#to think about how the world would work if everyone knows about Finland Santa :

[fireandiceland]

do you think finland tours through the country in december and to let kids sit on his lap and tell him what they would like for christmas like a mall santa? and he receives thousands of letters every year from all over the world? because I do now 🥺

[nordickies]

I'm interested to hear your view on SuFin. But I am also curious to know what do you think of Finland's characterization in the show? I have heard it's pretty inaccurate.

I don't think he is an inaccurate depiction of Finland - Just different! Stereotypes are not universal, and Hetalia's version of Finland is based on Japanese stereotypes. If you'd ask a Japanese person to describe Finland, they'd probably think about Moomins, Santa Claus, tourist ads for Lapland, and the title of the Happiest Country in the World. No wonder Finland is portrayed as an adorable guy in the show! Meanwhile, in the West, or at least in Europe, Finnish men are seen as quiet but violent alcoholics who wrestle with brown bears in their free time and scare Russians. This, of course, is a very big contrast to the cutesy Fin we know from Hetalia, but I wouldn't say it represents Finnish people/culture more accurately. But can stereotypes even be accurate? Because they're not based on reality anyway...

Come to any rural area in Finland, and you get a very different picture of the "stoic Finnish man". Finland as a country is a bit more complex, with the split into Western and Eastern Finland having their distinct cultures, dialects, and even genetics! In Finland, you might find some people very much identifying with their region, or tribe as they're called in here. And, of course, every tribe has its own set of stereotypes. To me, Hetalia's version of Finland isn't that far off from the stereotypical Northern or Eastern Finn - simple, kind, talkative, and has a sense of humor. But those are just internal Finnish stereotypes about the different regions

The way I see it is that these country personifications don't even necessarily need to be accurate. Culturally yes, I want to see culturally accurate Nations - but not necessarily stereotype-wise. Everyone, of course, has their own view on what Nations in Hetalia exactly are and how they work, but to me, Nations are still individuals. They're humans(?) who have this huge responsibility to represent their people in the best possible light - but how could one person represent potentially millions of people? Would their own personality and life experiences affect their character? And if so, would they be criticized/shamed for it?

I don't know, but those could be interesting points to explore

Actually, I think it's kind of a blessing to have such a different take on Finland through this show! For once, Finland's positive attributes are brought forward instead of negative ones. The only thing that I really have a problem with is his tendency to be fearful - you can keep Finland's personality the same, just make him strong and unnecessarily stubborn, and he's a perfect portrayal of Finland. Other than that, I will very much cling to my adorable Fin-boy.

[onlyonewoman]

I have a lot of things I dislike about the U.S. as well as a ton of prejudices against it. I mean, a LOT. 1. Your tip system sucks ass and only helps employers to keep wages down. 2. You are not even 300 years old as a country and the sort of white population who are sooo proud of being American, should know that your ancestors are OUR ancestors. 3. A lot of those ancestors were religious cult members and puritans who brought illness, persecution and witch burnings with them. Good riddance. There is lterally NOTHING to be proud of, if anything, we should apologize. 4. A lot of you seem unaware of the fact that not all founding fathers were Christians or even religious. America is NOT a Christian country in it’s origin. 5. You learn far too little about the world history in school. Yes, your country makes up for almost an entire continent but there are FOUR OTHER CONTINENTS, YOU SELF-CENTERED LITTLE PRICKS. 6. Don’t wave your flag for the born of your country as a democracy too much, because women didn’t have the right to vote until 1920. Finland got it 1906 and unlike your country, Finland made it EASY to vote for EVERYONE. 7. Your lack of goverment regulation on food, food commercials and especially in schools and directed to children, is appalling and not only ruin lives, but puts a completely unnecessary strain on the society. 8. The “health care” system. Don’t even get me started on it. 9. The only ban on Christmas America ever had, was instigated by Christians who thought the holiday was too pagan. 10. Your coca cola, red nosed santa claus, has it’s origin not only in the old saint Nicholas from Turkey, but also from the VERY pagan Nordic mythical creature tomten who would burn down the farm unless you gave him sweet, white porridge at yuletide.  11. It’s genuinly INSANE how so many of you have been tricked into thinking that a 12 hour work day for shitty pay and with no worker’s rights, is to be considered a FREEDOM.  12. The fact that maternal mortality is on the level of a developed country while rightwhing politicians restict not just abortion rights but all sorts of reproductive health with the options left still costing TONS of money when it should be covered by TAXES like in normal fucking countries, makes me think of how there is nothing at all, in any way, shape or form, that would make me see a move to America from my “horrible SOCIALIST country” as anything but the last fucking resort if the rest of the world perish and my suicide attempt would fail.

