1. Finnish Christmas

2. Traditions
In the old town of Turku, the former capital of Finland, a special ceremony is held
to declare the beginning of "Christmas peace" period, starting at 12 o'clock noon on
Christmas Eve and lasting for twenty days. Traditional Finnish Christmas songs
are hymns that are sung in the church.
Christmas Day is usually spent quietly at home, relaxing and resting, with some
people perhaps attending the early morning church service.
Sauna is one of the most important traditions. Many Finnish families go to sauna
on Christmas Eve. It's so relaxing and makes you feel good.

3. Christmas foods
The following pictures are from our school's
Christmas lunch. Herring, ham and rosolli
salad.

4. Some potato- and rutabaga casserole, salmon
and Finnish fresh cheese.

5. Christmas lunch in our canteen

6. Gingerbread cookies, x-mas
tree and riceporridge

7. How do you spend your Christmas?
Nikolas: I'll spend my Christmas in Thailand this year. I'm going to travel
with my family. This is my first year abroad at Christmas.
Anna-Stina: I'm at home on Christmas Eve. I usually go for a walk with my
dog. Later we go to sauna and then we eat a lot. After eating, we open the
presents which are under the Christmas tree and then we just hang out
together the rest of the evening.
Katariina: Christmas would be nothing without dozens of candles and TVprograms for children! It's our tradition to take some candles to the
graveyard and make a bet how many "Santa's little helpers" with long
white beard we will see in the traffic.
Leena - English Teacher: I spend my Christmas time at home with my family
reading, eating and just relaxing, maybe playing board games together. On
Boxing day we visit our relatives, too.

8. Santa Claus aka Father
Christmas
The real Santa lives here in Finland. The Santa
Claus Village is at the Arctic Circle in
Rovaniemi, Lapland.

9. You can visit Santa Claus and cross the magical
Arctic Circle.
The Arctic Circle is a line visible on the map,
north of which the sun can be seen above the
horizon even at midnight during the
summertime. Contrastingly, during the winter
the sun stays below the horizon for a certain
time. If you want to watch: Live video from
Santa Claus Village