Happy Make Everybody Jump Day!

Formerly known as "Happy New Year's..."

Well, it's 5am as I type this...and it's New Year's Eve too.
WHY am I awake at 5am?  Well, technically, I woke up at 4.  And no, it's not because of the kids....at least it's not my youngest's fault for waking up....and it's not the dogs either (or their fault).

Some jerks decided 4am was a FANTASTIC time to set off fireworks in the back yard...we have a dark shade in the bedroom pulled down and our bedroom still lit up and it was fairly loud as the layout of the back yard has 2 buildings close together like an "L" shape - fantastic echo system--.

Now, just so you know....it is ILLEGAL to shoot off fire works any day of the year except on December 31st.
And just so you also know - it's still ILLEGAL to shoot them off until 6pm December 31st...and you have to stop by 2am January 1st.

So to the people who thought it was cute to pretend it was 14 hours later....huge thanks for scaring the crap out of me (almost peed the bed - no joke), waking my 2 month old and scaring my 4-year old dog into hiding under the bed....

Thankfully the dogs don't care if it's not too close by and they are inside...
Guess what pal? You were FAR too close.

On a much lighter note, Happy New Year!!
I hope you have resolutions you can stick by and are realistic (mine is to be tidier and to shop less...both which amuse my husband greatly)....
And the shops are closed by 6pm (grocery stores anyhow) and some shops downtown may close earlier or not be opened at all...and of course all day New Year's Day...

AND you can buy little metal horse shoes (1,15� for 6 at my local S Market) for tonight.
You melt them individually in boiling water then drop one in cold water and whatever shape it takes - is a sign of your future in the New Year....

and please remember:

Don't drink and drive.

You better watch out...you better not cry...

If you're new to Finland - welcome.  I hope this blog provides useful and fun information for you.
One thing that you should probably know now - (especially since Christmas is in about 23 days) is that Santa is from Lapland, Finland.

Don't believe me? Of course not - unless you're a Finn.
He's from your own country....or perhaps he resides in the North Pole (popular location known by the North Americans).

Every year we gather with our friends (or try to) during the holiday season and we discuss family traditions, country's traditions (or typical ones anyway) for the holidays.
I'm ALWAYS asked about the Man in Red.

Well, let me break it down for you. (Sorry if you've been following my blog way back in the beginning and this is slightly repetitive...)

North American View of Santa

• Blue twinkling eyes, white bushy beard, a nose like a cherry, red suit with white trim, black boots and black belt with a buckle....a jolly laugh and a large round belly!
• Depending where you're from in the world - he has a different name!:
• Santa Claus (or just Santa)
• P�re Noel (French)
• Father Christmas
• Kris Kringle
• Saint Nicholas
• Papai Noel (Portugese)
• That scary man in the red suit...ha. (He's not meant to be scary but quite often to children - he can be).
• You can often find Santa in the malls around November and have your children sit on his lap - have a small chit chat and get a photo taken - and maybe he'll give you a candy cane!  
• Or in the case of Toronto, Ontario (Canada)....you can SKYPE WITH SANTA!!  I think this is totally ridiculous and takes the fun out of everything....but I'll blog about that later too.
• In Canada - you can write him a letter and expect a response (I haven't tried it outside of December...).  Here's his address: 
• SANTA CLAUS
  THE NORTH POLE
  HOH OHO
  (Volunteers respond at the post office - it's super sweet.)
• Drives a huge sleigh with 8 reindeer (Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen)...9 if you include the red-nosed one who can light the way - Rudolph....
• They land on your roof top or outside your door if you don't have a big enough roof....
• Delivers gifts silently while children sleep on Christmas Eve - to be opened Christmas Day in the morning - via your chimney.  Don't have one? He has a key to your door....and can sneak in and out pretty quietly for a big jolly guy!
• Leave him cookies you've baked and a glass of milk...his reindeer enjoy carrot sticks...It's hard work magically flying and pulling a huge sled with a huge sack of toys and Santa plus a couple helping elves...
• If you're good - you get a nice toy and he'll fill your socks/stockings that are hung by the chimney with care....
• If you're bad - you get coal.  (Better get a good stain remover for your stocking! Actually...I'll blog about an excellent stain remover another time!) 

My first year here - I told one of Tim's colleagues (now one of my friends) all this and she looked at me stunned.

She then explained quite firmly that Santa is from Finland...specifically Lapland, Finland.