[padfootagain]

Proposed by @madamrogers :

At first, I want to thank you for hosting an event like this! It has been so interesting to read about movies from other countries and I decided to put only Finnish movies on this list. Some of these I’ve seen, some are important or have a significant meaning for our culture or were just quite popular when they came out.

Tie pohjoiseen (Eng. Road North) 2012 - Directed by Mika Kaurismäki - Starring Vesa-Matti Loiri, Samuli Edelmann

Summary: A drama, a road movie about a father who meets his son after a long time. The father wants to bond with the son after these long 30 years and they go on a long road trip to the north.

Jenna’s Note: Vesa-Matti Loiri is one of the most iconic faces of Finnish cinema (and also music, he’s a singer as well) and he really deserves all the appreciation he gets. Him and Edelmann (who is also a singer, they sing the ending song of the film together) work very well together in this one, they have chemistry and it’s visible how much they’ve enjoyed working together. This is one of my own favorites of Finnish movies.

Lupaus (Eng. Promise) 2005 - Directed by Ilkka Vanne - Starring Laura Birn, Karoliina Vanne, Hanna Lekander, Ilkka Villi

Summary: A movie about three young women who live a normal life in Finland until Winter War in 1939. All three of the women join the Lotta Svärd, a Finnish voluntary auxiliary paramilitary organisation for women. The movie follows the women from Winter War in 1939 to Continuation War in 1941 and till the year 1956.

Jenna’s Note: I’ve seen this once and I remember I liked this quite a lot. For once there’s a movie about Lotta Svärd. I’ve always respected them a lot. This has some war scenes, if I remember right, and everyone is not making it out alive but it also shows how there can be happiness in the middle of fear and death.

Poika ja ilves (Eng. Boy and Lynx) 1998 - Directed by Raimo O Niemi - Starring Konsta Hietanen and Väinö the Lynx

Summary: A movie about a friendship between a boy and a lynx.

Jenna’s Note: I loved this movie as a child. I haven’t watched it in years, but it really is a touching story. I remember how most of the girls had some sort of a crush on this boy, Konsta Hietanen, who nowadays plays music and I think has come back to acting after playing football for years.

Joulutarina (Eng. Christmas Story) 2007 - Directed by Juha Wuolijoki - Starring Hannu-Pekka Björkman, Otto Gustavsson, Kari Väänänen, Minna Haapkylä

Summary: A story about an orphaned boy called Nikolas becoming Santa Claus.

Jenna’s Note: This is the movie I watch every Christmas. I could say it’s one of my favorite Finnish movies of all time. It also makes me cry very much, which is always a good sign. It was said somewhere that “if Walt Disney would’ve been able to tell a story like this, he would have told it,” and I think it’s absolutely true!

Äideistä parhain (Eng. Mother of Mine) 2005 - Directed by Klaus Härö - Starring Topi Marjaniemi, Marjaana Maijala, Esko Salminen

Summary: The plot of the story is based on the time of the Second World War and the main character of the story is a Finnish boy (Eero Lahti). The biological father of Eero (Kari-Pekka Toivonen) is in the Finnish army. He dies in the front and Eero’s mother Kirsti falls into deep depression. As the war gets worse, Eero is sent to Sweden to a new Swedish family. In the new family, he has a father Hjalmar Jönsson, mother Signe Jönsson and a grandfather (who cannot speak but hears everything). He also meets the neighbor’s daughter Siv. And then he has to go back to Finland when the war ends.

Jenna’s Note: I saw this one for the first time when I was quite young and I remember crying so much during it. Only seeing the add or the first minutes makes me cry. It’s a sad, momentarily very unfair story but it’s still very beautiful, touching and deep.

Prinsessa (Eng. Princess) 2010 - Directed by Arto Halonen - Starring Katja Kukkola, Samuli Edelmann, Krista Kosonen, Peter Franzén

Summary: After a difficult childhood spent in foster homes, cabaret dancer Anna Lappalainen suffers from severe delusions and ends up in psychiatric care. She claims to be Princess, a member of the English royal family.

Jenna’s Note: This is a biographical film, based on a life of Anna Lappalainen, and I didn’t know this before. I like the psychology in this and it’s pretty good as a movie too, the main actress does really good job but some moments are quite disturbing. This gives me vibes of Russell Crove’s movie “A Beautiful Mind”, even though the setting is different.

