The holy friendship day

So it's almost Valentine's Day. At this point in my life I've spent enough Valentine's Days without a boyfriend that I no longer feel abandoned or sad seeing all the mushymushy-commercials and teddy bears sitting on a heart saying "ai wowe vuu" when you press their tummy. It's just material anyway, has nothing to do with love. Love is something that you show every day (not just 14.2), by bringing the other person breakfast in bed or allowing them to watch football even when you're favorite TV show is on the other channel. But anyways, moving on.

I wanted to talk about what Valentine's Day means to us Finns. Obviously us being a cold hearted and evil group of people, we don't celebrate Valentine's Day as the day of the lovers. No sirree. To us, it's the day of Friendship.

I'm not sure exactly why we've decided to be different. Found this explanation on the web site of "Holidays and Festivities in Finland" (see the link HERE )

"In Finland Valentine's Day is about celebrating friendship (Ystävänpäivä means Friend's Day in Finnish). The day has no romantic content, instead people send cards and gifts to their friends. Valentine's Day celebration came to Finland quite late which probably led to it's unique interpretation"

Well hell yes, way to go us, I think! Instead of feeling gloomy about not having a companion, you can celebrate the fact that you have wonderful friends!! Unless of course you have no friends either, and in that case you can probably join some Valentine's Day support group and try to survive the day.


I remember when I was in seventh grade, and went to this rather big high school. The tradition was that you would put all the gifts and the cards you made for your friends into this large collecting box placed in the hall before the big day, and on Valentine's Day, on 5th period, the tutors went around the school and delivered all the presents to their rightful destination. I sent a lot of little gifts and cards, and in return received a lot of little gifts and cards. Nothing special, just heart shaped lollipops or key rings, or cards with something special written on them, but still it made me feel really special to realize that I had all these friends who cared about me. Sometimes there would even be some "unknown" gift from a secret admirer, which was always a nice surprise.

We often don't think about our friends. They're just sort of "there". I have some friends that I've known all my life, or for 20 years anyway, and especially now that I live abroad I find it ever so comforting to know that no matter how long I've been away, when I return I can sit down with them, start talking, and it's like I never left. They are there, even though we don't call each other often or write messages if not via FB. It's a wonderful thing to have in your life, these BFF's, but sometimes I think the relationship between us would deserve a little celebration. Sometimes I just wish I was in seventh grade again and had the chance to send these little gifts to my friends to let them know that they're important to me. That I do care, even though I'm not there to say it out loud.

So if you're dateless this Valentine's Day, don't beat yourself up and get all sad and lonely. Instead, celebrate the holiday Finn-style! Make some wonderful little gifts for your closest friends, or send them a card with a cute note saying how much that particular person means to you, or maybe share with them a nice memory from your past and let them know you're thinking about them today. I guarantee it'll make you feel just about the most marvelous person in the world.

I'm a busy little bastard so no time for home made cards or gifts of any sort. Instead, I made this little photo collage for you. Yes you, you know who you are. 

My BFF's 4eva.