For our sixth meeting, we decided to go to the sauna in Rauhaniemen, as it seemed like a good opportunity to spend some time doing something typical finnish. Moreover, it was the first time we saw the sauna with a little bit of snow.
We wanted to take advantage of this meeting to talk about traditions from our respective countries.
Amber told me about Dutch festivals such as King’s Day and Sinterklaas and I was really surprised as I had never heard of it even though Amber told me that Sinterklaas comes from Spain.
I spoke to Amber about Three Kings Day in Spain. A tradition in which, on the night of the 5th to 6th January, three Wise Men come on their camels and leave gifts for the children. The next day, it is typical to eat with the family and receive the presents that the kings have left at each house.
Amber also told me that she perceived that in Spain there are many more celebrations than in her country, and this may be true since in Spain we like to celebrate a lot.
During our conversation, we also translated the months and public holidays in both languages. In the case of the Netherlands, all the months are very similar in English and surprisingly, I found it very easy to pronounce them. In the case of Spain, there are some months that are totally different. For example, January is “Enero”.
It was a meeting that I really enjoyed. I didn’t feel like I had to be learning and worrying about going home with new knowledge, I felt like I was meeting a friend and spending time with her. Also, I have always enjoyed learning about the culture of other countries and being able to learn more about the traditions of the Netherlands was really interesting and I enjoyed it a lot.
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