Tuntematon sotilas (Eng. The Unknown Soldier) 2017 - Directed by Aku Louhimies - Starring Eero Aho, Johannes Holopainen, Jussi Vatanen, Aku Hirviniemi, Hannes Suominen, Paula Vesala, Samuli Vauramo

Summary: Based on Väinö Linna’s classic novel “The Unknown Soldier”, the part of our national legacy, the movie tells a story about a machine gun company of the Finnish Army from a frog perspective during the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944.

Jenna’s Note: This is only one of the versions; there is the first one from 1955 and the second from 1985. And because it was Finland’s 100th year of independence last year, they made the third version. I haven’t had the chance to see this one just yet, but one of the versions is on TV on the independence day, so I’m waiting for will it be this one. This has a good cast, some very popular and good Finnish actors and this is a very liked film, so I’m looking forward to finally seeing it. I’ve seen the other two versions, and I personally like the 1985 version the best.

Helmiä ja sikoja (Eng. Pearls and Pigs) 2003 - Directed by Perttu Leppä - Starring Mikko Leppilampi, Laura Birn, Amanda Pilke

Summary: When the Hirvonen brother’s (Läde, Timo, Ruho and Poju) bootlegging father ends up in jail, his sons need money to pay his debts to local crooks. The brothers suddenly get a new family member when their stepsister, Saara, moves in with them. Soon they find out Saara has an outstanding singing voice and the boys come up with an idea to send her to a child star contest. To train the girl a former child star, a current pub rose, is employed.

Jenna’s Note: The name is funny, I know. Don’t stare at it too much. In a way it suits this movie quite well. In which the girls are the pearls and the boys the pigs, haha. This is a comedy and basically only one Finnish comedy I’ve seen and liked. I also love Mikko Leppilampi, he is a good actor, but nowadays he is mainly a host in different programs.

Tom of Finland 2017 - Directed by Dome Karukoski - Starring Pekka Strang

Summary: Touko Laaksonen returns home to Finland after serving in World War II. In post-war Helsinki, he makes a name for himself with his homoerotic drawings of muscular men. Before finding fame, Laaksonen finds challenges from his sister and Finnish society due to his art.

Jenna’s Note: I haven’t personally seen this movie yet, but decided to put it on the list since it has been sold to another countries, the concept. And I think this movie was in cinema in other countries too. It’s a quite big thing in Finland, there are all kinds of stuff about it, from bed covers to everything.

Syke (Eng. Pulse) Since 2014, still ongoing - Created by Petja Peltomaa - Starring Lena Meriläinen, Tiina Lymi, Leena Pöysti, Iina Kuustonen

Summary: A show about four nurses. In every episode there are two or three patients whose lives have something to do with the nurses’ lives; they know each other or something else. It also follows the nurses private lives: love, hate and other things.

Jenna’s Note: The only tv series of the list! I’ve watched this since it began and it’s the best Finnish show I’ve ever seen. It’s interesting, something is always happening and the actors are good. It almost got cancelled but then another channel bought it and there’ll be another season later this year, it’s the fifth.

[sisullasuohon]

Alkuperäinen/Original

Käsilaatat master post

Under the cut is a couple words of interest from this translation and some earlier ones. There’s some talk about government-related benefits again so here’s a tw:politics I guess.

Lumikoto (Snowdin) I’ve translated every other location from the game that has shown up so far into Finnish, so I felt like I shouldn’t make an exception with this one, pun or not. The base word for the translation is ’Lintukoto’, this is an old word for a mythical place that according to Finnish folk tradition exists somewhere south at the edge of the world, where the sky meets the land. Birds would migrate there for winter, hence the ’lintu’(bird) in the word. ’Koto’ part might be related to ’koti’(home), you can see similar form in ’kotona’(at home) and ’kotoisa’(homely), please don’t quote me on that. Also a birdhouse is ’linnunpönttö’(bird’s cylindrical shaped receptable, we don’t really make them look like houses), so it’s not related to ’Lintukoto’. ’Lintukoto’ is still in use in modern Finnish, it’s a figure of speech that means a small and cosy place where nothing bad happens. I replaced the bird with snow (lumi) and I think it kind of works, it’s homely and snow-related, like the original word. I don’t think it counts as a proper pun, but close enough!