There's even a Santa's Village!  So - there.
And I kid you not - she said something along these lines:

"Santa does not deliver gifts to kids while they sleep and drink Coca-Cola!"  

(Thanks Americans for that one).

What does he do in Finland?

Finland's View of Santa

• In Finnish he's known as "Papai Noel" (I think - this is Google Translate talking...)
• He's from Lapland, Finland...cut the crap about the North Pole...it's not true!
  There is a Santa's Village in Lapland!   Check out their website!
• Santa delivers toys to children on Christmas Eve...in person and while they are awake!  (It's typical in Europe to open your gifts Christmas Eve and have your big dinner then).
• His reindeer don't fly...or have the above names.  I don't even think he has reindeer that assist him in delivering gifts...
  (Although in Helsinki there is a parade of sorts when Santa arrives....)

So there you have it!

There is even a Santa Convention every year...and one year the Finnish Santa disagreed with where they stated Santa came from...so he refused to attend..or something like that.... (Hello Hardcore Santa!)
And if you have a suit and can be jolly and speak Finnish - you can probably be hired as Santa.

(Kids are smart enough to pick out their parents, neighbours and uncles).

So...post an ad about your skills as Santa and you'll probably be gobbled up quickly with requests!

Some finer points you should highlight about yourself in your ad (and it has been done!):

• If you like kids at all.
• Whether or not you smoke (aka will you smell or cause some poor kid an asthma attack)...
• If you will be sober or not (FYI sober Santas are a huge hit and can sometimes be hard to find!)
• If you are reliable and honest....timing is everything!

Good luck and HO HO HO!

In your opinion....Where is Santa from?

All info is as correct as possible with only 2-3 hours of sleep and a busy memory...feel free to correct anything I may have said in-correctly! :)

Gl�gi and Winter Tires

This is your annual reminder that there's now snow on the ground (at least in JKL) - so you should have snow tires on your vehicle.  It is mandatory to have them by December 1st or by the first snow fall.
The roads are slick too - so be careful.  (You may want to get some for your bike too if you can...)
If caught without winter tires on your car - there is a fine - how much, I don't know...but it can be pricey!

Now onto other pressing matters.
Red, White (well it's more like yellow/gold colored) or Blue Gl�gi....which do you prefer?
I prefer Valio brand over Marli...Marli is just a tad too sweet for my liking.

BLUEBERRY GL�GI?!
What is the world coming to?!

The burgundy colored carton is the "normal stuff"...the gold colored carton is the "white" Gl�gi (smoother and slightly nice taste)...
There's also sugar-free and vanilla-flavoured Gl�gi (I haven't tried the vanilla one yet)....

Then this year - Marli dug out the big guns and made a blueberry flavoured Gl�gi....

It's in English! (Blueberrish??

When I told some Finnish friends that I saw blueberry flavoured Gl�gi - there were some grunts of disapproval....but I think it tastes okay.  Not as fabulous as the red stuff...the white stuff is alright too....it doesn't quite scream "CHRISTMAS IS COMING!" but it's alright I suppose.  (My husband has yet to try it.)

Now as you can see in the bottom photo - Gl�gi is a drink that people drink hot.  They'll add raisins and almonds in the mug and stir it around and eat it with a spoon or drink all their Gl�gi and then eat the raisins and almonds...it's all up to you!  (Hubby prefers it without nuts or raisins).

I have a confession to make....*deep breath*

I like my gl�gi cold.  Not only that - but some times, as a "treat" for myself...um I like to add Sprite or 7-Up to my Gl�gi....like � and � of each...I suppose it's a "Sparkling Gl�gi"....

And all the Finns begin to shake their heads at that weird Canadian girl who drinks her Gl�gi cold and sometimes mixed with pop....

Finnish Name Calendar

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I finally found a site that can show you what I'm talking about!

Let's recap:  Finns don't name their kids right away or prior to the birth of a child.  They have Naming Parties, which are typically tied in with the naming of God parents and the Baptism or Christening.
If you buy a calendar - any kind of calendar or agenda, you'll see little names written in pretty much every square (along with regular holidays etc.).

I didn't use a Finnish calendar this year, because a friend had gifted me with a calendar from Canada so I could be on top of Canadian holidays and so on.
(Canadian calendars are written out from Sunday to Saturday, where as Finnish ones are Monday to Sunday).

Anyways, I've been in the need of a Finnish name calendar as of recently and found this site for you - which demonstrates what I've been talking about before.

