Christmas Miscellany

Here in Blighty the warmest autumn for 250 years is starting to come to an end. In two weeks' time it will be Christmas. I sit looking out of the window, looking at the leaves lingering on the trees and the buds on my rose bush, and thinking of the Christmases I spent in Finland, when the snow was thick on the ground and the buses ran on time. Never mind, I can play my Finnish Christmas CD's. The shops in Finland will be full of seasonal CD's about now, but these are the ones to get if you are out there:

Saa joulu aikaan sen (Christmas Brings It): Arja Koriseva
Joulu joka päivä (Christmas Every Day): Arja Koriseva
Minun joululauluni (My Christmas Song): Anne Mattila and sisters

Some of Arja's offerings are familiar: Talven ihmemaa, Marian poika, and Lunta saa tuiskuttaa are recognisable as Winter Wonderland, Mary's Boy Child, and Let It Snow. Oi Beetlehem sä pienoinen (O Little Town of Bethlehem) is sheer perfection. I know I've mentioned it before; well, I'm mentioning it again. You just won't hear anything better than this. Sugary as the icing on a Christmas cake, but never cloying, is Pikkutontun joululipas (Little Elf's Christmas Box).

Anne Mattila and her similarly-named sisters Anneli, Anniina and Anitta give us 11 purely Finnish Christmas songs. Anne's powerful husky voice (and she was only 19 when she made the record) is perfect for the sometimes rather plaintive carols such as Joulun paperitähti Christmas Paper Star) "When I look at the paper star I remember my childhood and I'm not miserable" or Kuinka voisi joulu tulla (How could Christmas come?) "How could Christmas be coming when you're not?"

Joulumaa (Christmasland) is a well-known Finnish classic, written by Katri-Helena: "Christmasland isn't just snow and elves; Christmasland is peace of mind. You don't have to travel far; Christmasland is found in every heart."

For the last lesson at the Finnish language school here in Bristol before the Christmas holiday, we covered the Nativity in stadin slangi, the dialect spoken in the mean streets of Helsinki. I was charmed to see that the slangi for "swaddling clothes" is pampersit. When the shepherds decide to go to see the infant Jesus, they say, not mennään Beetlehemiin, as they would in "BBC Finnish", but lets kou to Piitlehem.

Seija, the landlady I stay with when I visit Seinäjoki, sent me a very nice Christmas present. It is an advent calendar. Behind the doors are Father Christmases, snowmen, and candles, all moulded from salmiakki. The moulding is very crisp and detailed, as you see from the picture. They taste good too.



















I have discovered a flame-haired, scantily clad, scary superheroine. No, not Saija Varjus, the 1996 Tango Queen, but Red Sonja. Have a look at this:
http://www.sergiocariello.com/commissions/commissions_gallery/red%20sonja.jpg

Saija Varjus at the 2006 Tangomarkkinat

I really don't like these warm British winters. Perhaps next year I will be able to send a report from Finland. In the meantime, hyvää joulua kaikille! (Merry Christmas to all).