Joulu (Gyftmas/Christmas) This was a pagan holiday before Christianity took over, so I see no need to twist its name into a pun like in the game. Asgore being a santa is still hilarious to me from the language pov. ’joulu on jo ovella’(it’s almost Christmas, lit. Christmas is already at the door) is a common phrase that’s also lyrics from one of the most well-known Finnish Christmas songs, ’Joulupuu on rakennettu’.

Kuninkaallinen tutkija (The royal scientist) This was a tough one, a scientist usually translates to ’tiedemies’(science man) and that’s what I used on Gaster’s mug a long time ago. I wont change that because the best translation of ’mad scientist’ I’ve heard is ’hullu tiedemies’, and it’s not like he’d have to have his proper title in the mug. But, since Alphys is one too they need a gender neutral official title. The ones I found were ’tieteilijä’(sciencer), ’tieteenharjoittaja’(practitioner of science) and ’tutkija’(researcher/investigator/examiner/scholar). Out of these the last one sounds most like a real profession, and I found some documentaries where it was used as a title of real people doing science, so I picked that one.

Pelastaa (to save) Finnish verb for saving progress in video games is ’tallentaa’(recording kind of saving, used f.ex. in audiovisual stuff too) or in Finglish ’savettaa’(this is verbified English, it’s only used with games and programs that have a visible English ’save’ function for work and files, not people related). Saving people or things from danger is ’pelastaa’. Some things are just lost in translation, and thanks to that I guess the visual for the Save Point in that panel is even more about being filled with enough determination to save people.

There’s a line missing from Asgore’s first speech bubble. He does not say ’my dear’. Another one that took me a while to decide on... It looks like to me Asgore is visiting to have a work related meeting; He’s in his child-killing outfit, and they only talk about the souls (or that’s the only thing we’re seeing at least). I’m assuming Undyne is an adult here since her armour shows up, so Asgore is her boss right now, despite of what their relationship was in the past or outside work. Finnish equivalent of ’my dear’ would be ’kultaseni’, and that’s not an ok thing for a boss to call their workers. Pet names could be used if you’re making a joke with them, but there’s a huge risk in making the situation very awkward for everyone within hearing range, you’re straight-up publicly belittling the receiver of the endearment right to their face and making them look unprofessional.

The same phrase happened between Toriel and Gaster here, but there I kept the pet name. I don’t think it’s clear if Gaster is working for them yet or not (at least he probably wasn’t during the war since he had stripes), and they talk about baby plans. Now, baby plans should not be mentioned in the workplace until the baby is already very firmly on its way, having been at least three months in the oven. This is for the benefit of the worker as much as for the employer. It’s illegal(*) to fire someone because of a baby, and if something makes forming the babby difficult, the employer has been made aware this person is currently seriously attempting a baby. Knowing a person might be taking a longer vacation in the future, the employer might only give them shorter, less interesting tasks that given enough time will stop them from advancing in their career, despite that the baby might not ever be coming no matter how hard they try. Toriel is the boss in this context, but just talking about baby plans like this feels unnatural to me if this was indeed a work meeting. I’m aware regular social rules do not necessarily apply with monsters but... it’s hard to separate a language from the culture that uses it.

(*) In Finland, everyone physically involved is entitled to a government-supported paid ”vacation” when a new baby comes to the family, women get a longer one than men, and of the time women have four weeks that are mandatory. The monthly benefit is a certain percent (can be up to 90% at least for the first 56 days) of what you’ve earned in work during six months before starting the vacation, if you’ve not earned anything at all it has a minimum that’s about 500€/month according to my calculations. This doesn’t reduce any other benefits you get, along with the baby box the child gets a monthly benefit until they’re an adult that’s about 100€ per child in one family, living costs are looked at separately, etc. While the monthly costs are shouldered by the government, the employer is in a difficult situation during these vacations. They cannot fire the person during so there’s people resources reserved that are idle and not producing anything to the company. They are, however, allowed to hire a stand-in for the duration that they can then easily get rid of when the person on vacation comes back. On the other hand a possibility to give a short chance for a stand-in can lead to the company hiring the stand-in for full time and thus having two capable workers by the time the baby-haver comes back, allowing the company to grow its capacity.

[theforgottenflight]

Get to know your followers~

Rules: Answer the questions (which you can change if you don’t feel like answering certain questions) then tag 20 followers you want to get to know better!

1. Nickname?

Lin works just fine!

