adressi) by mail or as telegram to the mourning house, so it can be read in the memorial service. The relatives may also want to have a so called closed funerals, in which case only the closest relatives will participate to the funerals and the obituary will be on the newspaper after the funerals, stating buried in the presens of the close-ones (haudattu läheisten läsnäollessa).

The funerals may be divided into two parts. First is the funeral service (siunaustilaisuus) in a cemetery chapel or local church. The coffin will be waiting in the chapel, when people arrive. A handbill is usually given when entering the chapel. The closest persons, f. ex. family, to the deceased will sit in the front row on the right side and on the left the closest relatives and then backwards. The closest people will be dressed totally in black, except little children solemnly. Other participants may use dark blue or grey in their clothes. The black is also used to honor the service and the deceased. 

The funeral service starts with a psalm or a prelude. The priest says the first blessing and introduction. A psalm is read and a confession made. Then there is a prayer read and some reading of the Bible and the speech of the priest. Then the priest makes the blessing of the deceased, a psalm, a prayer and Lord’s prayer and Lord’s blessing. 

If there is cremation the flowers will be now lowered beside the coffin. The garland will be larger the closer the people lowering it are to the deceased. Friends can also lower a nice bucket. The first one of course to lower the flowers is the widow or the closest person of the deceased present. The widow will lower the flowers on the left side of the coffin near the heart of the deceased. 

The flowers can be favorites of the deceased or symbolize his/her place of birth with their colors. And for the veterans of our wars people usually select white and blue flowers to symbolize fatherland and our flag’s colors. There is always also a card with text or if very close to the deceased a ribbon with text. The text is read out loud before lowering the flowers. Usually there is a short poem or  a verse from Bible and then a text like deeply missing (syvästi kaivaten) and the names of the persons lowering the flowers, although not all from the same family have to be present there. Then the flowers are lowered and it is custom to stand still beside the coffin for awhile. After leaving the coffin the persons will nod to the widow and family and return to their seats. After all flowers have been lowered a music will be played and the participants may leave the chapel. Someone close to the family will announce an official invitation for all present to arrive to the memorial service starting right after. The funeral service will take about 30 - 40 minutes.

If the coffin is buried right after, no cremation, it will be carried to the cemetery during the music and the flowers will be lowered at the grave. The widow and family will be first to follow right after the coffin and then the rest. The carriers are the six closest men of the deceased (close relatives, friends or co-workers). The coffin is carried feet first. When lowering the coffin to the grave, men will take of their hat, the carriers after they have lowered the coffin. A psalm can be sung. A few decades ago the men still filled up the grave after lowering the coffin, but today a scaffold is put on the grave to cover it.

The memorial service (muistotilaisuus) is then much more relaxed service. If the mourners are honored there will be food served and after that coffee and sweets (cake, buns, coffee cake). There may also be just sandwiches and cake. People eat and talk about the deceased, remember together all the good times they had had and how the deceased was and how was his/her life. A few psalms can be sung and a prayer said. Somebody close to the family or part of the family will read the addresses from those who could not be present or not invited. The memorial service will take about 2 - 3 hours.

Still quite many people in Finland follow the custom that the close relatives of the deceased (widow and close family) will dress only in black for the 40 days after the death and not wear f.ex. big jewelry and not participate to parties.

A thank you -note will be send to all of the persons, who either participated to the funerals or send their condolences in the form of an address. It also custom to remember those who send their condolences to the closed ones of the deceased, when they did not know the deceased. Meaning that if the grandmother of a friend dies, it is decent to send a condolences card to the friend and get a thank you -note back.

Christening

I have been writing about traditions relating to the certain calendar dates or times of the year. This month’s post is about christening party (ristiäiset). I wrote about choosing the name for the baby already in January, but I did not talk about the traditions relating to that celebration.

In Finland about 77 % of the population belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church, about 1 % to Orthodox Church, a bit over 1 % belongs to other religions and about 21 % don’t belong to any religion group. I’m most familiar with the Lutheran Church, so this post represents the traditions related to christening a child in Lutheran Church.

