AKA “what the heck do Finns do on Sundays”

I spent a few disoriented weekends chewing on this question, because pretty much everything is closed on Sunday here. Not because everyone’s in church… apparently only about 2% of the country goes with any frequency (mainly Lutheran).  But they aren’t using it as an extra day for errands, or doing “shopping as sport”, or something between the two like spending the afternoon in a Target (BEEN THERE).

Instead…here are a few popular Sunday activities. Based on my convenience sample of things happening either in proximity to our apartment building or to the 3 Finns I know.

1. Taking their cats out for a walk. (not in an ironic way)
2. Watching movies. Reading.
3. Baking, knitting, being generally crafty. But in a humble, not posted to social media kind of way. Like a nation of boss grandmas.

The grandma metaphor extends to the rest of the week, too. Lots of wool socks, fleece blankets. The school library encourages you to come take your shoes off and curl up on one of their sofas with a blanket (provided) next to their bright light lamps. WHAT. I am taking this as a sign that winter is only survivable through extreme communal coziness.

But back to the Sunday approach…the general idea (supported by my Finnish friend Maija) is that you are SUPPOSED to do nothing. Like, binge netflix on purpose, instead of by accident while procrastinating on chores that spilled over from Saturday (or perhaps much longer ago than that). For an overextended American, this is going to be one of my favorite things to bring back home with me.

Happy Sunday, however you spend it!