2. Gender?

Female

3. Star sign?

Aries

4. Height?

5'4 or 5′6″, can’t remember which!

5. Favorite feature?

Probably my eyes, or at least it’s the feature I get the most compliments for, so I think that’s why they became my fave, lol. I do have very thick hair as well, which troubles me a lot, but it’s also nice cause I’m not exactly going bald just yet.

6. Favorite color?

Black or purple, I think. 

7. Favorite animal?

Boy, this is a hard one. Probably wolves? I’d say wolves are definitely #1. After that, wayyyy too many. 

8. Average hours spent sleeping?

6-8hrs. on average, but I feel sleepy 24/7. (Yay, health problems.) -.-

9. Dogs or cats?

Dogs, definitely. Cats are beautiful, and though I do have one as a companion to our pupper, i would never get another since they are a bit too independent for my tastes. 

10. Number of blankets you sleep with?

Three or four, but I sleep on top of most of them. Occasionally I’ll use one to cover up with, but usually I get too hot for that. 

11. What’s your dream trip?

Dream trip would be to tour the world, pretty much, from Europe to Asia and around to Australia, New Zealand, then South America.  Now, a more ideal trip would just be to Norway where we could see the fjords and the wolf sanctuary up there. Next is probably Scotland and lastly, Japan. 

12.  What’s your dream job?

Hmm.. I don’t really have one, admittedly. I’d like to do some work from home, maybe someday work for a living making art or helping animals, something like that. Ideally I’d like to do work from home though, if I could. 

13. When did you make this account?

I think I made it 3 months or so before void elves came out. Or rather, I made it shortly after they were announced, at least. It’s been a while, so I can’t recall. 

14. How many followers do you have?

535 as of right now. <3

15. How many pets do you have?

I’m owned by a sweet papillon, a food-obsessed cat, and three ratties, one of which is a pretty old girl now. Probably won’t be bringing anymore critters into the home for a long while, even if I’d love to have more. XD

16. Best places to visit in your town or country?

Hmm.. I’m from America originally, but I live in Finland. Here, just about anywhere is really nice, but especially on the coast. There’s a castle in Helsinki called Suomenlinna that’s popular. There’s also one not far from here as well called the Turku Castle (Turunlinna.) Lapland is also really popular, especially in winter, and is home to Santa. (lol)

17. Favorite ice cream flavor?

Oh, way too many. Ben and Jerry’s choco fudge brownie, probably. (Or literally any flavour they make.)

18. How often do you read?

I haven’t read very much in a while, outside of sites like Tumblr, Reddit, etc. The last book I’ve been reading/listening to is The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice. I do enjoy reading a lot, just haven’t in a while.

19. Favorite study locations?

Uh.. I don’t study. x)

20. Favorite book series?

A Song of Ice and Fire, Harry Potter series.. And that’s about all I know. <.<

Tagged by: @scaleoflightandvoid @palamonk @warcraftingfox @cendelornshadowdagger  (Thanks to all of you! <3) Tagging: EVERYONE who hasn’t done it! I’m not going to tag 20 followers to do this, cause I’ve seen that many of my followers have been tagged not once but twice. XD SO if you want to do this, by all means, please do and tag me so I can read it!

[hibernianbok]

Papa Nordics hcs? Individually, not together!

I’ve been waiting for this

Denmark:

He is child in an adults body. Raising his own children would be a walk in the park! He’s always up for playing pretend or dress up with them and you better believe he will get them a mountain of Lego to play with!

Protect of his child, very. He’s one of those dads that will give his children alot of freedom but as soon as they’re going out with someone he wants to know who they are with and where. No harm shall come to them.

Dad jokes are extremely common, in fact he probably tells his child to call him ‘dadmark’! Every time he makes his child sigh or ugh he laughs and gives them a hair ruffle.

Sometimes it will feel like his child is looking after him, especially when he take them to the toy shop. On many occasions he will be the one buying the toys for his own entertainment. 

Pushes his children to their absolute limits and cheering them on every step of the way. If he knows that his child can do something he will bribe them, cheer them and whatever else to help them achieve their goals!

To annoy his child he does many things. His personal favorite being to tickling their hips till they’re crying with laughter and putting them on his shoulders (Still laughing) and running around the house!

He adores it when his child lets him do their hair, no matter the length or texture. If it’s short he gives them a quiff, if it’s long he’ll give them a danish braid! if it’s mid-way he’ll do plaited pigtails! 