Some Finns pick the name that is on the date of the child's birth, some do not.  

Baby Showers versus Naming Parties versus Toe Parties

In North America, baby showers are very common.
If you don't know what a baby shower is - let me explain.
When a woman is expecting a baby, her close friends, family and co-workers often throw a party (or several) for her as her due date approaches and "shower" the expecting mother with gifts for the baby and/or for her!
Typically, the father is not present, although I do know of some baby showers who have had the father there.  But it's typically an all-woman thing and gives the ladies to find out the details of the nursery, the gender, the due date, the feelings, the appointment details and of course - discuss their own personal labour experiences.  As well, there's usually lots of food, drinks and some fun games hosted at someone's home or in a rented hall or center.
There are such things as having a baby shower after the baby's born - especially if the gender is not known (and to avoid several green and yellow-colored "gender neutral" outfits), the mother wasn't feeling particularly well, there was some specific concern over the un-born baby's health or due to schedule conflicts.

In Finland, baby showers are not very common I have found out - as we've had several friends have babies and not heard of a baby shower prior to the baby's birth.  After the baby's born in Finland, there is usually a "Naming Party" - which means the name of the baby is released to their close friends and family and there is often a Christening or Baptizing at the same time.  This can be a few weeks after the baby's born (and once mother is up and running again) or a few months - seriously.  So nobody will know about the baby's name, except the mother and father!!!
Don't be offended if you weren't invited to your friend's baby's Naming Party either.  It's typically for very close friends, like the Godparents of the child and family members only - from what I've heard.
I've mentioned this before but it's true - and very odd to a parent from North America I imagine.  Majority of people I know who have children from Canada, have had names picked out once they passed the first trimester - if not since they were children themselves and playing "house" with their doll sets.  I am willing to admit, had our son not been born in Finland - we were thinking of "Isiah Michael", if the baby was a boy and if it was a girl - well, we were stuck on that one.
So the point being, Finns don't generally name their children prior to the delivery - simply because they want to meet the baby, see what (or who) they look like and how they act (characteristic-wise).  There's a lot of thought that goes into a baby's name here (and I'm sure in other cultures that practice similar traditions).
I'm not knocking your choice of a child's name- it's your child, not mine.  But I have heard of some very odd names since I was a teenager and now names seem to lack a true meaning - other than "sounding cool".

Enough about Baby Showers and Naming Parties.  The true point of this post was to educate you on something I just learned about recently.
My friend's husband recently went to a party to celebrate a friend's new-addition to the family and that's when I learned about "Toe Parties".
"Toe Parties" is the best way to translate it - as it does not refer to painting your toes or tickling anybody else's - but refers to baby toes.  Now before you think "How odd"- here's what happens at a "Toe Party".
A Toe Party is a party for the newly-minted father.  That's right men, you are not forgotten in the baby-department!!
A few days after the baby is born (or whenever a time is convenient I suppose) - the father is taken out for his Toe Party with all of his good friends and family members (mostly men from what I understand) and they get him plastered.  Drunk beyond anything imaginable.
Because as we all know as parents, once you have a child (or a few of them) - you don't get to do that very often at all.

And one last thing - yes it is perfectly acceptable to show up with a gift for the newborn when you are first visiting them - even if they are already 3 months old by the time you finally find out their name. :)

Syllables in Finnish Names!

So a lot of my friends are having babies (primarily in Canada) and like any other North American, I ask what the name choices are going to be.

I discussed these various names with my Finnish friends during a knitting group (which led to their children's names) and how I noticed the name "Tarmo" means "energy" in Finnish and perhaps V�in� should have been named that instead!
Fast forward a few hours of knitting and gossip, and my neighbour who drove me home, asked if I noticed that in general, Finnish people have a 2-syllable first name and a 3-syllable (or more) middle/second name.
That is a common tradition - although  not always practiced.

Thinking through all the friends we have - here are some first names for you!  (and yes they're mostly all 2-syllables!)

• Eino
• Pasi
• Martta
• V�in�
• Sohvi
• Ilkka
• Kirsi
• Olli
• Petrus
• P�ivi
• Kimmo
• Katri
• Lauri
• Heli
• Mikko
• Vilma
• Venla
• Pirkko
• Olavi
• Matti
• Markko
• Kreeta
• Sulevi
• Taneli
• Juhana
• Johanna
• Paula
• Pauliina
• Antti
• Valtteri
• Arttu

Just to name a few!