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Our region, our culture, our environment Christmas in Finnish way

Today’s Santa ”Joulupukki” Brings gifts to the nice kids Has a red floofy coat and has a long white beard He lives in northern Finland Really LIKES kids Stories about Santa are based on Saint Nicholas (who was by the way from Turkey) I have to drag that old guy around

Old timey Santa, ”Nuutti-pukki” Not as nice as Santa Usually one or two men dressed as a goat who went from house to house asking for food and alcohol Kids were scared of Nuutti-pukki and people used to say that ”bad- Nuutti is taking the Christmas away” Later the Nuutti-pukki evolved to Joulupukki with some influences from stories about Saint Nicholas

Usually people do lots of things at Christmas Such as decorating the Christmas tree And bringing candles to the graves of dead friends and family members

Traditional Christmas food in Finland ”lipeäkala”(lutfisk in English/Swedish). Looks just as horrible as it is. HamCarrot and rutabaga casserole beetroot carrot potato salad ”Rosolli” On Christmas morning families eat rice pudding as a breakfast and the one who finds a hidden almond, will have a lucky year (or an allergic reaction)