Friday 24 June 2011

Iloista Juhannusta! [FIN: Happy Midsummer]

Midsummer is one of the most important days for us Finns - we will admire bonfires (except on Åland*, where people will dance around a Midsummer pole), get drunk (drowning is optional), eat lots of fish and new potatoes. Girls might do some traditional spells in order to get the boy of their dreams - one of the more common "spells" is to pick seven different kinds of flowers, jump over seven fences, and put the flowers under your pillow - if you're lucky, you'll dream about your future husband. He might also visit your dreams if the sock on your left foot is insideout. (now, I should probably try these to find out who would marry an oddball like me :)).

My plan for this weekend is to rest - I honestly feel like I've just crashed into a wall. So, tonight will be all about eating good food and entertaining slightly mad relatives at the cottage**.  Tomorrow I will spend some quality time with two really good friends, we have planned a "meatless and alcohol-free" celebration with a lot of delicious food and laughter!



* Although the midsummer pole is the most common way to celebrate midsummer here on ÅLand, I've only visited one once - in my family we adhere to Finnish traditions.

** one of the visitors is my aunt, who also is a translator (she has translated a lot of famous British and American writers into Finnish), and talking to her always gives new perspectives on things.

1 comment:

Go Crazy said...

Me muuten tehtiin tuo kukkajuttu. Tai siis porukassa oli yksi sinkkutyttö, jolle yhdessä kerättiin niittykukkia keskiyöllä ja eilen kyseltiin, että mitä näkyi... Minä kyllä pahasti pelkäsin, että allergisen ihmisen ei välttämättä kannata tehdä tuota - tosin se mies oisi voinut löytyä ensiavusta, kun toinen ei saa enää henkeä ;)

Oletko sinä kokeillut mitään noista?