Independence Day

   I have long since realized that independence means completely different things to different people. Ask one person, they answer independence is about paying your own bills, someone else says it's all about breaking free from your family or their norms. But today, we celebrate something completely else here in Finland, we celebrate our country becoming whole, united, our very own, for exactly one hundred years ago.
   We have been greated with amazing weather today, the sun is shining and still has a bit of warmth to her. The clouds that have covered Åbo for quite some time, has parted and shows us a beautiful skies. A thin layer of snow coats everything.
   We, me and Theo, have decided to celebrate small. We went for a walk during the morning, being completely blown away by the small amount of cars driving around. It was strange to see our streets so empty. We're going to watch Tuntematon Sotilas (The Unknown Soldier) during the afternoon, as it is a classic movie closely associated with the national holiday, and I've made some gingerbread dough (from scratch, points to me for that) for us to make cookies from when the movie's done. And that, is about it. We also listened to Finlandia this morning, and our national anthem.

   Me and my family never really celebrated our nations independence day either, just by doing small things like spending time together, and of course, watching the festivities at the castle of our President (although if I'm being completely honest, as I was younger, I mostly enjoyed it because the women arriving wore so pretty dresses), so not celebrating large is something I've grown accustomed to and I love it.
   It's a bit of a tradition to not celebrate large (like for example, in the US where they have fireworks and other extravagant things to honor their country's special day), but that doesn't mean we enjoy it any less.
   So congratulations on 100 years as a country, Finland! Let's hope for a great many more years in the future.