A Christmas letter∗
1963; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 41; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/01619566309537176
ISSN1532-7930
Autores Tópico(s)Research in Social Sciences
ResumoWith the passing of the Christmas Season and the coming of a New Year we find ourselves at the half way mark of our assignment in Finland. It has been for all of us a genuinely rich and rewarding experience. One finds it a difficult task indeed to communicate to our friends-within the limitations of a single letter or an air mail sheetthe myriad of everyday happenings, events, and occurrences which have been ours to share. And yet, meager and altogether too brief as our letters are, we want to continue passing along to you some of our impressions gained and a summary of our newly acquired Finnish way of life. The Finnish Christmas was a delight. In many respects it was similar to our own: trees were bought and sold (our beautiful spruce cost less than fifty cents), lighted decorations adorned many of the city streets, gayly and specially arranged shop windows bespoke the Yuletide Season, and vast throngs of people searched the many stores for suitable presents. But there was much to make the observance of Christmas here uniquely different. Trees, bought before hand, awaited Christmas Eve to receive-at the hands of the entire family-their elegant attire of fruit, cookies, lighted candles, and various assortments of ornaments. On Christmas Eve too the family gathers at the traditional Christmas meal, after which the arrival of the Joulupukki is eagerly awaited by children and parents alike. This man of Christmas, resembling our Santa Claus only with his long white beard, comes to Finnish homes in person, talking with wide-eyed children (and one wide-eyed little American girl this year) and dispensing gifts to all present. Usually before the Joulupukki's arrival it is customary to visit the cemetery where lighted candles mark snow covered graves commemorating the memory of those, particularly the war dead, who have
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