Now, finally I’m writing again. It’s because I haven’t been writing for a long time and also because some people… well, basically my brother and my father were complaining that they wanted to read about my Christmas time in Finland as I have just been four days in Germany and hence not enough time to tell every detail.
Christmas was very nice and somehow different from home. A. and I went to her parents on the 21st of December, as my Uni was over and both my Spanish flat mates had already left. It was pretty weird to bring them to the airport and say “see you later” for one month. After this time, these five months, together in Helsinki we already got used to each other. Anyways, A. and I went so early to Ekenäs, as A. had to work on the 22nd in the morning. During this time I was wrapping the Christmas presents and was just relaxing, as I haven’t done it at all during the three weeks before. All the assignments and exams were putting a huge workload onto me and left me with few time for social activities.
On the 23rd I was invited by A’s brother to a pre-Christmas sauna. It is, as I realized, tradition to gather with friends and family round Christmas to have a sauna and a couple of beers in Finland. It was really relaxing again and for me it was the first time that I could roll in the snow after having a sauna. It had been snowing quite a lot before and the snow was about 30cm high. As during the day the snow had been melting a bit, the surface turned to a thin layer of ice when the temperatures dropped again in the evening. I realized this when I came home from the sauna, felt my back itching and checked it in the mirror. The icy snow had scratched my skin and my whole back was cut open.
Then, the 24th A. and I slept a little bit longer and then went to church at 2 o’clock. A. was wrapping the last presents and her mum was preparing the last bit of Christmas food. And, wow, it was really a lot of food and really good food. She created a buffet in the kitchen, where, when you took from everything just a little portion, your plate was overloaded. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G !!! One of A’s brothers came along and joined us. Then we went to another of A’s brother’s house, where more people from the family gathered to celebrate Christmas. First we were watching N., A’s small niece unwrapping presents and also eating and drinking again. Then we were giving and getting presents to and from each other. As the family is so big and it would be too difficult and expensive to buy a present for everybody it was decided before Christmas that everybody would just buy one universal gift. The gifts then were numbered and everybody drew a card from a card game, which referred to one of the presents. It was really great, because nobody knew who would get his present and nobody knew from whom the present came. Anyways, my present was a digital frame, which was, for me, the best present to get.
The 25th A. and I went to meet up with her friends, as it was tradition for the last years. We were in a tiny flat and were sitting around the table and eating and drinking. Of course, as it was Christmas also here we were giving and getting presents. This was even more fun, as everybody had to buy a funny gift which was not more expensive than 1€ or 2€. We were then so to say gambling for our presents and once somebody had a present we could also steal it from each other. Sounds complicated in theory, is easy in practice. If somebody wants to know the rules exactly, I’ll be there… it’s great fun. The dinner and present-giving-game was then followed by a decent night-out in Ettan or better in the Rock Club Number 1, the only Club of Ekenäs. What else ?! Ah ja… on the way back home A. was falling into the snow… :-D
The 26th was again with the family. Having “linner” and drinking coffee and cognac. Basically we were then the following days just hanging around and enjoying the time off. Were walking around the town of Ekenäs, wrapping the last presents for my family, having sauna, watching TV and then finally packing our stuff to go to Aachen and Paris, the two world cities ;-)
It was a really nice Christmas time and I wanna thank you all, who were so welcoming for your hospitality. I had a great time and was enjoying the good food, drinks and company!
~M~
Christmas was very nice and somehow different from home. A. and I went to her parents on the 21st of December, as my Uni was over and both my Spanish flat mates had already left. It was pretty weird to bring them to the airport and say “see you later” for one month. After this time, these five months, together in Helsinki we already got used to each other. Anyways, A. and I went so early to Ekenäs, as A. had to work on the 22nd in the morning. During this time I was wrapping the Christmas presents and was just relaxing, as I haven’t done it at all during the three weeks before. All the assignments and exams were putting a huge workload onto me and left me with few time for social activities.
On the 23rd I was invited by A’s brother to a pre-Christmas sauna. It is, as I realized, tradition to gather with friends and family round Christmas to have a sauna and a couple of beers in Finland. It was really relaxing again and for me it was the first time that I could roll in the snow after having a sauna. It had been snowing quite a lot before and the snow was about 30cm high. As during the day the snow had been melting a bit, the surface turned to a thin layer of ice when the temperatures dropped again in the evening. I realized this when I came home from the sauna, felt my back itching and checked it in the mirror. The icy snow had scratched my skin and my whole back was cut open.
Then, the 24th A. and I slept a little bit longer and then went to church at 2 o’clock. A. was wrapping the last presents and her mum was preparing the last bit of Christmas food. And, wow, it was really a lot of food and really good food. She created a buffet in the kitchen, where, when you took from everything just a little portion, your plate was overloaded. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G !!! One of A’s brothers came along and joined us. Then we went to another of A’s brother’s house, where more people from the family gathered to celebrate Christmas. First we were watching N., A’s small niece unwrapping presents and also eating and drinking again. Then we were giving and getting presents to and from each other. As the family is so big and it would be too difficult and expensive to buy a present for everybody it was decided before Christmas that everybody would just buy one universal gift. The gifts then were numbered and everybody drew a card from a card game, which referred to one of the presents. It was really great, because nobody knew who would get his present and nobody knew from whom the present came. Anyways, my present was a digital frame, which was, for me, the best present to get.
The 25th A. and I went to meet up with her friends, as it was tradition for the last years. We were in a tiny flat and were sitting around the table and eating and drinking. Of course, as it was Christmas also here we were giving and getting presents. This was even more fun, as everybody had to buy a funny gift which was not more expensive than 1€ or 2€. We were then so to say gambling for our presents and once somebody had a present we could also steal it from each other. Sounds complicated in theory, is easy in practice. If somebody wants to know the rules exactly, I’ll be there… it’s great fun. The dinner and present-giving-game was then followed by a decent night-out in Ettan or better in the Rock Club Number 1, the only Club of Ekenäs. What else ?! Ah ja… on the way back home A. was falling into the snow… :-D
The 26th was again with the family. Having “linner” and drinking coffee and cognac. Basically we were then the following days just hanging around and enjoying the time off. Were walking around the town of Ekenäs, wrapping the last presents for my family, having sauna, watching TV and then finally packing our stuff to go to Aachen and Paris, the two world cities ;-)
It was a really nice Christmas time and I wanna thank you all, who were so welcoming for your hospitality. I had a great time and was enjoying the good food, drinks and company!
~M~
First of all: You said that Aachen and Paris are the two world cities, but you´re wrong! You forgot about Palencia ;)
ReplyDeleteSecond, the time you had in Ekenäs seems to be great, and I hope it was.
And third, about your spanish flatmates, don´t worry, you will pick up us again from the airport again in only 3 days!!