How Finns celebrate the holiday...

 A university that… doesn’t celebrate

As spring approaches, I increasingly want to think about vacations, friends, and holidays. Still a temporary student at the University of Tampere, I decided to find out what traditional events the university organizes every year. I asked a few Finnish friends, and none of them could give me a definitive answer. “Well, we have something like an introductory week for first-year students, during which they quite often organize various parties with their future classmates, but we don’t have big university holidays” – this was the answer I heard most often. However, one student holiday, which we celebrate twice a year in Lithuania, is organized by the students of the University of Tampere as many as four times. This is a session. Finns study in certain periods, of which they have four per year. At the end of each cycle, they have to pass several exams. A holiday, right? By the way, during this period they still have to attend lectures, which means they celebrate both during lectures and exams.

Student Day lasts two weeks

Although International Students' Day is officially celebrated everywhere on November 17, in Finland there are many exams around that time, in other words, other holidays are celebrated with great enthusiasm. The real Students' Day in Tampere is known as May 1. At that time, no one has to go to work or school. In addition, many students pass all their exams by April 30 and finish the school year. By the way, this holiday is so important and big that preparations for it start two weeks in advance. The preparation is simple - you just need to start celebrating with your friends at least a few times a week and thus prepare yourself morally (and maybe physically) for the biggest party of the year.

On May 1st, in the center of Tampere, all freshmen who successfully complete their first year of study are baptized. However, there is no flour or eggs here. Freshmen have to get into a huge lift (I can't really imagine what it looks like yet, but I should see it) and they are gradually lowered about halfway into the icy river water. I should remind you that spring comes to Finland a little later than it does here, and on May 1st, sometimes you can see floating ice in the water. Later, students go to one of the saunas in the city center. At first, I wondered where there could be a sauna in the city center, but the answer was simple: "This is Finland. Saunas are everywhere."

0.33 liters

Finns love bars. In fact, I read that Finns are the most alcoholic people in Europe. At first I was surprised, but later I began to notice the reasons. First of all, they live in the north, so in winter they like to warm themselves not only in the sauna, but also from the inside. However, this reason is not the most important. Finns are very shy. As long as they are not so drunk that they can barely stand on their feet without support, they will not approach a girl. Neither a sober Finn nor a non-Swedish Finn will ever talk to each other on the street or in a cafe. When I asked how couples and families are formed in their country, I was told simply: “You just have to drink a lot, and then everything will work out by itself…”

In Finland, politicians began to worry that society could quickly degrade, so a few years ago alcohol consumption was somewhat limited by rather strange measures. I can’t list them all, because I don’t know exactly, but there is a certain alcohol strength that can be in one glass. Simply put, it is impossible to get a 0.5 liter beer glass in a bar, because that would be too much in one place. Everyone is content with 0.33 glasses and mugs. In addition, all alcoholic cocktails are very weak. To get truly drunk in Finnish style, you will have to drink a lot. However, it seems that the kidneys of the Finns are getting used to it and they continue to successfully continue the family and maintain a population of 5.5 million.

To the club in overalls

When I first saw a group of Finns in colorful overalls at a club, I thought that this was probably a special outfit for the club's employees. However, the number of employees kept increasing and increasing, and they were having more and more fun. I had to reject this idea and look for another explanation. The thought crossed my mind that maybe these were young construction workers or workers. Later it turned out that this was student clothing. Each faculty of the university has its own color. For example, language students have the right to purchase red overalls. Different emblems are sewn onto this outfit, which can sometimes be obtained for free (for 6 euros for admission) during special parties in clubs. Although at first this outfit seemed to me, to put it mildly, ugly, after spending three months in Finland I decided to purchase a red overall. I started collecting emblems and sewed them on. I will bring an unconventional souvenir to Lithuania.

Erasmus parties

I thought for a long time about what I could say about the peculiarities of international exchange student parties. I decided that the word “Erasmus” best describes that feeling. This word encompasses sleepless nights, drunk Spanish women crawling on the floor, pots sizzling in the kitchen at four in the morning, dancing on tables, and many other incidents that I could not write about here due to certain censorship requirements. Even if you are not the center of attention, participation, at least from an observer’s position, is inevitable, whether you want it or not. Although sometimes all this is a little annoying, I am sure that in a few years (or maybe on the very first day I return to Lithuania) I will start to long for this period, when the concentration of crazy people around me is the highest it has ever been or will be in my life.

AUTHOR: Judita Jurkėnaitė