Sometimes when he’s bored and his child is nearby, he’ll make a game out of trying to put his tiny hat on their head without them noticing. If he achieves it he’ll take a picture and posted it on Snap chat.

Trips to the shops to get ingredients is pretty common, he loves to bake with his child! Only the best danish pastries recipes will be taught and anyone who even smells them will being to drool!

When nobody is around or is coming over he will turn the living room into a giant pillow fort! He loves to see the look on his child’s face as they dive into the fort of pillows and blankets he’s made.

Dad rating: Everything is awesome 

Finland:

He is a very caring and fathering man, he is always doing everything he can for his children; the cooking, cleaning, general family bonding, anything to keep them happy!

Strictness wise he is rather flexible. MOST of the time he will brush of misbehavior and give his child a quick scold. Just, don’t make him angry. For the love of everything holy and your safety don’t!

The amount of worrying he does over his children is almost enough to worry about him. He is always on edge when his child is staying at a friends, you better believe he has the friends parents phone number!

You know when your mum/dad/guardian see a friend outside the shop and starts to talk for them for about fifty years? Yeah… he’s that dad. Best bring something to entertain yourself with!

He is very relaxed when it comes to emotional issues, if his children have any problems at all he’ll talk them through it and then give them words of encouragement and enthusiasm!

Also that dad that takes his children to the park and has a flock of mothers surrounding him. All of them are very kind and such, but can he please watch his baby whilst they’re swinging on the monkey bars?

One of the Parent Council dads, he is very involved in his children’s education. Plus he can prove that he’s the best at making cookies! No one can beat Santa’s cookies after all~

Speaking of being Santa, he’s children always get the best presents! But they do have to stay over at uncle Estonia’s house for Christmas eve. Only because he needs to do his job though.

Sauna days with his kids! He loves to just sit back and let the steam engulf him. If the steam is too intense for his child, they can always go for a nice swim in the pool!

He is always giving his children hugs. He will find any excuse to give his kiddo a tight snuggle, good moments and bad! Unless of course they don’t like hugs in which case, hair ruffles are good too! 

Dad rating: Baby in a box (If you don’t get that click: here)

Iceland:

At first, he has no idea what on earth he is doing. For those who are friends/family of Iceland will likely receive 3am phone calls with the topic; ‘What do I do when my child cries?’ 

He is probably that dad that is completely awkward dad that makes jokes at the wrong time, Denmark does that right? Denmark raised him so jokes are a thing that good dads do right? (Send the lad some help please)

Mr.Puffin is the official “HELP ME PARENT PLEASE!” bird, as much as it may annoy the poor puffin it will keep him busy. Family chill time is probably everyone’s favorite time.

Saying all of this, he does try his best. He tries to show his children the wonders of his land and others, as odd as it may seem he knows that the world is very large and he hopes they will see it all!

He enjoys telling them old folktales for bedtime stories! Sometimes he’ll go on for long after his child has fell asleep, so many tales that have been passed on to tell from the people lost in time.

They’re raised to be able to speak more than one language, He can get pretty embarrassed speaking his own language (Source: X (Trivia point!)). He wants his children to be able to wonder the world understand others!

School wise is eeh… He believes that education is the way too success but coming to him with homework or school drama is not the best idea. He either doesn’t know or doesn’t really care.

Discipline wise, he’s got it down to a T, he knows that as soon as the Wifi password is changed and the remotes have been hidden his child is all of a sudden going to be rather nice to him~

To add to the point above, he cannot stand bratty children. From day one he will tell them “You respect me, I respect you” and if they follow that rule then they will be very close!

He can be pretty clingy to his child, he doesn’t like to be surround by people but he’s not a big fan of being all by himself. His child will probably be around him alot to stop him from being too lonely.

Dad rating: How to be a good papa?

Norway:

The chill parent™ literally. He is very tolerant and patient with his children. He will let them do as they please as long as they stay within their boundaries. So long as they do it’s chill™

He will probably put his children on a pedestal like he does Iceland. He’s always going on about how his children are amazing and how cute they look in that outfit he bought them(like Maes from FMA? please tell me if i’m wrong)

To any out lookers, they would say that he’s got a good hand on raising his children. They would be right! Besides the mental screaming and the worrying coffee intake from lack of sleep due to worrying about them, he’s fine! 

Dad jokes are a thing, but in a weird way. His child can say anything and he would pause, stare and murmur a really bad pun under his breath. I.e. ‘Whoa, papa! Look at this!’ ‘……I can’t believe it’s not butter...’ 

