Monday, April 26, 2004
This week the town of Joensuu, the whole of Finland for that matter, is preparing for May Day, Vappu, the Day of the Worker, also known as Labor Day. Unfortunately, this year Vappu falls on a weekend so we will not be able to take a day off from work to celebrate, but don't tell that to the locals. I think they will all be drinkning very early on Friday and will continue until late Saturday evening. Here's a breif explanation of things to come:
Vappu begins on the 30th of April and usually ends around the 1st or 2nd of May, depending on one's personal strength. Most Finns start the occasion amongst friends around good food and drinks. Vappu is the holiday when Finns do their utmost to behave contrary to their reserved image, screaming through the streets with masks in their faces and drinks in their hands.
K and I have not had a drink in several weeks, it seems as if we will need to practice a little before this weekend in order to survive. The day is supposed to mark the beginning of the Finnish summer and that is a little hard to do with piles and piles of snow still on the ground. Although there is considerably less snow on the ground now then a few weeks ago.
Vappu begins on the 30th of April and usually ends around the 1st or 2nd of May, depending on one's personal strength. Most Finns start the occasion amongst friends around good food and drinks. Vappu is the holiday when Finns do their utmost to behave contrary to their reserved image, screaming through the streets with masks in their faces and drinks in their hands.
K and I have not had a drink in several weeks, it seems as if we will need to practice a little before this weekend in order to survive. The day is supposed to mark the beginning of the Finnish summer and that is a little hard to do with piles and piles of snow still on the ground. Although there is considerably less snow on the ground now then a few weeks ago.
// posted by Howard @ 3:40 PM 
