It’s hard to believe we are already in December and the holiday season is well underway. Even though the days have gotten quite short and the hours of darkness seem to grow and grow, Helsinki has really seem to come to life here in the past few weeks. As country that extends well into the Arctic Circle and claims to be the home of Santa Claus, it’s safe to say that Finland takes Christmas and the holiday season VERY seriously. Since early November the anticipation of the Christmas season was already building with the first sign of Christmas lights popping up at the major shopping centers around the city. Shortly thereafter, a large tree was put up in Helsinki’s Senate Square and the holiday season was officially kicked off with the tree lighting ceremony and Santa’s parade down “Christmas Street”, a well decorated street in the heart of the Helsinki shopping district. Now, Christmas lights and tree lighting ceremonies are pretty common back home too, but one of the traditions that is new to me is the abundance of Christmas markets all around the city. At the Christmas markets you can find all sorts of local crafts, specialty items, holiday gifts, and of course traditional holiday foods and pastries, the most popular of which is a drink called glogi or mulled/hot wine. The holiday glogi craze in Helsinki is even bigger than that of eggnog back in the States. And for good reason, the sweet, warm, holiday spiced drink is the perfect treat after a cold afternoon exploring the Christmas markets. Student groups have also been more active during the holiday season, it seems like every night now there a “Pre-Christmas” party or sitsit, the traditional Finnish student party I mentioned in a previous post. When it comes to the holiday season, the Finns don’t mess around.
As you can likely imagine, winter sports are pretty big in Finland, and chief among them is hockey. During the World Championship early in my stay here, the city was abuzz every time the Finnish national team was playing, especially when they played their biggest rival and neighbor, Sweden. This past week I was finally able to get tickets to see Helsinki’s team, Jokerit, in the Russian KHL league. The experience was quite different from cheering on my Bruins at the Garden or the Huskies from the Doghouse. The game and fan experience felt more like an event or show rather than other sports games I’ve been to back home. Every stoppage in play the arena came alive with loud, heavy bass party music and light shows. There was also a platform for cheerleaders/dancers, whose attire left little to the imagination. US professional teams also have sideline cheerleaders and dance crews, but these cheerleaders were definitely different. At times the stoppages in play felt more like a party than a hockey game! But when the puck dropped, it was still the same exciting game I loved to watch back home. Although it may not have been the Bruins or Huskies out there on the ice, it was still great to be at live sporting event, cheering on the local team once again.
