Christmas wishes from Finland

We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Good tidings we bring to you and your kin;
Good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer

We won't go until we get some;
We won't go until we get some;
We won't go until we get some, so bring some out here

We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Anna, Hilkka and Pia with their pupils

Christmas in Finland - Niina Mäki 9c

Christmas in Finland

We celebrate Christmas in 24th December. Christmas is time of happines. The Best things in Christmas are Christmas food, presents and, of course, being together with family.
Week before Christmas Eve we decorate Christmas tree and home. Every Christmas morning we eat rice porridge. After that we go to a graveyard. Then we go to relatives’. In the evening we eat and then we open presents. For Christmas dinner we have ham and a carrot casserole.
All people in Finland celebrate Christmas differently.
Nowadays in Finland we don’t have snow, for example last year. But I hope that we have this year snow, at least a little.
I think that everybody as a child believes in the Santa Claus. When you become older, you don’t believe anymore.
Symbols of Christmas in Finland are reindeer, Santa Claus, Santa’s little helper and Christmas tree.

Christmas in Finland

We spend Christmas on 24th December. Christmas is very funny here because people and children like to have a lot of surprises. Christmas brings a lot of feelings.

It’s usually snowy and cold at Christmas. I like Christmas and I get many gifts from my parents. Therefore children really love Christmas. Close to every house people decorate Christmas tree and their houses.

Santa Claus lives in Finland in place called Korvatunturi. He comes to visit all children in Helsinki every year in December. On Christmas day families often socialize together and children play with their toys. On Christmas day we prepare a Christmas meal and a lot of delicious deserts. At nigh sometimes we go out with my brother, sister and my parents. We walk and play with snow. My brother and my sister really like snow and they are very happy.

After Christmas day, new day is coming. I and my father buy lots of fireworks. On new year day Finnish sky is very lightly.

Merry Christmas and Happy new Year!!!

Jovan Klaric 9A

FINNISH CHRISTMAS -Maxim 9A

ARTWORK BY LIISA BERG

FINNISH CHRISTMAS

Finnish people believe that Santa Claus lives in Lapland. People from all over the world send letters to Santa Claus in Finland. There is a big tourist theme park called 'Christmas Land' in the north of Finland, near to where they say that Father Christmas lives.
Everybody's house is given a very good clean in readiness for Christmas. Hours are spent in the kitchen cooking and baking special treats for the festive season.
Family always stays together at Christmas.
All houses are very nice decorated. Then everybody comes to the kitchen to have Christmas dinner. At 5- 7 o’clock Santa comes and gives gifts.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Christmas in Finland - Maryan, Iiman and Marthe, 9A

Christmas in Finland

We don’t spend Christmas since we are of different religion, but we think that Christmas is beautiful because everything is so beautiful that while and we like Christmas, because then everything is on sale. The nice thing is that we have holiday from the school which lasts two weeks.

Christmas in Finland - Henna-Riikka

Christmas in Finland

Christmas is on the 24 day of December.

Every year we decorate the Christmas tree in Christmas morning

AT Christmas we eat ham, turkey, carrot casserole, Swede purée, escalloped potatoes and a lot, lot all good food.

Then when we have eaten we can open the Christmas presents and have a look at them.

Christmas in Finland - Enni, Sonja and Villet

Christmas in Finland

In Finland we celebrate Christmas with our families or relatives. It can be a huge party or a small one with just a few people.
We believe in Santa Claus (who lives in Korvatunturi, Finland)
We either have Christmas tree, or we don’t, but we put the tree up before Christmas Eve.
Christmas Eve goes usually like this:
When we wake up, we watch Santa Claus’s hotline from TV, you can send e-mail from the web-page or call there and Santa Claus will either talk to you or read your e-mail on TV.
Then we eat rice porridge.
After the porridge we go and see our relatives or they come to our house. After seeing the relatives we eat. The traditional Christmas foods are ham, carrot casserole, swede casserole and potato casserole and beetroot salad. We also eat mince pies and gingerbreads. Then we drink mulled wine and home-brewed beer.
After dinner the Santa Claus comes and brings all the gifts. When the presents are opened we go to visit our relatives’ graves, and we take candles there. The cemetery looks absolutely beautiful when it’s dark and the candles are shining on the ground.

