Traditions kept, forgotten and adopted

Traditionally Finns are known for being quiet, unable to do small talk, introverted bunch of people who are the unyielding champions of seeking ways to keep their sacred personal space. This, of course, is the stereotype of a traditional Finn and does not apply to everyone without compromises here and there.

Having lived a third of my life outside the borders of Finland, I have had to shed some of the traditional expectations off just to keep my sanity. I consciously try to stand closer to people that I would normally seek to do. I kiss people on the cheek when I notice they are about to do just that. I talk sometimes when there's a quiet moment and I express myself a lot with my face. (On a side note: the Finnish F1 driver Kimi Räikkönen, who is known for his expressionless face, has something inexplicably in common with my features: once I was standing at a bus station in Italy and a person approached me to ask me if I was Finnish, because I looked so much like Räikkönen. Another time, a friend of mine uploaded my photo as a joke to a webpage that would map faces of famous people across the globe and find your doppelganger. Again, I got stuck with Kimi Räikkönen. So I guess we have certain features in common.)

Anyway, I'm here to talk about tradition, not F1 drivers.

More than 10 years ago I moved away from my homeland, to a brand new world for me, the Netherlands. I got together with a Dutch man and together we started our quest of trying to find a common ground mixing both of our cultures and expectations. This means, some of the traditions and customs we have had to shed along the way, just like with any couple though, but we have also gotten the privileged position of adapting traditions and customs from each other's cultures.

Image: pixabay.com

I sometimes drink coffee with lunch. (Dutch)

I let the kids open their presents on the evening of 24th of December. (Finnish)

I cycle everywhere. (Dutch)

I bake other things than apple pie. (Finnish)

I celebrate both Christmas AND the controversial Dutch tradition, Sinterklaas.
I miss celebrating Midsummer's Eve, which is a Nordic tradition.

Then there are traditions around the world that I have yet to take part in, but I always find them intriguing. At times I think about starting to celebrate them without having any connection to those particular places. One of those is Thanksgiving. I just really like the idea of an extra holiday with family accompanied by good food. Another one is a Hindu spring celebration called "festival of colors". It just seems exactly what one should be doing to start spring.

Image: pixabay.com

In the end it doesn't matter what traditions, customs and stereotypes you grow up with, but which ones you decide to keep, which you ultimately need to toss and which new ones you'd rather rejoice instead. Above all, I'm grateful for being able to make the decision for myself.