Holiday Kick-off

I had such a packed start to the holiday season this weekend, I hardly know where to begin.  It's almost enough to make me say "eh, too much" and write nothing.  First, I think it is important to note that in Finnish the word for December, "Joulukuu", translates as "Christmas-moon".  This gives a hint of how seriously they take their holiday celebration. 

On Friday the Kumpula Campus hosted a Christmas party with the theme "Cirque du Destins Lumineux."  The entire Physicum (physics building) was decorated like a travelling circus.  I went with one of my colleagues, expecting it to be an uncomfortable "nurse your wine and make small-talk" gathering.  I knew I was mistaken when I saw that my (free!) ticket included FOUR drink vouchers and I heard the band performing sound-checks as I wrapped-up my work for the day.

(more after the jump)


They started the evening by feeding us a tastey buffet dinner with champagne (separate from the FOUR drinks vouchers).  After dinner, there were fire-dancers in black swinging around props that looked like flaming shot-puts, wings, and batons.  It was hypnotic, and difficult to document with my camera.  My favorite was the woman who looked like a phoenix with her bird-movements and her firey wings.

There were jugglers who danced to disco and dressed like art-school clowns (in the literal sense), a band, a dj, games and more; but by far the emotional peak of the evening was the unexpected nudity.  Apparently, one of the 'surprises' hinted at in the email was a co-ed burlesque troupe.  My jaw dropped, and I turned to my colleague and stuttered "This... this would NEVER happen at an office party in the States... NEVER!"  She was interested in my response, because she is also a foreign national (from the mideast), and she was surprised that America is so culturally different from Finland.  There was a man who did a butt-heavy fan dance with a peacock tail, a woman dressed as Cleopatra who ripped off her clothes because "she thought she saw a snake", etc etc.  My colleague laughed at how shocked I was, and she said it is also common for coworkers to go home together at the end of the night.  I told her that fraternization at the workplace is not uncommon in the States, but that it is generally discouraged.  The nudity and general drunkeness were unlike any office party I've ever been to.  It wasn't just 20-somethings either, all generations were represented.

Two of my friends that I mentioned in the Thanksgiving post had visitors for the weekend, so I had a bustling time running around town.  On Saturday, we took one of them ice skating before hitting the bars.  We went to the Palace Bar, located at the top of a swanky hotel and from which one can see all of Helsinki spread out below.  You have to climb narrow, spiralling metal stairs the last floor, and then the bar kind of resembles a lighthouse on the inside.  We went to a few other bars, but the other hit of the evening was another hotel establishment, the Mecca Bar, where we danced until late late late.  Upon entry, me and my new scottish friend were flabbergasted.  Everyone inside was completely beautiful and dressed to the nines.  I couldn't figure it out-- they didn't seem to be running a door, but somehow the crowd had self selected to be extremely attractive.  Seriously, all of the patrons-- men and women-- were stunningly beautiful.  If I return, I'll throw on an LBD and heels.  I did feel a little down-market (in a rock-and-roll way!) with my shaggy short (for Finland) hair, boots, jeans and cardi.

On Sunday I accompanied my friend and her visitor to Suomenlinna.  I had been once before, but it is a lovely park and I was happy to return.  I am especially glad I did because they had opened a special Christmas Market since I had last been.  Children dressed in costumes sang and acted out something I did not understand, and all the artist's studios were hosting openhouses.  We toured the island, popped into a studio (where the artist's mother, a woman in her 70s, sat down beside my friends and chatted them up about Finland and how they had ended up at her daughter's show), and climbed over the hobbiton-looking gunpowder magazines.  Before returning to the mainland we had a very late lunch at the island's brewery, where I had a delicious port and creamy fresh salmon soup with potato and dill.  My friend ate reindeer with lingonberry sauce, and her visitor had baltic herring.

This week, the general holiday busy-ness continues.  I'm attending a  finnish-style "little Christmas" party this Tuesday, the first of December.  The Finns have parties on the first day of December to celebrate the beginning of the lead-in to Christmas.  They call it "Little Christmas" because it is just a taste of the season to come, the way they call having a night-out on Wednesday a "little Saturday."  This "little Christmas"  is billed as a bacchanalia featuring a randy Santa.  It's traditional to wear pointy red Christmas hats to the party. 

On Thursday my apartment building is hosting a Christmas party, and then on Friday my office is hosting a second, department-specific, Christmas party at the astronomical observatory.  This time I'll actually dress-up for it.  Additionally, on Wednesday the Kiasma (modern art museum) has free-admission, so I plan to go downtown to check it out and do a little Christmas shopping.  This means Monday night is my only unscheduled night this week.  I am so glad I finished all my graduate school applications in November.