Approximately 75 % of all children born in 2012 were baptized to Lutheran religion. The christening party is usually held within 6 weeks to 2 months after the birth of a child. The party can be held at home, at parent’s parish’s premises (f. ex. chapel = kappeli or church = kirkko) or at another location (f.ex. grandparent’s home). Also baptizing parties with many children baptized at the same time are still held in the church, but very rarely. A child can also get an emergency baptize (hätäkaste) just after the birth, if the survival of the child is not certain. Anyone belonging to the Lutheran church can baptize in that situation. The child, that survived, celebrates, like other children, the christening party then also later.

In the christening the child is dressed to a christening gown (usually white, but can be also of other colors) and there is usually a pink or light blue bowtie attached to the dress. 

 The christening table is covered with white tablecloth and a Bible, a candle, a white, small linen, a small bucket of flowers and a christening bowl are placed on the table.

The parents may invite only the closest relatives and friends to the christening or they can have a bigger party. Usually the coming godparents, the grandparents and parents’ siblings with their families, grandparents, aunts and uncles are invited. So there may be only priest and 5 guests including the godparents or tens of people present at the christening. The celebration is quite short with a few psalms sung, some prayers, Our Father -prayer, confession, some Bible reading and the baptizing. In the baptizing the priest takes some water from the bowl and waters the babies hair (some priest make the hair all wet, some just touch the hair with the water).

The parents choose usually 2 - 4 godparents to their child among their own siblings or from their closest friends. A godparent must belong to a christian church, that recognizes the child baptizing of Lutheran Church (f.ex. catholic or orthodox) and at least one of the godparents has to belong to the Lutheran church. A person, who does not belong to church, cannot become a godparent.

In the old days the godparents usually took the new born to baptizing just few days after the birth, depending of course of the distance to the church. So naturally a woman still lactating was often chosen as one godparent, because she could feed the child if needed during the voyage. The baptizing happened normally on Sunday after service or just before the service. The mother was usually too weak to go to the church and also for long time she was considered to be dirty after childbirth and had to be blessed before she could enter the church again.

In the middle ages the baptizing was done by sinking the baby into the water naked after which a white linen was wrapped around the baby. The linen belonged to the church. In the 17th century christening was done only by watering the head so the first real christening gowns were made. In the 17th and 18th century the dress was usually made out of silk or velvet and could also be used later as a ceremony dress on other occasions. In the beginning of the 19th century the dress was started to be made out white cotton and the christening dress, as we now it today, was born. It could be also made out the same fabric as mother’s wedding dress had been made. By the end of the 19th century the gender of the baby was told with pink or light blue color and the dress was only used as christening gown. During the 2nd World War the babies were baptized wrapped in their mother’s wedding veil or a dress made out of the wedding dress and veil.

Nowadays the dress is typically white with some pink or light blue ribbons or bowtie. Many families still have gowns in which already the baby’s grandparent or grandparent’s parent was once baptized. Many people embroider the name and the date of a child baptized in that gown on the inner side of the hem of the gown.

The white linen set on the table for drying of the child’s head can also be a linen used in more than one child’s christening in the family and also on it can be embroidered the names and dates of the children.

The Bible on the table is usually the Bible the child’s parents have been given, when wed.

Godparents bring a remembrance gift to the child, f.ex. a spoon or a plate to which the child’s name, birthday and -time and christening day has been engraved to. Other guests bring clothes or something little to the child.

After the christening is the coffee. The table is filled usually with sandwiches or sandwich cake (voileipäkakku) and with sweet bakery like cream cake, buns, biscuits and a sweet pie or tart. The servings can be ordered from a bakery or then self made.

The baby is photographed in the christening gown with godparents, parents, grandparents and often with other guests too. The parents send to all the guests a thank you -card afterwards. Quite many parents also post a notice in the local newspaper stating the name of the new born, birthdate, christening date and birthweight and -length.

25.07.

