Hyvää Itsenäisyyspäivä!

Happy Independence Day in Finland! Itsenäisyyspäivä was on December 6th, but on Wednesday the 5th, we celebrated it at school with an assembly.

 Mao (Japan), me, Georgia (Australia), and Emily (Mexico) all attended the ceremony at school. We were a bit tired having gotten home from Lapland the same day at around 3am, but it worked out well and was very good. Georgia even gave a speech in Finnish and did a fantastic job!

 While Finnish Independence is very serious, the assembly was very humorous in a respectful way. It was really entertaining nice to see. This year is the 95th year of Finnish Inependence, and the boys running the show had built a sauna. Three of them sat at the sauna commentating for the show and making jokes about the Finns. There were also many musical performances and a couple speeches and a flag ceremony. It was really great to watch.

 Here is the main crew that ran the Independence assembly. They did an amazing job!
The next day there was no school since it was Independence day. I didn't really do anything too special, but there are a few typical traditions. At around 6pm, everyone lights two candles (usually decorated in blue and white; the colors of the Finnish flag). Some people also go to concerts and listen to the traditionaly Finnish songs.

 Here is the meal I ate for dinner. We had moose! So tasty! After dinnertime there is another tradition. Almost everyone in all of Finland watches the party from the president's home in Helsinki. Some 2,000 guests arrive, line-up, and shake hands with the president and his wife. It went on and on and on, there were so many people. After all of the hand shaking which took well over an hour (and I saw two people I have met), they showed all of the fancy food and some dancing and interviews, then the show ended. There is one more tradition. Many people watch the movie "The Unknown Soldier" which is from the 40's I believe.
It was a nice way to see how Finnish Independence went. Happy 95 years of Freedom for Finland!