Christmas traditions

Christmas is here again. About one month before Christmas at Facebook, some persons start blaming that they miss Finnish Christmas and they are extremely homesick during the Christmas period.

Well, I spent all my Christmas in Finland until I was 27. That year I spent the Christmas at Turin, Italy with my future husband. Our proprietor invited us to their home for the Christmas day, because they felt awful to think that we two poor foreigners had to spend Christmas without any relatives.  It was a nice Christmas, because it was different. I remember that first I felt terrified to spend Christmas outside Finland.

Now I live in Italy and we have spent here now 14 Christmas during the last 15 years. We have our own Christmas traditions that differ from Christmas traditions in Finland. During the years, our Christmas menu has become a mix of Finnish and Italian dishes. We have always antipasti (appetizers), primo (pasta usually) and secondo (ham or some other meat with potato casserole). In the morning 24th, we go to the supermarket and there is always a chaos, but that is also part of our tradition. Usually we pass by to give gifts to our friends the same day. In the evening, we call to our loved ones in Finland and that is the moment I feel a bit nostalgic.

This year is the second time we have relatives from Finland to spend a Christmas with us. For this reason, we have to adapt our tradition to theirs, but on the other hand, we want to give them a possibility to experience a different kind of Christmas.

According to me, the best Christmas is where I have my family with me. I used to miss Finnish Christmas, but later I understood that I missed Christmases when I was a child and I was almost sick, because I waited so much to get the gifts (even if I used to sneak around the house to find the gifts). Time has gilded the memories. There was always snow (actually, I come from that part of Finland where many Christmases were without snow).

I wish you all my dear readers Happy Holidays!