He spoils his children more than he is willing to admit, they could see something on TV and he would surprise them with it the next day. He can’t really help it, he doesn’t want them to live like he used to.

Emotional stuff he’s pretty good at! He is able to sit there and listen to any problems his children are facing for hours if he must. He is also willing to hug them and sooth their worries with comforting songs!

Adores telling his children myths and folklore! Sometimes he’ll even take them on drives to the places and introduce them to the creatures that the stories are based around!

Whenever the midnight sun or the Nordic lights are on show he’ll let his children stay up to see them. Joined with the forces of caffeine and warm blankets he’ll sit outside with them all night if they want.

To him, his children are a blessing and something to live for. If he is ever lacking motivation or inspiration he’ll think about his children and BAM! You’ve got one very determined Norwegian.

He takes alot of time off work to spend with his children. He wants to be apart of their lives and for them to always know that he loves them, for him nothing is more important than his family.

Dad rating: Butter hurry up with that homework

Sweden:

This man is a papa and a half! He is already raising two kids (Sealand & Ladonia!) so the man knows what he’s doing. He is always alot more relaxed when with kids and is happy to care for them!

He is very good at keeping his children in line, how exactly? Star charts. He knows that losing a gold star is everyone’s worse nightmare and he will use this to his advantage. Gold stars are given to good kiddos only!

Want a tree house? Because his children are getting a tree mansion! Nearly all of their room’s furniture and toys are made by him, but don’t worry they’re made entirely out of love!

Super protective of his little ones! He would never let any harm come to them whether it be physically, mentally or emotionally. If anyone dares to hurt them he will be knocking on the culprits door at 3am!

Sometimes he’ll take his kids with him for a small fishing trip if the weather is right. Sure camping may be a little boring but it’s the bonding that counts! Plus fishing can be rather relaxing~

He is always willing to participate in games with his little ones, even pretend and sports! If it means that they’re gaining an interest in a possible future career or dream then he will do his best to guide them.

To his children he can seem like a rag doll at certain times, he doesn’t mind them climbing onto his shoulders or letting them borrow his glasses. If it keeps them happy and they’re safe then it’s fine.

Education wise he is the man when his children need help with homework. He will talk them through the problem and give them as much motivation as they need, sometimes in the form of pastries! 

All drawings and school achievements will have a special spot on the fridge for all to see. Any of his little ones achievements will be rewarded with a meal out wherever they want!

His absolute favorite thing in the world is to wake up with his little family all fallen asleep on the sofa with him, he thinks it’s so cute seeing them all snuggled up on top of him with a blanket covering them all~

Dad rating: Swedad

[sassy-santa-baby]

Reddit Gifts Update! New International and European shipping options, noteworthy participants, farewell to Teachers, trophies, and more!!!

