Mad_finn's Ford Fiesta

[mad_finn]

well... that too

[Rope-Pusher]

Here in "the states", we have very special holidays where folks consume as much alcohol as they can afford. It is a shame, but we must wait an almost unbearable time from one of these holidays until the next. We call these holidays "Weekends".

[mad_finn]

Here in "the states", we have very special holidays where folks consume as much alcohol as they can afford. It is a shame, but we must wait an almost unbearable time from one of these holidays until the next. We call these holidays "Weekends".

Well I have noticed here bit same kin of activity, but we have few more or less special "celebration" days, like vappu (1st of may) Juhannus ( I belive you would call it "midsummer fest" or something like that) and newyear these are bigger than these "weekend" activitys and usually even those who usually dont drink allmost at all, take part on these, more or less sober

[Rope-Pusher]

You should try "Weekends". Now, with the U.S. $ running low in value, it wouldn't cost much to import some Weekends to Finland. I could handle this through my exporting company "Vowels for Bosnia" (a very profitable business! I import vowels from Hawaii, where they have too many, and export them to where they are needed.)

[theholycow]

"Vowels for Bosnia"

I won't ask what you export to Vosnia.

[watkins]

Noodles, I would imagine

[Tups]

1st of May is the second Christmas for students (the third being September 1st when freshmen arrive to the university), an important celebration on which, for example, a naked lady gets something to cover her... head and a bottle of booze is sent in a weather balloon for someone lucky. Every major university also has its own traditions such as rites of passage for new students. Also, "The vappu of engineering students, unlike that of other students, starts a week before the actual day of celebration", so it's not like we're happy with only one day of bathing in Vodka.

Oh, and if you think weekends are too far apart, there's a solution developed by our beloved Northern neighbour.

Anyway, Rope-Pusher, while celebrating things like Walpurgis day may seem strange to you, I, for example, have never understood the American way of making the Independence Day such a big festival. Here it's just a day when stores are closed and people watch others party in the Presidential Palace.

Oh for the second time, and don't teach us to drink. Our per-capita alcohol consumption is already above yours ;)

[LHOswald]

according to that chart, i shall be going to portugal ASAP

[RITmusic2k]

Wow, that's a pretty interesting chart. I'll have to make sure I'm doing my part to contribute to our nation's average... time to start measuring my intake!

Quick reference:

1L raw alcohol ==

~9 bottles of table wine
~56 12oz. cans of beer
~42 pints of beer
~52 shots of hard liquor

Wow, I don't know where I stand with all that. I have to do any combination of those eight times over the course of the year to fall around the average... I guess that's likely...

[Rope-Pusher]

1st of May is the second Christmas for students (the third being September 1st when freshmen arrive to the university), an important celebration on which, for example, a naked lady gets something to cover her... head and a bottle of booze is sent in a weather balloon for someone lucky. Every major university also has its own traditions such as rites of passage for new students. Also, "The vappu of engineering students, unlike that of other students, starts a week before the actual day of celebration", so it's not like we're happy with only one day of bathing in Vodka.

Oh, and if you think weekends are too far apart, there's a solution developed by our beloved Northern neighbour.

Anyway, Rope-Pusher, while celebrating things like Walpurgis day may seem strange to you, I, for example, have never understood the American way of making the Independence Day such a big festival. Here it's just a day when stores are closed and people watch others party in the Presidential Palace.

Oh for the second time, and don't teach us to drink. Our per-capita alcohol consumption is already above yours

So next thing is you are going to tell me you don't have 4th of July in Finland?

We are very happy to help our Mexican friends, those living in this country and those living South of the border, to celebrate "Cinco de Mayo". I've heard it celebrates the day that Mexican forces kicked the butts of Napoleon's best army and I've also heard that a boat load of mayonnaise capsized in the Gulf of Mexico. Either way, it's a good excuse to eat Mexican food and drink Mexican beer and/or drinks made with tequila.

