This weekend was full of fun and excitement all over Finland as we celebrated Vappu. This holiday is filled with a variety of traditions and has many different meanings. But regardless of the meaning it was a lot of fun!
Vappu is celebrated as Labor Day in Finland but also has special meaning for students throughout the country. It's also the unofficial start to summer! Festivities begin on Vappu Eve and we spent Saturday in the center of Jyvaskyla to watch the fun. University students were all over town and it was easy to recognize them as they were all wearing brightly colored overall suits (thought most had the upper part just tied around their waists). The color of the overall is representative of the field you are studying in the university. Because there is a limited array of colors some colors represent a few different fields.
The pants are then covered with different patches as the students participate in different events while they are at the university. Most events involve drinking and take place a different pubs and bars, but there are other non-alcoholic events as well and some of the patches are from different sponsors of events. Throughout our time here we have seen groups of students wearing these overalls in several different cities as they go out into the city to party. Yesterday it was really fun to see huge groups of brightly clad young adults having a fun time picnicking with their friends in different parks in the city.
We met up with some friends at the Church Park right in the center of the city and had a lot of fun watching the crowds while Tea and Talia ran around. We walked down the main pedestrian area and looked at the tents selling traditional Finnish foods as well as candy, crafts, and t-shirts. In front of the statue of Minna Canth a band played some popular American tunes including Michael Jackson's Thriller. At 6:00 sharp Minna Canth was "capped" with the traditional matriculation hat. As I wrote about in an earlier post, this white cap with a black strap is very important to the Finns. Students that pass the matriculation exam earn this iconic hat in the beginning of June and then wear it every year on May Day. On Saturday once Minna Canth got her hat all the others in the crowd that also had their own hats put them on. Quickly we were surrounded by a sea of people wearing the hats. Each town has a different statue that gets capped, but it is someone related to education. Minna Canth (1844-1897) was a writer and social activist and was the first woman to get her own flag day in Finland.
Saturday was a day full of fun for the young people. This weather was beautiful and the college students traveled in hoards throughout the city. As we left the downtown area around 7:00pm it was evident that the party was just getting started for many! We went home to rest up for the actual May Day festivities held on Sunday.
May 1st events started much earlier in the day. We went downtown around 11:00am and met up with some Fulbright friends but were so happy to meet up with Hannah, our trusty Finnish friend and mentor who showed us how to celebrate Vappu like true Finns. She decked us out in streamers and balloons and brought a great picnic for us all to enjoy.
The girls loved blowing on the streamers to get them to open up and then wrapped them around themselves, me and Adam so we were totally in the spirit of things. We walked to one end of the pedestrian zone and watched an all male choir sing traditional Finnish songs. This choir is made up of mostly older men that were educators and principals. We were told this choir has a long tradition in Jyvaskyla and has been singing at this May Day event for over 50 years. The men all wore their faded matriculation caps with pride and sang out loudly and proudly. They sounded beautiful and it was a great start to the day. Today felt like a much more traditional celebration. We saw hundreds of people wearing their white caps, many faded with age. It was really neat to ride the bus with so many older men and women proudly sporting their caps. It was just another sign of how highly Finland values education. Recently students in vocational schools also started getting caps with a different color band and insignia so they can also celebrate their education.
In another part of town different labor unions marched in a brief parade. We missed it but our friends said it was a short parade and not full of the same types of entertainment as an American parade. In fact, they said by the time they texted us to let us know it was happening it was over! We decided to head west to have our picnic in a park where a live band was playing. We knew the kids would have fun listening to the music and playing in the park and we would be able to relax and enjoy the nice weather. The weather really cooperated to kick off summer this year. We hit temperatures in the 60's on Saturday and Sunday and the sun shined brightly overhead for both days. We've heard that often this day is still quite cold and there are years where there is even snow falling so we felt very fortunate to be able to wear just our sweatshirts outside.
Traditional Finnish food is also an important part of this holiday. Munkki are the traditional donuts served on this day. We enjoyed eating these deep fried, sugar coated treats all weekend. They were delicious. Sima is the popular drink to have at this time of year. This drink is traditionally made by families and the store bought kind is never as good as the home made stuff. Sima is non-alcoholic or mildly alcoholic as it is made a week before the events so it is given time to ferment. It is a carbonated drink made with lemons, brown sugar, white sugar and yeast. Raisins are added to the bottle and the makers know the mead is ready when the raisins float to the top. Recipes are easily found on the internet but we opted for the free stuff given out downtown at different booths.
We all tried the Sima but none of us really liked it. I think Talia's surprised face says it all. They really didn't like the bubbles (they don't drink soda) and I just didn't like the taste. But, we all tried something new this weekend! In addition to the munkki and sima, traditional picnic food included sausages and meatballs (served cold) along with potato and Italian pasta salad. We filled our bellies in the park with our friends and enjoyed being able to sit outside without winter coats. The live band played some great music, including the theme from Ghostbusters as well as Uptown Funk. The girls danced around and were excited to recognize some songs. By 3:00 we were feeling pretty tired from being in the sun all weekend and made our way back home to rest up for another exciting week in Finland. We can hardly believe our time is starting to wind down in Jyvaskyla so we are trying to enjoy every minute!
The next few weeks will be busy for me as I will be gone a few nights each week visiting different schools and events. This time of year seems to be busy everywhere. As I sit writing about the fun we had for the 1st of May in Finland I can't help but think about all the fun that is happening at home this weekend. My girls were sad to miss the school's Parents' Weekend events, especially since this year's theme was a family country fair. Perhaps my favorite event of the year is always the Prom also held on Parents' Weekend. I love to see my students dressed their best and it has been so much fun to chaperone the event for the past three years. I love to just watch my students cut loose, have fun, dance around and enjoy each other as this is the first of the big end of the year events. I am so sad to miss my five seniors advisees enjoy their last high school prom. So, to finish this post I'll put up one more picture. This is my advisee group from last year at the Prom. I hope the five seniors that are left have an amazing senior prom!
