Hauskaa Vappua! Ok, I know, May Day was a few days ago now, but it's taken this long to go through in my mind what actually happened. Vappu is the Finnish (actually, it's an old pagan festival, so it was on our shores too once) celebration of the coming of summer and Labour Day all rolled into one. So cue mass drunkeness and celebration in the streets- to the extreme.

There really is nothing quite like Vappu. The nearest anologue I guess would be New Year's, but minus the shitty behaviour that seems to happen when Britons get drunk (yeah, I know, patriotism and all that- but we really don't know how to hold our drink). I saw one fight, even though there were tens of thousands of people on the streets.

One of the main things about Vappu, apart from the obligatory getting drunk, is meeting new people- you can't avoid making new friends! It all kicks off on 30th April, when, at precisely 6pm, a white student cap is placed upon the head of the statue of Havis Amanda, a mermaid in a market square. From then on, Vappu has begun, and the merriment is cranked up to maximum.

We, or rather two of my friends, found the quickest way to make new friends is to steal vodka from the back pocket of one of the students boiler suits (they all have them, tis strange). Although normally a very placid people, when their booze is taken from them (rather like candy from a baby) they will object. By forcing one of us to drink 80% vodka until the stolen bottle is "found"! Madness.

Anyway, so the party continues, and you meet lots of new people and get horrendously drunk. The next morning, the day of Vappu itself, May Day, you must then proceed to Kaivopuisto park, a beautiful park next to the sea, to eat the biggest picnic you can, drink yet more grog, and nurse any hangovers. Plus, of all places you'd expect to find them, a pack of ex-pat Brits had a morris dancing troupe. Wonderful :) This year, it was unseasonally cold, so sitting having a picnic in temperatures of 4 degrees celsius forced us to wimp out and return to the apartment for coffee, korvapuusti and a film.

After experiencing that once, I now want to make an annual pilgrimage back here to celebrate Vappu with a nation who, as unlikely as it may seem, really know how to party. Hyvää Vappua!

Posted: 04-05-05 05:46 :: Permalink: http://ben.corale.co.uk/archive/v1/130.html

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