In many parts of the world, Valentine’s Day is often considered as a romantic day filled with pink balloons, teddy bears, and grand gestures between lovers. In Finland, however, February 14th is the Day of Friends. ‘Ystävänpäivä’ is a public declaration of friendship.
It Started With a Card – ‘Every Friend is Worth Remembering’
Finland started celebrating “Friendship Day” in the late 1980’s and it has been officially included in Finnish calendars since 1996. The celebration is deeply rooted in the Finnish culture and Valentine’s Day is the second-biggest season for cards in Finland. The National Postal Service, Posti, employs approximately 150 extra workers for the Valentine’s Day season and millions of cards are sent to loved ones in Finland and abroad.
In 1987, The National Post Service and The Finnish Red Cross together with book and paper sellers made Valentine’s Day widely known by releasing a campaign together. The theme was “Every Friend is Worth of Remebering“. In 1993, The National Post Service released its first Valentine’s Day post stamp. Now, there is a new stamp released every year.
A small card have a great impact. Cards can express caring and they create an important sense of community. Sending a card on Valentine’s can be an expression of a desire to share the joys and sorrows of life with each other, and an attempt to cheer up the recipient.
‘Ystävänpäivä värssy’ – Traditional Verses for Valentine’s Day
‘Värssy’, or a verse in English, is a short poem that is often used to congratulate people on different occasions. Often used in cards, Valentine’s Day verses can also be sent to friends and loved ones by text message or email.
Here are some of our favourite Finnish Valentine’s Day verses:
Jos mieltä painaa tai murhe vaivaa,niin muista vanha neuvo tää: älä niitä yksin miettimään jää.Kanssa ystävän murheet puolittuu ja ilo ja onni tuplaantuu.
Free translation:
If your heart is heavy from worry or sorrow, remember this old advice: don’t spend your time thinking of them all alone. With a friend all worries are cut in half and happiness gets doubled.
Sinua kaipaan, rakas ystävä.Tuulen kanssa laitoin tuhat viestiä.Ne ota silloin vastaan kun tuuli hiljaa käy,ne ovat kyllä siinä, vaik ei niitä näy.
Free translation:
I miss you, my old friend.I sent you a thousand messages with the wind.Please accept them when the wind blows gently.They are there, even if you can’t see them.
Vispilänkauppa – To trade egg whiskers
When two Finns are smitten but they are not dating yet (oh the early days!), they are ‘trading egg whiskers‘ or having ‘pientä vispilänkauppaa‘, as said in Finnish. Egg whiskers were traditionally made from birch branches, and the bark comes off the easiest late spring and early summer.
Up to 1950’s, boys and girls went off to egg whisker forest (‘vispilämetsään‘) and good work and co-operation was seen as a path that could evolve to something more romantic. The wooden egg whisker was seen as a token for a mutual social contract, hence ‘trading’ egg whiskers.
The wooden egg whiskers were used for a lot of different tasks in the Finnish household: for washing dishes, cleaning the bread bottoms, sweeping the crumbles from the table cloth, and whisking the cream, just to mention a few. For every task, there was an egg whisker. Even after the whisker were all worn down and merely poor stubs anymore, they were still used as a ‘patasuti‘, as the small brooms for scrubbing the pots.
