Renta Santa ...

Tonight is Christmas Eve and in millions of households across Finland, Father Christmas will be visiting to deliver presents to all the good little girls and boys. Which helps answer one of the conundrums from my childhood:

Q: How does Santa visit every home to deliver the presents in just one night?

A: He starts earlier in Finland, because it is closer to Lapland, where he lives.

For us growing up in England, Santa visited in the middle of the night, but only if you were asleep. Of course, now in the wisdom of parenthood, we understand that this is a ploy to get the kids to bed so that mum and dad can breathe a small sigh of relief, eat the mince pie and drink the whisky left out for Santa and then wrap the final presents.

But in Finland, Joulupukki visits while you are awake. And sadly, it seems, so often at just the moment that dad (or grandpa) has nipped outside to empty the bins, or some such pressing activity.

For the older children, such a ruse is easily be seen through and so there is a seasonal opportunity to hire a Santa. My most recent Finnish lesson included a few tips on what to look for in the small ads for Joulupukkipalveluita, or Father Christmas Service. A sample is show in the image, you may need to click to make it large enough to read. (The handwritten notes are my own from the lesson).

First, a good word to look for is kokenut, meaning experienced, isokokenut denotes very experienced. Next, autoleivat is a good idea, meaning they have their own car - a good idea as it means they are likely not to be drinking too much of the koskenkorva which is offered at each house they visit. To be certain, raitis means they don't drink at all. Luotettava means they are trustworthy, something to consider when entrusting them with your little treasures. If the ad states lauluttaa then they sing (I would certainly want to see sobriety combined with that one, just to avoid off colour lyrics).

The most impressive, though, is the display ad with the picture. This is for a genuine Santa from Korvatunturi in Lapland, the genuine home of Santa.

So, should you ever find yourself in need of a rental Father Christmas in Finland, I hope this information will be of some help. As for me, I shall be waiting for Christmas morning to open the presents with my family. Until then, I wish you Hyvää Joulua.

Season's greetings ...

This was the electronic card I received from the relocation company who moved me to Finland last year (which I have used with their permission). I include it to give you a seasonal greeting in Finnish.

The most common wish at the moment is hyvää joulua - literally good Christmas. The word used here, rauhallista, means peaceful, also an important sentiment especially in Finland.

Back in the UK, our TV rituals for Christmas Day include the Queen's Christmas message. In Finland, the Declaration of Christmas Peace from Turku seems to have a similar place in people's hearts. According to the city of Turku's website, this has been read out in Turku almost every year since the Middle Ages. In addition to watching on Christmas Eve on TV, radio or the Internet; thousands of people arrive at Old Great Square to hear the words ring out from the balcony of Brinkkala Mansion.

"All of Finland settles down for Christmas as the bells resound through the square. At Christmas travellers can also find a moment’s peace in Turku.The bells of Turku Cathedral and city’s other churches toll the joy of Christmas, and on the night of Christmas Eve the cemeteries of the city are brightly lit with candles people have brought to the graves of their loved ones."

This evening, I am flying back to the UK for two weeks. I wish all of you reading this blog the same as I am looking forward to...a happy and peaceful time with those you care most about. Rauhallista joulua!

Shopped out ...

This weekend was planned as a shopping trip for Stephanie, but unfortunately she is ill and so has not been able to travel.

I felt it my husbandly duty to still make a pilgrimage to the St Thomas Christmas market on Esplanadi on Saturday. That was a mistake.

Not because there was nothing to see, quite the opposite. With over 120 stalls selling handicrafts as well as food and drink, there was no shortage of things to look at, smell or taste. No, it was trying to do this on a Saturday afternoon when the whole population of Helsinki seemed to have had the same idea. I have never heard the word anteeksi (excuse me) used so frequently.

I didn't drink glögi (mulled wine) this time, but did have "Kuusamo fishes", as the English translation read. These are pretty popular fast food here at markets and the like - usually called Vendace, they look like (and taste like) Whitebait, but are a different species of fish. They are served hot, fried on a large, flat pan and often with a garlic sauce.

I hope to make it back during Sunday, perhaps a little earlier than I did today, to get a few final gifts for the family. I will be flying home for the holidays next Friday, trying the new service from Helsinki to Gatwick with EasyJet. For those who have been considering a visit to Helsinki but concerned about the cost, this is going to provide a great option. I hope to report on the trip in a future post.

Knightly news ...

December 6 is Independence Day in Finland and among the news items associated with the day was the award of honors by President Tarja Halonen. This year's honorees included several of my work colleagues.

A member of my unit management team was awarded Knight, First Class, of the Order of the Lion of Finland (the picture shows the star of the order). Congratulations, Timo!

Finland’s institution of knighthood stems from the holy orders that the Catholic Church established in the Middle Ages. There are three official orders in Finland; in addition to the Order of the Lion of Finland there is the Order of the White Rose of Finland and the Order of the Cross of Liberty. The President of Finland is the Grand Master of all three orders.

As a Brit, I am rather more familiar with the honours system in the UK, ranging from peerages through knighthoods to commanders (CBE), officers (OBE), and members (MBE) of the order of the British Empire - my neighbour Paull at home has an MBE. If you are knighted in the UK, as one of my former bosses was, your first name formally changes to be Sir xxx or Lady xxx. Here in Finland, there is no such recognisable designation. Nor is there the invitation to a royal palace to have your honour conferred in person by Her Majesty or her representative. Instead, the organisation that nominated you (most likely your employer) makes the presentation instead.

The administration of these honours is carried out from the House of the Estates (Säätytalo), on the same street as my apartment in Helsinki, so now I know what they do in there. Also notable is that recipients pay a fee based on the level of the award, to defray the administration costs (though my source notes that this is usually paid by the nominating organisation). Now that is a "cash for honours" scheme that the UK might like to consider!

He knows where you live ...

...but do you know where he lives? Everyone in Finland does - Father Christmas (or Joulupukki) lives in Finnish Lapland. On Sunday he was visiting Helsinki, though; I passed him meeting with some members of his fan club in Senate Square on my way to lunch.

My Finnish friends have their Christmas presents on Christmas Eve, unlike us in the UK, where we open presents on Christmas Day (in our house, this normally starts pretty early in the morning). It must be because he starts so much closer to all the Finns, who get their deliveries before he traverses the skies over the Baltic en route for the North Sea and landfall somewhere around Harwich.