Remembering Granny at Christmas

Finns place candles on graves on Christmas Eve. If the grave of a loved one is far away, a candle may be placed along a pathway in a nearby cemetery. The custom became widespread after the bitter losses of the Winter War and Continuation War (that’s World War II to you).

No dubbing in the cinemas

If you choose to go and watch a movie in a cinema in Finland you can be sure it is not going to be dubbed. Only exceptions are children movies, which normally are shown in both the original and a finnish version.

Midsummer customs

The Saturday closes to 24th June ( St John's Day) is Midsummer and Finland closes for the holiday. If you're in Helsinki , head for Seurasaari, where you can see a lot of folklore in action - log-rolling, folk dancing and bonfires. There's not much else to do in Helsinki at Midsummer as practically everything is closed. The Midsummer pole is a Swedish custom, found in the Swedish-speaking coastal and island regions. They are erected on Midsummer's Eve and left till the floral decorations wither. This one was in Helsinki 's Esplanadi park, 2005. Use your international cell phone rental to navigate this festival.

Independence Day Candles

The custom of lighting candles in the window on Independence Day (December 6th) grew out of the custom of Advent candles. Since the day falls close to the second Advent Sunday, lighting candles showed the occupants of the house were on the White side – i.e., opposite to the atheist Reds. This became a badge of national feeling, and the custom became to light two candles in every window in the house. In former times, it was not unknown for candleless windows to be smashed. The display in the massed windows of apartment buildings is still impressive.

Sauna

Your host will be inviting you to sauna sooner or later, men and women usually goes in turns, but not necessary, between good friends it can be mixed too. People are nude in the sauna, it is strictly forbidden here to wear anything in sauna, so just feel loose and relax while there. Good temperature is about 80 degrees c. Be natural and relax, that's the meaning in having Sauna. Bring your Finland cell phone rental to the sauna.