Today we celebrate the name's day of Jaakko (Jacob). Once again it has been 

originally celebrated in the remembrance of a saint and apostle James, son of 

Zebedee. He was the brother of John the Apostle. In Finland the day of Jacob 

ends the women's week. From 18th to 24th, only women celebrate their 

name's day. This is also the time of the year when the harvesting of the crops 

is beginning. During the women's week the weather has been thus very carefully 

followed and also the coming weather has been predicted from the weather during 

women's week. Of course people have been hoping for clear sky and rainless 

days, so that the harvesting would be successful. But we have a saying that the 

women are so sensitive to cry, that it always rains during women's week. If it 

rains much, it is going to rain the next 7 weeks. If it rains just few drops, 

it is going to be rainless for the next 7 weeks. This year it has not rain 

much. :)

The following women have their name's day during women's week

18.7.2013 Riikka (originates from Fredrika, Henrika, Ulrika)

19.7.2013 Sari, Saara, Sara, Salla, Salli (originate from the Hebrew name 

Sarah, meaning madam or princess)

20.7.2013 Marketta, Maarit, Reetta, Reeta, Maaret, Margareeta (originate from 

the Greek word margarites meaning pearl)

21.7.2013 Johanna, Hanna, Jenni, Jenna, Jonna, Hannele, Hanne, Joanna 

(originate from the man's name Johannes, Hebrew meaning the grace of God)

22.7.2013 Leena, Matleena, Leeni, Lenita (originate from Hebrew Magdalene, 

meaning a person origin from Magdala)

23.7.2013 Olga, Oili (originate from Scandinavian name Helga, meaning saint)

24.7.2013 Kristiina, Tiina, Kirsti, Kirsi, Krista, Kiia, Tinja (originate from 

Latin/Greek name Christina, meaning the female follower of Christ).

But back to Jaakko. What do we celebrate today. It used to be believed that 

Jaakko is throwing the cold stone to water. So after his day the surface 

temperatures of lakes are going to be cooling and the autumn is closing. The 

day of Jaakko used to be celebrated according to the Julian calendar (until 

1753), so the day of Jaakko was actually 5th of August if we move it to the 

calendar we use nowadays. That is the date when the surface temperatures of our 

lakes begin to cool according to the Finnish Environment Institute. The 

background of this celebration is the pilgrimage of the Saint Jacob and the 

throwing of the cold rock is seen to describe his sins and letting go of 

them. 

We also have a Jaakko that throws the stone or rock to the sea every year on 

his name's day. The chairman of the Finnish Unscientific Society (Suomen 

Epätieteellinen Seura) Mr. Jaakko Koskinen throws the rock to sea on the shores 

of Helsinki today at noon.

http://www.epätieteilijät.fi/ (in Finnish)

It is totally humoristic event, but a very nice way to concretize an old legend 

or myth.

The surface temperatures in our biggest lakes are at the moment in Southern and 

Central parts of Finland between 15 - 19 C, in Northern parts of Finland around 

10 - 15 C. The temperatures at the Baltic sea is around 15 - 17 C.

http://wwwi4.ymparisto.fi/i4/fin/sst/2013/N16_N18_wk29_2013_jul_15_16_18_20_21.png

Jaakko has been given to first name to Finnish males starting from the end of 

19th century to 2012 to 61.874 men. And let's not forget that also the 

following men are celebrating their name's day today

Jaakob, Jimi, Jaakoppi

The British and Scottish kings' name James was also formerly translated to 

Finnish as Jaakko. Nowadays we use the real name and do not translate them anymore 

to Finnish. For example the father of Queen Elizabeth II is know in Finland as Yrjö 

VI (George VI), but the new born prince of Cambridge is called George also in Finland.

Juhannus / Midsummer

Today we celebrate midsummer eve (Juhannusaatto) in quite quiet Capital district. Yesterday there were lots queues on the roads leaving from Helsinki and the Capital district. People head to their cottages or to the cottages of their friends or relatives. To tourist Helsinki seems to be very quiet city tonight and strange because it is going to be bright the whole night. The sun is setting tonight at just before 11 pm and it is rising again at bit before 4 am. So there is not going to be dark at all and additionally they are promising clear or just a bit cloudy sky. The temperature is now almost 22 C and in the night it is going to be around 15 C. During midsummer’s nights we may even get to see the super moon in Finland. If the sky really stays clear like it is now, the full moon is going to look bigger than normally during the night. This due to the fact that the moon is now closest to earth in its orbit.

