Sunday, December 14, 2014

Somero Christmas Carols

Forty-one years ago, a couple of Finnish vicars decided to start something new. Why don't we have a special service at Christmas where we do nothing but play and sing Christmas carols, and at the same time raise money for people in the developing world.  We'll try it in a couple of parishes and see if it works, they thought to themselves.

Olli Salomäenpää
Well it worked. And now this traditional Christmas service happens all over Finland and millions of euros are raised for people who need it much more than we do. This year the money is going towards supporting mothers all over the world to help them give a better start to their children, through learning about nutrition and health issues which will keep their children healthy and better nourished.

Somero church was packed this evening (this photo was taken ten minutes before the service started). The congregation sang carols and were also entertained by some young violinists, the Metka Kööri Choir and Somero's Youth Choir. The only photo I have of the youth choir is out of focus as I was sitting so far away but I thought I would put it on here anyway. Sorry about the poor quality.

The singing, however was wonderful. Even Minttu, who at three is young to be sitting through an event such as this, was dancing on my knee in time to Ave Maria.

I went to the service with my good friend Eira,who at eighty years old says that she has been attending this annual service since they first started forty-one years ago.

On the way home in the car she told me how her brothers and sisters used to walk to church on Sundays when they were children, walking ten kilometres each way from their farm to church. On Christmas morning, the service started at six o'clock, so they would have to leave at four thirty in the morning to get there on time. Eira remembers these times fondly and says how as a child she thought that the church was one of the most beautiful places she had ever seen.

It was nice to see so many people there this evening, hopefully a good sum was raised for the cause of motherhood in the developing world.

Wishing you all health and happiness wherever you may be reading this and a good start to the week ahead.



Saturday, December 13, 2014

Somerniemi Christmas Market

After two weeks of rain and wind, we woke up in Somero this morning to find that everything was covered in five centimetres of snow. As usual the Finns were prepared, and by the time I drove out of our drive all the roads in the town had been visited and cleared by the snow plough. In England of course, you only need one flake of snow to arrive and everything shuts immediately. Roads, schools, airports...you name it, the country is in complete chaos. And if you are English and reading this you will know exactly what I mean!

Anyway, today was the date for Somerniemi Christmas Market, around a ten minute drive from Somero town centre. The market was much smaller and much quieter than it is in the summer when it is packed every Saturday. But there was still a nice atmosphere. I had a cup of "glögi" (mulled wine) with my good friends Anna-Liisa and Kirsti and also bumped into Keanne who was serving coffees in the cafe.  Here are some pictures. Hope you are all enjoying the build up to Christmas.









Saturday, December 6, 2014

Happy Birthday Finland

Today is 97 years since Finland gained its independence. The 6th December is a public holiday over here. Everything is shut, but celebrations are still fairly low key. Most families stay at home to watch the President's Independence Day Party on television and join in the obligatory discussion on who was wearing what.

At 6pm Finns put a candle in the window. I have always loved this tradition. It is so simple yet so effective. Just a small, silent symbol from ordinary people that they are proud of their country.

No country is perfect of course, but there is plenty in Finland to be proud of. Today is a day when Finns all over the world remember their roots and celebrate the fact that their country is free.

Happy Birthday Finland.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Somero's Pre-Schoolers and Their Independence Day Party

Two days before Finnish Independence Day on Saturday, Somero was full of excitement today as all the six-year-old pre-schoolers (school here starts at age seven) were invited to a special party with the mayor.

I joined Luca this morning with his classmates in the Olkihatut group at nursery school where they were all dressed up for the occasion.

Everyone was very excited to be going to their first official function. I asked Luca when he got home what happened at the party. He told me everyone was wearing lovely clothes and the girls looked very pretty. They were apparently all given a chocolate with a picture of the Finnish flag on it and some juice to drink, and then they all danced. I hear the music was very good too!

The Finns are famous worldwide for providing top class childcare and I have to say that here in Somero we are especially lucky. The staff here genuinely care about each child and make a huge effort to get to know their individual needs and talents.

Thank you to everyone at the Tuulihatut nursery for their hard work and dedication to the job. We in Somero are very grateful for everything you do. Happy Independence Day for Saturday :)




Monday, December 1, 2014

Spanish in Somero

As December kicked off today and the last month of the year got underway, the advent calendars are being opened and Christmas is not far away.

Somero is dark right now. It's still dark when the children go to nursery and after just a few hours of light it starts getting dark again at not long after three in the afternoon. But the good news is that in just three weeks time we will be over the worst and the days will gradually start getting longer again.
The children finally started opening their advent calendars today

At the end of the year I always look back on the major events of the last twelve months and try of course to remember and focus on all the good things that have happened. I've always found this is a useful exercise because it's so easy to forget how much good happens to us in amongst the challenges we all have to face.

This year one of the things on my "good" list will be my Spanish beginners' class in Somero. We started off in September and I have to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting everyone in the class.

Somero-Opisto is our local adult education college which offers courses on all sorts of different topics from conversational English to singing to ceramics.

In any event, my Monday evening Spanish classes have been one of the bright spots this autumn which have made up for some of the sad things that have happened. Fingers crossed one day we will manage to organise a trip to Spain and have a few lessons in the sun. Until then I wish you all a happy week  and hope that your days are full of light, whatever the weather. Hasta luego!