So how do I go about starting this tradition of May 1 around here? Is vodka the official beverage? Are there any special foods than need to be eaten to make it official? Some kind of nasty fish that's been left in a bucket in the back corner of the pantry for several months, until all the water evaporated and the fish died a horrible death? At least the Poles have the good sense to let the fish live in their bathtubs for weeks on end (adding fresh water as needed). So what if the Poles don't bath while the fish is their guest - they couldn't smell any worse than the French!

[Tups]

Is vodka the official beverage? Are there any special foods than need to be eaten to make it official?

Pretty much anything goes. I guess most people prefer beer, cider, long drinks and sparkling wine as "carry-around" beverages in the parks etc. and consume more hard liquor in parties and such. While most people want to get wasted on 1st of May, they also want to be sober after couple of weeks for the final exams. There are traditional dishes as well, but I doubt you'd call freshly-baked doughnuts and mead with varying alcohol content "nasty" or compare it to the biological weapons the other countries consume.

Honestly, I'm not the best person to tell you about Finnish Vappu traditions as I spent this year's 1st of May making firewood in our summer cabin. The year before that I sold ribald humour magazines produced by my ex's student guild in Northern Finland, and the year before that... well, I was a freshman back then and got my student cap, so I don't really remember anything.

[Rope-Pusher]

The bakeries in Hamtramck Michigan had a small festival each Shrove Tuesday, selling Paczkis by the dozens to crowds of people who lined up since 3:00am, with Polka bands hired to entertain the crowds. Anyone with Polish ancestry took it upon themselves to bring Paczkis to work to feed their cow-orkers. Everyone is Polish that day. After some television news coverage, the local bakeries were getting calls from bakeries in cities like Toronto, Ontario CA, asking them how to make Paczkis and how to promote the event to the level of insanity it is in the Detroit area.

My mother used to be the director of a program that delivers meals to house-bound senior citizens. She went to a local bakery and told them she needed 120. "120 Paczkis?" they asked. "No, 120 DOZEN Paczkis!" she replied. I'm sure she was their single-best customer.

On St Patrick's day, everyone is Irish and we drink green beer and eat corned beef, cabbage and potatoes.

With no other local May 1st holidays, I believe there is room for a Finnish Vappu festival in most every city in the USA. All we need are the traditional foods, beverages and music, so people here can experience an authentic Vappu. Everyone can be Finnish for the day!

I am Finnished with this post.

[Tups]

I think that's a difference between the US and Europe as far as alcohol goes. Public drunkenness is often frowned upon and commonly outlawed in many towns and cities around here. Carrying around open containers is frowned upon as well. In most areas that have a liquor license from their state to sell liquor for on-site consumption, you can't carry the drink past the area defined in the liquor license.

Well, if you buy something to drink from a restaurant/bar/summer terrace/etc. in Finland, you'll have to finish it inside the establishment. That's why people who want to walk around buy their beverages from normal stores and drink them in parks, beaches etc. It's cheaper as well, an important factor for poor students like me. While there are some laws concerning public drinking, it's usually tolerated as long as you don't cause any problems. Therefore it's okay to drink beer or wine while having a civilized picnic or a BBQ in a public park, but not if you start yelling at or urinating on other people after emptying several sixpacks of beer and a bottle of hard liquor. Of course during public holidays such as 1st of May, Midsummer and New Year the resources of the police are so stretched that such behaviour is commonplace everywhere. There are no laws concerning open containers, so there's no need for brown paper bags.

edit: And oh, mad_finn, sorry about hijacking your thread ;)

[theholycow]

Either way, it's a good excuse to eat Mexican food and drink Mexican beer and/or drinks made with tequila.

I like drinks made with tequila...especially drinks made without anything else.

[mad_finn]

edit: And oh, mad_finn, sorry about hijacking your thread

hehe, I dont mind... allthough... where have all cars gone from this thread