In Finland on New Year's Eve we often go to watch fireworks and
set off fireworks. Some people cast New Year's charms. Popular New Year's food is potato salad and frankfurters. Then we usually drink champagne.
Some people make New Year's promises. (Anna and Jenni, 16)
On the Millennium eve, I watched mostly an international Millennium transmission on TV, but at night, I’ll go to the nearest city with my friends to continue the Millennium celebration. While we are waiting for that special moment, the turn of the year, we drink some drinks (champagne), and spending GOOD time, hugging, congratulating and wishing a happy new year to everybody. After the new year, we continue celebrations the whole night. Some get very drunk and fall sleep, but others can celebrate till sunrise and then they go to sleep. In Finland people may eat something special, but not like at Christmas time. Usually people go to the sauna and then spend the Eve with family or friends. We cast New Year's charms (melted tin and then throw it to cold water- or snow bucket) from which we see what happens next year. Guess we are a little bit superstitious! We drink champagne and some people even get drunk from it. We had that Millennium stuff everywhere, candles, glasses, clothes, etc. and people have that glitter thing on their faces and bodies. When it's twelve o'clock we have fireworks everywhere and people hug and kiss each other and wish Happy New Year. People make New Year's promises and then try to keep them next year of course! Old people and parents are usually at home and we young ones are on cities or at the parties or just at some friend's house. When I was young, fireworks were big part of my New year’s eve but now when I am sixteen they don’t have such big matter. Finnish people celebrate their new year with lots of spirits and good food. The ham that people eat at Christmas, is used at New year too because it’s usually big enough to last until the New year. Kids usually spend their new year with their parents but when they grow up to teenagers they start to spend their eve with their friends and with alcohol...but what comes to my new years eve, alcohol doesn't have such big part of my life I think but i’m not sure...I remember everything about millennium and I was in the sauna when the year 2000 came. The sauna is a very old tradition of Finnish people that I know...it’s a very hot place indeed!!! The usually new year’s food still is potato salad and little wieners even there is some ham available. The new year is a very commercial party because people spend lot of money on food, alcohol and fireworks. But still, it’s no use doing it drunk and so on...of course it is!! Usually people melt tin in a little scoops and predict their future of the remaining tin. Irregular figures means money and flat figures means love and so on. After new year people usually dump their Christmas trees away because the needles of the trees starts to fall down. Families got their trees before from the forest but nowadays they buy them from marketplaces. In farmhouses they got their ham by killing their own pig. Nowadays people just buy their hams from supermarkets and butcher’s. We got our ham from supermarket as normal families in Finland. Some people buy a turkey but I don’t like it so much myself. We had very traditional Christmas with my own family. When we woke up in morning, we ate rice porridge for breakfast and then we went to the sauna. At afternoon we ate Christmas food and then we opened our presents and had a lot of fun. That’s all of my Christmas and new year. Markus , 16 We Finnish love celebrating a lot. If we have any possible way to have fun, we take advantage of it. New Year is very merry celebration here in Finland. After Christmas, when we’ve been relaxing and calm down we, at least young people, rage and drink alcohol. Not everyone, but quite a many under age drink. I think we have learned that way from adults. We don’t have really just "New Year-food" but frankfurters and potato salad have became very popular food in New Year, somebody go to restaurant. We shook rockets and just before midnight we seek omens by melting down tin and dropping it in cold water. Then it will take some shape and it will predict your future. Somebody believes, I don’t! Merja Grann, 16 years. I don’t think that we have any kind of New Year traditions in Finland and I think that we spend our New Year’s Eve just like all the other people in the world, expect that we drink (I think, again) much more alcohol drinks than most of the people in the other countries, but we also set off the fireworks...like the normal people. We drink beer, vodka, cider, wines and actually all kind of alcohol drinks. And of course we also eat a lot, oh yeah, now I remember one tradition, the ham, we eat a lots of ham. There’s not much to tell anymore about our New Year’s Eve, but let me tell something about mine… well… Actually I just drank a lot of vodka and lots of beer, and I only set off few fireworks. That’s all that I can tell about our New Year.
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