Midsummer
Midsummer (Juhannus in Finnish) is celebration of light and mid-summer in June. Important feature of midsummer is
the midnight sun. Finland is located in the Arctic Circle so the nights near midsummer are very short and in northern
Finland there is no night that time of the year. Midsummer is especially important in Scandinavian cultures.
Most Finnish people leave the cities for midsummer and spend their holidays at countryside. Rituals include bonfires,
cookouts, sauna and spending time together.
Last midsummer my family and I travelled to our summer cottage like most of the families in Finland. There were also
many of my relatives that celebrated the feast with us and our cottage was filled with people and their dogs. Its
normal that families get together to celebrate. We had a barbeque and sauna and spent time with each other by
playing games outside the cottage. It was really warm time in Finland so the kids went to swim to nearby river many
time that day. In the evening we had a huge bonfire and we tried to catch some fish to cook for dinner.
EssiVartiainen
WINTER IN FINLAND
Winter is the longest season here in Finland, it's also a very cold time of the year. It is very dark before the snow comes.
That time when its dark people are very tired, which might cause even winter depression. Snow usually comes before
Chrismas but this year it came after the new year. It was very stupid because the snow belongs to Chrismas and
something was really missing. But the most important thing is that the snow finally arrived. Now that it's snown people
are much more happier and energetic and now they can enjoy beautiful winter weather. Finish people like to be outside
and do all the winter sports like skiing, snowboarding, ice-skating and just be out side with families and friends. After
spending time in cold winter weather its lovely to go to sauna or just relax by fireplace and drink some hot chocolate.
Some people like to plunge into a hole made in the ice from sauna which has a very refreshing effect. -Oona
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