Finland :) AND an advent calendar!

[eija]

It was nice to once read something positive in the midst of all gloom and misery, even though things aren't quite as rosy as the article leads to think and (IMHO) not all of it actually is positive. On another note, Finns aren't really considered Scandinavian but rather Nordic.


http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2013/10/31/why-scandinavian-women-make-the-rest-of-the-world-jealous/


To complete the above article: Finland was the first country in Europe to allow universal and equal suffrage. Women in Finland were the first in the world to be eligible to stand as candidates in national elections.


If you're interested in my beautiful home country, there's more:
http://finland.fi/public/default.aspx?culture=en-US&contentlan=2
http://www.visitfinland.com/ (includes fabulous pics)

[litliwlowa]

Very interesting reading, Eija!! The first article does reference Nordic.

One pic on the other link is absolutely breathtaking - island of Uunisaari
http://finland.fi/Public/default.aspx?contentid=209592&nodeid=41817&culture=en-US

[Joe S.]

I used to love winter. The pictures are nice but make me cold. Cold is a four letter word. So are snow and wind. I hope you can manage this illness.

[aussie mum]

Thanks for posting this eija. It is lovely to learn about another country. Beautiful photos too.

Coming from Sydney, Australia, I cannot imagine living in such a cold environment. We do get snow in our high mountain regions, but nowhere near our big cities and nothing like how you Northern Hemisphere people live.

So while you northerners are preparing for the cold, we southerners are preparing for the onslaught of an Australian summer. 

I'm not sure what's worse... extreme heat and humidity or extreme cold

[eija]

Amanda, that picture has awesome colours. But I think they should publish more summery photos there. The average seemed to be very wintery... We do have very lovely summers here, it's not all ice and snow and cold!

Joe, winters are horrendous. The last few have been very cold and with piles and piles of snow. We were happy to learn that now they're predicting a not-so-cold winter for this time.

Aussie mum, I used to have a friend in Australia (and still have a couple of FB friends there). We chatted very often via MSN and it was always so depressing to watch spring coming there when we were heading towards the dark and wet autumn and cold winter. And it was SO weird to think that people there spend their Christmas by the pool in a heat wave when we have something like one meter of snow and -25 C. And yeah, cold and heat are both equally difficult. I prefer the beautiful + 20 C summer days that go on and on because the sun never sets

[eija]

Behind the link there's an advent calendar:

"Each calendar window on this map of Finland shows an activity associated with the Finnish Christmas season, from  singing Christmas carols to baking gingerbread, not to mention sledding down snow-covered hills and writing letters  to Santa Claus. There's even a Christmas sauna, and Finnish Independence Day is also celebrated in December. Join us in getting into the holiday spirit. You'll understand why we  can't wait for Christmas to  arrive!"

http://xmas.finland.fi/en/

[litliwlowa]

Behind the link there's an advent calendar:

"Each calendar window on this map of Finland shows an activity associated with the Finnish Christmas season, from  singing Christmas carols to baking gingerbread, not to mention sledding down snow-covered hills and writing letters  to Santa Claus. There's even a Christmas sauna, and Finnish Independence Day is also celebrated in December. Join us in getting into the holiday spirit. You'll understand why we  can't wait for Christmas to  arrive!"

http://xmas.finland.fi/en/

Oh does that bring back memories!! When my dad was stationed in Auverge, we of course lived there too. We always had an advent calendar and that tradition continued most of my growing up years even back stateside. My step mom was from Germany and every year her parents would send us our advent calendars.

Wow!! A trip down memory lane. Thank you Eija!!

[sassygal]

Eja,

Thanks for posting this. Love the advent calendar!

Is Christmas in Finland less commercialized than in the US?

Sassygal

[quietdynamics]

Eja.
Yes, I have been checking the calender too.