The finnish midsummer is full of old traditions, but this time I decided not to write about them. Maybe next time. Just few words about midsummer nowadays in Finland.

Very many Finns spend their midsummer with friends, family or relatives at a cottage. They barbecue food, drink alcohol and go to sauna. Some people go to the music festivals arranged throughout Finland. And very few of us stay home, if living in a city.

The midsummer weekend is often considered to be the “darkest” weekend during the summer, especially if the weather is good like it is this year. Last year 10 people lost their lives by drowning during midsummer. In year 2012 altogether 104 people drowned in Finland and 23 of them in June. So every 3,5 days a person dies by drowning. During midsummer 10 people in 3 days. If we compare it to the lives lost in the traffic, it is a lot, although we live in a land of thousands of lakes. During 2012 255 people lost their lives in Finland in traffic.

But if we stay in Helsinki, what can we do here. The shops close by midday. And most of them open the next time on Monday. The restaurants are open, at least many of them. Then we have the amusement park Linnanmäki and of course our zoo Korkeasaari. To see a bonfire (kokko), which is very Finnish, we can go to Seurasaari. It is an island very near Helsinki and they have a midsummer celebration there every year. The main bonfire is litten at 10 pm from a church boat (kirkkovene). The bonfire is built on a raft on the sea. Every year a couple is wed during midsummer celebration at Seurasaari and they get to light the bonfire. 

http://www.seurasaarisaatio.fi/midsummer-bonfires-/

It used to be very popular to get married on midsummer and even today it one of the most popular times among the couples.

The following picture have been taken about an hour ago on one of the main roads leading out of Helsinki. Usually there is at least few cars any time of the day or night.

Maternity package

I just have to make a short post of a very important tradition or actually a benefit we have in Finland. The BBC News Magazine wrote about it yesterday.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22751415

Let’s start with the history of maternity clinic system. The maternity clinic system was developed by doctor Arvo Ylppö back in the 1920s. First it focused more on taking care of the children between 0 - 6 years of age, so before school. The importance of such clinic was obvious, because in the neighborhood of the first clinic the infant mortality was reduced in 3 years from 15 % to 3 %.  Quite quickly they also started to pay attention to the pregnant mothers and their wellbeing. In 1944 after the WWII the laws about maternity and child health clinics came into force and obligated the municipalities to arrange the service for the inhabitants.

The law about the maternity grant was set already in 1937 and the first packages given the following year. First it was only for the poor mothers. The reason for such packages was to get the pregnant women to come to the check-ups and to bring the child too after birth. Before the act the infant mortality was quite high. In year 1949 the maternity grant was given to every pregnant women in Finland. Nowadays a pregnant woman can choose weather to have the packages or a compensation in money. In order to get the maternity grant the pregnant woman has to visit her local maternity clinic regularly, 12 - 15 times during the pregnancy and the first visit has to be before the end of the 4th pregnancy month. The package contains clothes for the new born, diapers, a toy etc. See the content of the package from the following link.

http://www.kela.fi/web/en/maternitypackage

Like the article by BBC says quite many Finnish children sleep their first nights at home in the maternity package’s cardboard box. Almost every first-time mother takes the package and only about one third of all pregnant women choose the money (now 140 €). The package is roughly worth of 300 euros.

Due to the maternity grant, the maternity clinics, child health clinics and monthly child benefit the infant mortality is among the lowest in the world, around 0,4 %. Almost every (99.7 %) pregnant woman visits the maternity clinic in Finland and almost all (99.5 %) children have their check-ups at the child health clinics.

And we also have the long maternity leave, which usually starts 30 weekdays (about 5 weeks) before the child is expected to born and lasts for 105 days. The mother may choose to stay home additional 158 weekdays. During that time the mother will get a compensation in money which is calculated based on the incomes. F. ex. a mother with 36000 euros yearly income will get 111 euros for the first 56 days and almost 85 euros a day until the 105th day. The compensation for the additional 158 weekdays is 92,5 euros for the first 30 days and after that almost 85 euros a day.