Christmas in Finland

Finnish Christmas

Finnish Christmas starts at the start of December. At that time people start to buy gifts and sing Christmas songs. The Christmas tree is brought to the house and the children start to decorate it with beautiful decorations. Advent calendars are bought to little children so they can wait for Christmas every day in December. Some people even burn advent candles every Sunday for the four weeks before Christmas Day, because they are waiting for Jesus to be born (not literally). People start to act nicely from the start of December because Santa’s little helpers might just be watching for you around the corner.

When it’s getting close to Christmas Eve parents start to make all kinds of food for the Christmas dinner. There are carrot, potato and swede casserole, ham, beetroot salad called rosolli, raw pickled salmon and many others. The dinning at Christmas Eve usually lasts for few hours because there is so much food to eat.

But before the dinner, there are lots of things people do on the 24th of December. For example in the morning people go to their relatives graves to wish them happy Christmas. Some people do this on the 23rd evening because people bring candles to the graves and they are burning brightly in the dark evening.

After the visit to the graves people start the preparations for the great evening. Probably they have already decorated the house but they can finish the last of the great amounts of food. Their relatives come and they start to spend time with them. Soon the huge dinner start.

When the dinner’s finished they start to wait for Santa to show up and they can open the presents. The little children might see a red brownie’s cap whiz in the window.

Christmas in Finland - Jarmo and Niko, 9c

Finnish Christmas

Finnish Christmas starts at the beginning of Christmas and ends at Epiphany that is usually the first Tuesday of January. Normally Finnish people buy Christmas gifts and gather together with their families, and celebrate Christmas. Normally they buy a Christmas tree, or they just go and get that from woods. Finnish visit their relatives and on Christmas Eve they go also to a graveyard.

Jarmo and Niko, 9c

Christmas in Finland - Teemu, 9a

Christmas in Finland

I go maybe to my grandmother’s place in Christmas or maybe I stay at home. I wish to have some presents. If I stay at home I think I go to shopping. I will eat a lot of Christmas food. I want have a lot of fun at Christmas.

Teemu, 9a

Christmas in Finland - Tytti, 9a

My Christmas

We open present 24.12 and not in 25, and we open then always in night. And now is morning of 24! Yes! Now Ill just have to wait for night, so I can open presents. When I was young my parents told me about Santa Claus, that he would bring presents for good behaving people. Little elf’s were watching us every day and told Santa Claus that did we behave good or bad. My dad always told that Santa Claus was his good friend and Santa gives him our present, so we can put them under Christmas tree. Because I had wild imagination so I believed that story, and I always behaved good. For breakfast we eat rice pudding, but everybody have to be in table and only then we can start to eat. In day we do all kind of things, we go outside to play in snow or just do something in inside. When evening was coming we go to sauna, and who wasn’t in sauna he or she helps making food and decorate table. When we have eaten, everybody goes to living room. I always “share” gifts to everybody, and then they open their gifts in their turn. If somebody got DVD we watch it or another movie together. When it is almost morning everybody goes to sleep.
I love in Christmas that everybody is home and we spend time together. I think that Christmas holiday is the best holiday!

Tytti, 9a

Christmas in Finland -pupils from 7A

When Christmas is coming we start to decorate our home about a month earlier.

We send the Christmas cards to people at the latest time, 15^th of December. Usually we get the Christmas tree about three or five days before Christmas. We decorate the Christmas tree as soon as the tree has melt down. We go to eat Christmas meal to my aunt or to my grandparents’ place. We eat about tree or four dishes, potato casserole, carrot casserole, swede casserole and of course turkey. When we have eaten the food, we then open all the Christmas presents. My mom and others relatives can’t buy me good presents because I’m so “old” now and they don’t know what to buy me, so they give me money and that’s fine. After we have opened the presents and eaten the food then we go back home and maybe play some games or something fun that we can do together. That’s our Christmas, and I love it!

Happy Christmas for everyone!!

Christmassy regards: Anette Lindroos 7A, Jakomäen yläaste, Helsinki

My Christmas

At Christmas we eat Christmas food. I eat Christmas food with my mother and my little sister. We eat ham, casseroles, salad and we drink water and milk. After dinner, we go to my grandmother’s place. Then we drink coffee and eat cake and gingerbread cookies. Then we wait for Santa Claus. Santa Claus brings lots of presents. When Santa Claus has left we open the presents. I hope I get clothes as presents. We have decorated our home we have lot of ornaments and we have Christmas lights and we have a Christmas tree. It is big, huge and beautiful. My little sister waits eagerly for Christmas. I also visit my father at Christmas. I give Christmas present my mother, father and little sisters. We also go to church at Christmas and we also sing Christmas Carrols.

