As we have received our first holiday cards of the season (thanks for the extra effort, friends and family!), and my coworkers have been talking a lot about writing their Christmas cards, I thought I'd post about it. I say Christmas cards because in Finnish, there is not a politically correct phrase for 'Happy Holidays' or 'Holiday cards'. Finland is 90% Lutheran, 5% Orthodox, and 5% other, which has to include the other major religions and non-religions. This is the only thing in Finland that I've encountered that is not PC. Everyone I've talked to here celebrates Christmas and they don't think a thing of saying 'Hyvää Joulua' (WHO-va YO-loo-ah). Even December is called Joulukuu, or Christmas month.
Christmas cards here are different from the traditional American cards. It would be rare for someone to send a family picture, and instead the cards are often holiday-themed postcards. The mail service, Posti, runs an offer on cheaper postage for Christmas cards. If you don't have a 'No ads please' sign on your door, you receive a red envelope from the post carrier that you fill with your Christmas cards and if you give it back to the post carrier by December 13th, and you pay only € 0.60 per stamp. If you get it to them by December 17th, it is € 0.70 per stamp. Stamps are normally € 1, so it may well be worth your efforts to finish your cards early. And with the special Christmas card offer from Posti, they deliver the cards just in time for Christmas.
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