The mother can stay home until the child is 3 years old without loosing her job. She will get her job back, if she returns right after the basic leaves (the child is then about 11 months) and usually she will get the old job back even when going back to work after the child is 3. If mother stays home until the child is 3, the employer has to have a job for her, but not necessarily the old job but the salary and benefits has to be the same than before the leave.

The flag of Finland

Today is the Commemoration Day of Fallen Soldiers (Kaatuneiden muistopäivä) in Finland. In 1940 Marshal of Finland Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim gave an order that the 3rd Sunday of May shall be celebrated in memoriam of those, who gave their lives defending Finland in Winter War (Talvisota) and in the Civil War (Sisällissota). Nowadays we honor all the people, who have given their lives defending Finland. The day is honored by visiting the war graves and also flagging with national flag. Until 1995 the flag was flown half-staff between 10 am and 2 pm. Between 8 am and 10 am and 2 pm to 9 pm the flag was flown in full-staff. Nowadays it is flown in full-staff all day (8 am to 9 pm).

The flag of Finland is white with blue cross. It is a rectangle. Its height is 11 units and length 18 units. No markings are allowed to be made on the flag and it always has to be clean and intact. Old, broken flag has to be destroyed by burning or cutting it in so little pieces, that it cannot be recognized as a flag anymore.

Finland did not have own flag until after the declaration of independency. Before as a national flag was first the Swedish national flag and then the flag of Russian Empire. But Finland has had its own national coat of arms since the 16th century. The coat of arms is the yellow/golden lion on red background. The lion has a crown, stands on a saber and holds on its right, armoured hand a sword. There are also 9 silver roses on the coat of arms. This coat of arms was many times used instead of a national flag. The idea of a national flag rose in 1848 when our national song, Our land (Maamme), was first presented in public on 13th of May in Helsinki. There were many suggestions for the national flag, including red flag with yellow cross. No national flag was yet decided. The national flag became topic again after the declaration of independency. In May 1918 the look of the national flag was decided and ever since the national flag of Finland has been white with sea blue cross. The white can be seen resembling the white summer nights or the white snow during winter and the blue reflecting the blue summer sky or the thousands of lakes.

Every Finn has the right to flag, it is not an obligation. There are 6 official flagging days annually plus the days when there are official election held and the day of the inauguration of the president. Additionally there are 13 established flagging days in Finland. These have been marked on the calendar, but they are not official. 

The official dates are

28.2. The day of Kalevala (Kalevalan päivä) also called the day of Finnish culture

1.5. May Day (Vappu), the day of Finnish work

The second Sunday of May, Mothers’ Day

4.6. The Flag Celebration Day of the Defense Force, the Birthday of C. G. E. Mannerheim

The Saturday between the 20. and 26. of June, the Midsummer Day (Juhannuspäivä) and the Day of Finnish Flag 

6.12. The Independence Day of Finland

A Finn can flag every time he or she has something, that require flagging, f.ex. birthday, wedding, christening. The flagging starts at 8 am and ends when the sun sets, by the latest at 9 pm. The flag is not allowed to be left on the pole for the night except on Midsummer. Then the flag is hoisted at 6 pm on Friday and taken down the following day at 9 pm. That’s the night of midnight sun. On Independence Day the flag can be hold on the pole until 8 pm, if it is lit after 4 pm.

When a person dies there is a half-staff flagging. The flag is then flown in half-staff on the day of death or on the next day, if the death has occurred late in the evening. On the funeral day the flag is then pulled to half-staff and raised to full-staff after the funeral service has been held.

The flag has to be always treated with dignity. It may be washed and ironed, but it is not allowed to let dry outside on the clothesline. The flag has to be hoisted and lowered peacefully and it is not allowed to touch the ground. The pole has to be seen from the main road and, if on the back yard, seen also over the house. In apartment buildings the pole has to rise to the third floor’s height. The height of the flag is about one sixth of the pole’s height. So the flag needs to fit to the pole. 

