Ystävänpäivä

Last week was busy: Fat Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, and Valentine's Day. I already commented on Fat Tuesday, and as Finland is witnessing a large decline in church attendance (as is the rest of Europe), Ash Wednesday is not really celebrated. However, the Finns did know what I was talking about when I asked about the day and the church service with ashes.

Thursday of last week was Valentine's Day, which I am certain that you are aware of if you are reading this in the US. In Finland, Valentine's Day has a different meaning and the word ystävänpäivä (OOST-ah-vahn-pie-vah) translates to friendship day. It is a day to remember your friends, not to splurge on over-priced flowers or jewelry or a fancy dinner for your lover. Cards are abundant and again the Posti has a deal in which they will deliver your ystävänpäivä cards on February 14th if you submit them by the 12th. 

This may come as a shock, but there is no special pulla for Valentine's Day. In fact, we hardly saw any advertisements at all for the event: very few special candies, or restaurants holding special prix-fixe dinners, or flower shops hawking a dozen roses. In addition, the schools do not celebrate the day with parties for the children. In all, the holiday passed with very little mention here, and I find it nice to be reminded to think of all the people in your life for whom you care.

Another day, another pulla

Lent began this week and Mardi Gras in Finland is spent eating another unique pulla (this one is called Laskiaispulla), pea soup, and sledding. Laskiais (LAHS-key-ice) is the word for shrove, thus Laskiaistiistai is Shrove Tuesday. I can't comment on the pea soup: the Finns I interact with were understandably much more concerned about the pulla than the soup. The sledding part comes from an old wive's tale that the further you slide down the hill, the better your crop will be. 

Laskiaispulla fits the overindulgence part of Fat Tuesday well: a large pastry-type bun, filled with whipped cream and either raspberry jam or almond paste (marzipan), and topped with sugar. Given the two options of filling, people here are either 'jam people' or 'almond people'. I thought that for the sake of learning which grouping I fell into that we should sample one of each, but I heard reports of its epic proportions from my coworkers and decided it was best to share one with my husband. We treated ourselves to afternoon coffee and pulla at the city center Fazer cafe. The tales of this pulla were no exaggerations. Large, fatty, and delicious. For this year, we are jam people. The pastry is the typical 'pastry base' used in Finland: more of a baked sweet bread  than something flaky or fried. And of course it comes with cardamom in it (still really delicious and I recommend you try it in your next batch of cinnamon roll dough).

A note on the cafe we went to: Fazer (FAHT-ser) is a famous Finnish company, started in the mid 19th century by Karl Fazer. The company now makes chocolates, candies, breads, and pastries. As I mentioned above, they have cafes around the city of Helsinki (and elsewhere in Finland, I assume) that serve up their famously high-quality pastries and cakes as well as other 'light' cafe foods. They also sell a variety of their chocolates. A major bonus to having your coffee at a Fazer cafe? All orders come with a piece of their wrapped chocolate (see first picture), whether or not you need it, as was the case with the Laskiaispulla. It's a good thing that we can go skiing to burn off this treat. All in the name of educating you readers, right?

Runebergin Päivä

February 5th is another Flag Day in Finland, in the honor of the birthday of Finnish National Poet, Johan Runeberg. He is honored with this statue in the Esplanade park in Helsinki.

Runeberg lived in the early 19th century and was a Swedish-speaking Finn; in fact, all of his works are in Swedish. His accomplishments include writing the poem that became the national anthem of Finland. 

Most importantly, Runeberg enjoyed his pastries. Reportedly, his wife, Fredrika created a torte that he ate every morning for breakfast. It has since been named Runebergintorttu and is ubiquitous in Finland from the beginning of February until his birthday. The little cakes are reminiscent of a dense, dry spice cake with the added twist of ground almonds in the cake and a dab of frosting and raspberry jam on top. They can be served as is, or soaked in 'punsch', which I understand to be rum. This is known as Fredrika Runebergintorttu and apparently how Johan took his breakfast torte. The shape is achieved by using a special mold, but since this would only be used once a year, most Finns who make them at home just use a muffin tin. I didn't have time to try baking them myself, nor did I want a whole batch of these temptations around home, so we sampled some from our local bakery. 

I have come to think that one has 'made it' in Finland if there is a commemorative pastry!

Cross-country skiing

The Finns are avid outdoors-people during all seasons and weather. They love the fresh air and the peacefulness of this forested country. The city of Helsinki is no exception: there are parks and wooded trails everywhere. Some of the trails even make you forget that you are inside of Helsinki proper. Winter is no exception for outdoor activity and it may in fact be more highly regarded for it's ability to combat the depression associated with the short days. One Finnish favorite activity is skiing. Here, the simple verb skiing needs no qualification to know that it refers to the cross-country variety. Finland is rather flat and there are only a handful of resorts in the north that have down-hill skiing hills. The vast network of hiking trails multitask during the winter and are groomed by the city for skiing. This means that everyone has relatively easy access to a ski trail and some a illuminated at night. Ski equipment is affordable and most people have their own skis, so anyone can ski whenever they want, even using it as a mode of transportation. 

I thought that since I know how to down-hill ski that cross-country skiing would be a cinch. Wrong. There is very little about down-hill that will prepare you for cross-country skiing, except maybe for carrying the skis and poles, how to 'walk' in skis, and the perpetual hope for fresh snow. After some convincing from natives, we recently took a lesson to find out how exactly one cross-country skis. First, I learned that there are two styles: classic and skate; we took a classic style lesson. Second, the equipment is much different. The boots are only about ankle high and are more tennis-shoe-like. The skis are more narrow and they bow out in the middle. The bindings are fixed distances so that skis are interchangeable among adult shoes (must be the same system, though, different companies make different bindings, shoes, etc). Ski lengths are determined first by height when you are starting (they should reach your wrist when you raise your hand), and as you improve you can start making modifications based on your weight and skill. Poles are also part of the kit and they should come up to your armpits. They are designed to propel you forward, so right and left matter. The poles come with wrist straps and rather dangerous-looking, sharp metal picks in the end. 

Now, onto the moving part. This is somewhat reminiscent of down-hill in that you glide on one ski at a time. But, gravity only assists you in falling to the ground when you've lost your balance. To get your skis moving you squat, stick your right pole in the ground in front of you and kick your right ski back and glide on your left while pushing your left hip forward. Alternate sides and repeat. It is a whole-body work out! You use all of your muscles between your triceps and your quadriceps. I was exhausted after the 90-minute lesson. We learned how to 'run' up a hill, how to double-pole, and the fastest way down a hill. The only thing we didn't learn was how to stop. Hm. Our teacher left us with the following tidbits of advice to practice on our own: dare to fall and watch some videos on YouTube. Sounds like good advice for most things in life. Happy skiing!