Autumn in Helsinki

Summer is definitely over in Finland. We have traded shorts and sandals for jackets and pants. The nights are becoming cooler and longer. We are losing about 5 minutes of daylight every day, and this week we will be at 12 hours: half-way between the longest and the shortest day. 

There are fewer cruise ships making stops in Helsinki and the tour boats have quit coming into our harbor. Less people are out in their boats, and I saw the crane for the first time today, removing boats from the slips and setting them on stands for winter storage.

The geese (Barnacle geese here I think, rather than Canadian geese), it seems, have quit practicing flying in formation and are actually leaving. The seagulls left long ago, but I certainly am not complaining about the loss of these flying rats.

Depressing, no? It is not all doom and gloom here. For example, the scenery is still beautiful:

Some hardy roses, somehow still providing us with their beauty

Maple tree with tinges of reds and yellows

Colorful sunrise after a rainy night

Another reward after a rainy night

Most striking to me: the birches with highlights of yellow leaves. This one is from 2 weeks ago

Birch tree last week

Birch trees this week

Just as football season is in full swing in the US, hockey season is starting up. There are also many weekend festivals to attend. My favorite is in a few weeks: The Herring Market. It is also apple season and mushroom season here, and soon to be lingonberry season. Everyman's Right still applies and mushroom hunting in the forest is a favorite pastime. People also go picking lingonberries, but my impression is that this berry is not held in the same revere as strawberries and blueberries. I also get the sense that picking apples off of any tree you find is frowned upon as most of these trees belong to someone. However, and it is often the case, if the owner has more apples than they can handle, they set a bucket of them on a door step or in an area of high traffic with the sign, "sää ottää" which roughly means, "you take".

These are just a few signs of autumn in Finland. What signifies fall to you where you live?

Open House, Helsinki edition

How many Finnish products are you familiar with? Did you know that Nokia is (was) Finnish before the sale of it's phone division to Microsoft a few weeks ago? Maybe if you are into fashion, you know Marimekko. Maybe you never purchased one of these products, but I would guess that you do have a Finnish product in your home, or that you have at least used one in your lifetime: Fiskars scissors. It was the one item on the list of school supplies while I was growing up that the schools recommended by name. If you own a pair you know why: they are high-quality and you have probably had them forever.

But the iconic orange (trademarked, by the way) scissors are not the only thing that Fiskars makes. Indeed, they also make kitchen cutlery and outdoor tools such as axes, shovels, and gardening tools. In addition, the Fiskars company has also added Iittala/Arabia, Hackman, Gerber, and Royal Copenhagen to its product portfolio.

This week, Helsinki is holding its annual Design Week. There are many events around the city highlighting every aspect of the broad term, design. One of them was Open House Helsinki in which normally closed to the public buildings are opened up for tours. We I selected the tour of the Arabia factory.

  


The name Arabia comes from the neighborhood in which the ceramics factory was built: Arabianranta (coast of Arabia). Other than that, I haven't been able to determine why this neighborhood in Helsinki is named Arabia. The company has been around for a long time. 

History of stamps found on the bottom of Arabia products

We took a spin through the Fiskars Company showroom first. This included artistic displays using their products:

Plates from Arabia

 Axes from Fiskars in a 'wood chopping sequence'. As our guide told us, all Finns know how to chop wood in order to heat their saunas.

Saws from Fiskars

Spoons from Hackman

Close-up of the spoons

We continued to the showroom where the most iconic Fiskars Company products were on display:

Finnish cartoon Moomin collector dishes from Arabia

Brent inspecting the array of Fiskars cutting utensils

iittala chalices

iittala vases designed by Alvar Aalto, and their tea candle holders

Royal Copenhagen table setting with iittala wine glasses

 It was Saturday, and so there was not much going on in the factory, only the kilns were in operation. The kilns are operational year-round, except for the month of July, presumably for all of the workers to take their holiday. But, we took a walk around the factory floor regardless (sorry, no pictures were permitted).

