Usually when somebody asks me about Finland, I tell them at first about cold weather, Northern lights and reindeers but finnishness is much more. It’s a lot of traditions, punctuality, good food and beautiful nature in all of four seasons.
Finnish food
Recently I noticed that when I travel, the first thing I start missing from Finland is food. Salmon is definitely my favourite fish. You can cook it at many different ways or eat it raw. I am also proud of Fazer chocolate. No matter how much chocolate I’ve tasted, still the Fazer is the best of all. Rye bread is the third food I really miss. It’s higher in fiber than white bread and tastes really strong and good. In Finland we call it “ruisleipä”.
Traditions
My new most favorite thing at winter time is ice swimming. In Tampere I like to go to Kaupinojan Sauna because they have a big sauna and the place is very cozy. In ice swimming water temperature is under 0 °C and then people just swim in cold water. After swimming you can hang outside and relax or go straight to sauna to get warm.
Picture: https://tikis.fi/lifestyle-miehet/avantouinti-ja-palautuminen/
We have also a lot of traditional celebrations, like: Vappu, Juhannus and Christmas. Vappu we celebrate in the first day of June. It’s a national holiday and feast for working people and for undergraduate students. At Vappu people usually hanging at the market place or at the park and it’s also the day when people use their graduation cap.
Picture: https://www.turku.fi/uutinen/2018-04-27_hilpeaa-ja-aurinkoista-vappua
Juhannus is a midsummer celebration and the time when Finns people leave from the city and spend a weekend at countryside. At wintertime we have a lot of darkness and at midsummer it’s the opposite. In the middle of the summer in Lapland, near by Arctic Circle the nights are really short or don’t exist at all. Some of Finns people also believe in magic. For example: if you look at midsummer night at a well or at a pond, you can see in there your future husband.
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