Harriet Mäenpää 7A, Jakomäen yläaste, Helsinki

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Christmas is in December. It is in 24^th. We eat Christmas meal on home. Our home is eating seven peoples. My dad, mom, granny, granddad, big brother and little brother. We eat potato soufflé, carrot casserole, swede casserole and of course turkey. We send every year Christmas cards. I send to my friends and my parents their friends. We get Christmas tree two days before Christmas. I have eid too. In eid I get 50e. When New Year comes I buy New Year fireworks. I like fireworks. Happy Christmas and Happy New Year.

Jasim al-Shebibi 7A, Jakomäen yläaste, Helsinki
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My Eid-Holiday

”RING RING”!

I woke up in the alarm voice. The clock was about 7.00 a.m.

The whole family was squillering around. We were a bit of late.

Then at 8.00 a.m we finally got out of the house. My family went to Myllypuro’s Arena Center to pray. After praying we went home.

Usually we eat eid-dinner in eid-holidays with my family. But this time we made an exception because my mum was spending her eid-holiday in Mekka. If you don’t know what Mekka is, I’ll tell you something about it. Mekka is the place where Prophet Muhammed is born, and the holy place of islam. They spend there eid-holiday very nicely. But in Finland it’s a bit different. After the praying we all got different ways. I spent my eid-holiday in the mall, with my friends. We went to eat in a kebab restaurant.

Happy Eid-Holiday to all of you.

16.12.2008 Jawahir Ahmed 7a, Jakomäen yläaste, Helsinki

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OUR EID

We Muslims have a holiday called Eid. In the Eid I wake up at 7’clock. The morning is like usually, and then I say to all part of my family happy holiday. Then we eat the breakfast. We go to the mosque. There I say happy holiday to my friends. In the mosque we pray the Eid pair.

All my relatives who live in Finland go usually to my grandfather. There we share our presents.

And say to each other happy holiday. We eat there holiday lunch. In The evening every one does what they want. Usually me, my brother and my cousins go to buy new things with the money we get. And the relatives who come from other place than Helsinki they be the night in our and the others place who live in Helsinki. It’s fun I cant wait to the next Eid come.

Mahmuud al-Hello 7 A

Jakomäen yläaste 7A

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Hello, my name is Nimco, and I tell you about my Eid holiday. It is a really fine day.

My families wake up about seven o’clock. We eat little breakfast, and we dress up beautiful clothes. We go to mosque, and shopping. We eat very good meal. I love Eid holiday because I don’t go to school. We also go to my cousin, and we have a lot of fun.

Nimco Ali 7A, Jakomäen yläaste, Helsinki

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My Christmas

In this story, I tell you, how I spend my Christmas. I usually go to my grandparents’ cottage or home with my grandma, grandpa, mom, her husband and my step little brother. First of all, I decorate the Christmas three at Christmas Eve morning. I also bake gingerbread biscuits with my grandma. We go to our relatives in the afternoon, and few of them come to our place in the evening. When we have eaten the Christmas dinner, which has many dishes, we share the presents. After that we go to sauna. And in the evening, when we have come from the sauna, we just spend time together and drink glogg. I think that Christmas is very lovely holiday because everybody is together.

Jenna Hietamäki 7A

Jakomäen yläaste, Helsinki
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We eat something little. Then about 10 o’clock we go to my grandparents´ home.

There we eat rice porridge. We do very much everything funny. At some time we go to the church. Then we come back to grandparents’ home. There we eat ham, carrot casserole, potato casserole, swede casserole and gravlax and everything else.

Then we do something. Sometime we share the presents. About 8-9 o’clock we go from to sauna. We sleep in my grandparents’ home. Next morning we eat everything what is left. Then we go to home when we want. Then we buy fireworks before New Year come.

This holiday is very good and lovely.

Niklas Tourunen 7A, Jakomäen yläaste, Helsinki

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I start the Christmas Eve with my parents and relatives. First we cook and make the table, then we eat. We have many dishes: rice porridge, turkey, potato soufflé, carrot casserole, gingerbread, Karelian pastry and we drink glogg. We eat first and then give the presents. Generally my grandpa makes from ice a kind of mode and he puts the candle there. We keep it outside and it looks fabulous. Usually we have Christmas tree and there are lots of Christmas decorations. We get together in the living room and give there the presents. When all open our own presents and we thank for what we get. Then we hang out with each other and have fun. I love Christmas because then everybody is together.

By: Oona Kolkka 7A, Jakomäen yläaste, Helsinki