Arabia ceramics start out as a mix of earthen components, half of which are from Finland. Once formed into their iconic shapes and dried, the design is added. The hand-painting came to an end in 2005 and now they use decals with the paints embedded. These are applied, the whole piece is glazed, and they are sent for their 19-hour, single firing. Since the pieces are only fired once, the colors are specially made to handle this process.

Process of mug-making; we were told that attaching the handle is the most difficult part

After the factory tour, we were taken to the top floor of Arabia building to wander around the 2-room museum. This mini-museum contained artwork that made use of Arabia products as well as patterns from the discontinued patterns. Note: if you decide to buy any Arabia pattern and want the set, buy it all! I was surprised by the number of discontinued patterns.

Artwork utilizing Arabia ceramics: the robots were my favorite!

If you want to add a tour of the Arabia factory in your trip to Helsinki, it requires some planning-ahead for a reservation and a small entrance fee. Tours are normally only organized on weekdays and during limited hours. The museum would also have limited weekday hours. The factory is a bit out of the way from the center, but is accessible on tram lines 6 and 8. While there, be sure to stop in their outlet store to pick up a Fiskars Company product, or a discounted, imperfect (hardly noticeable in most pieces) Arabia piece.

Finnish Baby Box

Maybe you caught wind of it when UK's Prince George was born this summer. It's something that is otherwise not widely advertised outside of Finland -- I certainly had never heard of it until I moved here. I am talking about the maternity package (äitiyspakkaus: AY-tie-oos-pahk-kah-us) given to all expecting mothers in Finland who have the government insurance, Kela. This includes all residents plus those immigrants who have a 2-year + residence permit. 

The history of the baby box dates back to 1937. The contents of the box have changed some over the years to reflect views of baby-rearing (i.e. bottles were once included, but it was thought that they sent a message against breast feeding), but have largely remained the same. The items inside are unisex which probably saves a ton of work on their end. Even the box is usable: it comes with a foam insert that exactly fits so that the box can be repurposed as a bassinet. They are so popular among expecting families that 95% choose the box rather than the money.

The 2013 box, decorated with a customizable family tree

Since Finland gifted one of these baby goods-packed boxes to the royals, their popularity around the world has taken off. So much so that during the summer, the maternity grant website posted an announcement apologizing that these boxes were not yet for sale. The message has been removed, but I have not heard that these boxes can be purchased. Too bad, it might be a great industry for Finland, but maybe they would have difficulty keeping pace with demand?

How does one acquire this baby gift box? You need to have Kela insurance and have lived in Finland for 180 days before the due date. You must visit the maternity clinic for a check-up at least before the end of the 4th month of pregnancy, and the pregnancy must have lasted for at least 154 days. At this point, the maternity clinic gives you a certificate stating the length of the pregnancy. Submit this along with an application form to Kela that asks for the due date, among a few other things (to come in a future post). Then sit back and wait until the box is delivered to your nearest post office (Posti) sometime during the 7th month. What if you don't want a box? You may chose a one-time lump sum of €140 ($185), which would not even come close to buying all of the items in the box. As I said earlier, the box is overwhelmingly more popular than the cash.

We received our box this week. Do you want to see what's inside???

Baby toiletries (lotion, brush, tooth brush, scissors for nail clipping), bath thermometer, teething ring, book (Finnish and Swedish text), nursing and sanitary pads, condoms (perhaps so you don't need another box soon???)

Sleeping bag

Sheets, mattress cover, bath towel

Duvet

Cloth diapers, hats and balaclava, bib, socks, mittens, and leggings

One-piece suits

Shirts, onesies, and pants

Cold weather suits

Snow suit with insulated mittens and booties

This box is a great starter kit for a newborn of either gender. The clothes are different each year but always come in a variety of sizes, from 50 to 70 cm (19-28 inches): the baby clothes here are sized according to baby's length. Due to this box, the American tradition of a baby shower never started in Finland. However, I am told that they are starting to occur since so many US movies and TV shows have been imported. These boxes are seemingly well-thought out (can't yet speak from experience) and gives us first-timers an idea of what the baby will need. I am feeling quite spoiled and lucky to experience Finland's baby box!