When half-staff flagging is held the flag is first hoisted to full-staff and then slowly lowered to half-staff, meaning to the height of about one third of the pole. Then the lowest corner of the flag is about in the mid of the pole. The state can order a national half-staff flagging day due to an incident that affects the whole nation. In the 21st century this has been done at least in 2004 after a bus disaster in Konginkangas (23 people were killed and 14 injured) and the Tsunami on Indian Ocean (178 Finns lost their lives), in 2007 after a school shooting at Jokela, Tuusula (9 people were killed) and in 2008 after a school shooting at Kauhajoki (11 people were killed).

Vappu

The April is over and the last spring month is closing awfully fast. This year the weather has not prepared us for the coming summer so far. It still is very windy and cold with temperatures near 5 - 10 C even during the day. The snow has melted.

The 30th of April is called Vappuaatto (the May Day’s Eve) and day after that of course Vappupäivä (the May Day). The celebration of Vappu starts on 30th of April.  The people (students or other), who have done their matriculation examination and have gotten their “white hat” (this year’s high school graduates will get their white hat only at the end of May), will start celebrating Vappu, when for example in Helsinki a statue called Havis Amanda has been washed and gets her own hat at 6 pm. Around Finland at 6 pm the hat is put on and the sparkling wine or champagne bottles are opened. In quite many cities a statue also gets washed and has a cap during the evening. 

Some people celebrate only on Vappuaatto by eating potato salad and sausages, drinking sparkling wine, cider or champagne and having doughnuts (without hole, filled with jam and covered with sugar), funnel cakes and sima for dessert.

On May Day then the students and other people with white hat start their day by eating outdoors in a park despite of the weather. The workers (or some of them) gather together and march through the city holding their flags. The marches were much more popular back in 1970s and before that. 

It seems that I have been focusing more on the eating side of our traditions, so why not do it also this time.

So as a main course we eat sausages, potato salad, meat balls and french fries. Sausages and meat balls are quite often ready made as well as usually the potato salad. The french fries are bought from the grocery’s freezer but they are not made in the oven, like the instructions suggest on the bag. They have to be deep fried in vegetable oil (f. ex. canola or sunflower oil).

As a dessert we have then funnel cakes, doughnuts with jam, maybe also donuts and of course sima. The doughnuts are actually buns that are deep fried in cocoa butter. They taste the best when still little warm. The funnel cakes are also made deep frying. The dough is poured into the hot oil as a very thin string and pattern is made at the same time. It is fried until it gets a nice brown colour. The ready cakes are taken out of the oil, let cool down and the slightly covered with powdered sugar.

a funnel cake

Sima is a very old traditional drink made in Finland for centuries. It is mead. And it is as best when home made. Sima was made already during the Viking times in Scandinavia. It contained quite much alcohol back then. The scandinavian mead was gradually replaced by the wines entering to Scandinavia from Central Europe. 

The making of sima as we now it today in Finland dates back to 18th century. Then it was only made by the rich people and in the mansions in Finland as it contained lemon which was expensive and not grown in Finland. It is more sweet and contains much less alcohol (only about 1 V-%) than the old traditional scandinavian mead. And it does not contain honey any more.

sima

The making of sima starts about one week before Vappu. What is needed is 8 litres of fresh water (best if boiled first), 500 g normal white sugar, 500 g demerara (= brown) sugar, juice of 1 lemon, 1 lemon pealed and cut in slices, some dark syrup, some fresh yeast (about ¼ of a teaspoon), raisins and some more white sugar. The warm water and the sugars (white & dark and the syrup) are mixed together and the lemons are added. The mixture is allowed to cool to about 37 C. Then the yeast is added and the mixture is mixed throughly. The mixture is allowed to stay in the room temperature about 12 hours. Sima is filtered and bottled into clean bottles (preferably out of glass) with 1 teaspoon of sugar/one liter and some raisins. After 6 hours the bottles are taken into the fridge or some other cool place with temperature under 10 C. The sima is ready within one week. It is ready when the raisins have rosen on top of the sima. It tastes absolutely wonderful and may have some alcohol in it, because it made by brewing. So don’t give it much to children.

Of course the children also celebrate Vappu. They get their nice folio balloons, whisks, horns, spinning tops and maybe even some masks or funny wigs.

Have a nice May Day!

Hyvää Vappua!

Watch the Havis Amanda get her hat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V17_cuJBvQ4