Hello to you magnificent, breathtaking, astonishingly beautiful reddit gifters!I'm here today to send you this message, filled with news and updates, thoughts and queries, and more superlatives than an ivy league English class! (Ok, ok, i'll stop with the hyperbole, although you all are quite astonishing lol)Really, we wanted to give you a few updates on RG, a bit on what we've done this year, and a bit on what we still plan to do.Next batch will begin August 14We originally scheduled our next batch to begin on July 31. We're shifting things around just a bit, and will have an extended gift receiving time to accommodate for all of the gift being sent right now, similarly to how we do after Secret Santa. We usually account for this, but due to this little oversight, we're going to stretch this gift receiving period just a bit. We will be back with 13 more awesome exchange August 14.Sponsored Exchanges and Noteworthy ParticipantsOver the last few months, you will have noticed that some of our exchanges have been 'Sponsored' or 'Presented By'. We have had some fantastic partners to work with so far, including FedEX, Paramount Pictures, and more recently HBO! (We've got a few more in the works that I think you'll all really love, too, but must keep them secret for now) This is huge, huge news for Reddit Gifts as a Reddit product, and for continuing to operate. The RG team loves showing off how awesome all of you are, both internally and to reddit users around the world, and this will only help us grow!You will have also probably noticed the awesome baseball exchange we did this year, with nearly every MLB team participating! There were some amazing gifts exchanged, including tons of MLB gear, tickets, autographs, on-field experiences, and more. Additionally, other exchange rematch participants included EarthDay.org, FreeComicBookDay.com, Squishables, and Space Camp USA! If you know an awesome organization who would be great as a rematch participant, let us know!Goodbye to the Teacher's ExchangeFor four years, between 2012 to 2015, Reddit Gifts users did something truly remarkable. Reddit Gifts users made a choice to donate school supplies, books, and teaching materials to teachers around the country. It was a truly selfless and defining moment for our community, and one that each user who participated in should feel proud of, for the good work that they did in supporting those who help educate children. The Teacher Exchanges were some of the memories that helped create what an awesome community that r/SecretSanta has grown into today, and for those memories, we should all be thankful!As time moves on and our community grows, so do our priorities and efforts. As sincere and joyful as the previous Teacher Exchange's were, it is with a heavy heart that we announce that we will no longer be doing this exchange in the future. As some of you are aware, last year, we explained the difficulties we faced in trying to pull off such an exchange, especially as the exchange grew in popularity. We announced that we would no longer do the Teacher's Exchange the way it had traditionally been run, and worked with an outside partner to raise funds for teachers. While we did raise nearly $22k, impacting over 25k students last year, it was not the type of quality activation we like to present to our users again. For these reasons, we will no longer be doing a 'Teacher's Exchange' for the foreseeable future.Changes to the Reddit Gifts experience!We're adding a few new features to improve the gifting experience. Some smaller changes that you'll notice in the coming exchanges include character minimums for certain sign-up questions, so you, the Santa, will have more information to go off of when sending your giftee a gift. We'll also be implementing a new status alert for address changes, again to help the Santa. Several more improvements are still in the works, however, there are two bigger improvements we'd like to announce:International Shipping now only available after you earn 3 creditsOne of the awesome things about RG is the ability to match with folks from around the world! However, one thing we've noticed is that no matter how much we warn new users about international shipping prices, they'll still sign up—see the shipping price overseas—and 1. not send a gift because the price is too high, which means 2. international giftees don't receive gifts, which means 3. those santas will not be allowed to come back and participate again, which also means 4. those giftees will be less inclined to participate again because they had a poor experience. All of these things are major bummers and it's about time we combat it.To improve the experience for everyone, we've decided to make international shipping only available to users who have earned at least 3 credits on Reddit Gifts. If you are participating in Reddit Gifts for your first time, you will no longer be allowed to select 'International Shipping' as an option. You will have to have earned at least 2 additional credits to be able to select international as an option. You can still participate using just 1 credit for an international exchange, but we need to see that you've got some experience under your belt first. We think this will help combat all of the above mentioned issues.Shipping within Europe only is now an option for (most) EU participantsAgain, this is a request that has been a long time coming. For years now, users in the Europe have asked to ship outside of their country, but still within Europe. That option will now be available for users residing in these European countries:Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (Hrvatska), Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guernsey, Hungary, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Vatican CityHere is how the new credit participation will work for residents of these countries:1 credit: You may only exchange with users within your own country (when applicable—we're looking at you, Vatican City participants)2 credits: You may select to exchange within your own country, or the new 'Ship within Europe' option3 credits: You may select any of the above, or international shipping.These new rules will apply to all current and new users. We think this is an exciting new option and we can't wait to see how it goes over the next few months as we roll it out!TrophiesLastly, it is with millions upon millions of apologizes that I apologize that not everyone has received a Secret Santa 2016 trophy yet. If you've messaged us at redditgifts, or if you've spoke to a r/secretsanta mod asking about trophies, you will know that we've been having some difficulty getting those out.I'm happy to announce that everyone should have a trophy by the end of July. After this point, if you have not received a trophy for Secret Santa 2016 and you feel you have earned one, please contact us directly at support@redditgifts.com, and we will make sure you have a trophy.Speaking of our mods...Finally, I would like to encourage folks to remember that Reddit Gifts is made possible by the work and support by some really fantastic moderators—first class mods I tell ya'... (i'm biased, but it's so very very true!)If you haven't had a chance, stop on over in this thread and show our mods some love!

[fantasysuiteleague]

Finale Recap: Oh...Canada...

I can’t say I was all that excited for this finale. Part of this may be due to my 3 week absence, but I think most of it is due to Nick’s limp dick, tears, and inability to think of anyone but himself. Now, I know what you’re thinking: Hey! Nick doesn’t have a limp dick! Raven said he’s “good at what he does.” But don’t let that gross and overstaged post-coitus montage fool you: no man who dresses like this can give a woman an orgasm. 

It quickly became apparent that I wasn’t the only one struggling to get hype for Nick’s finale. For example, Chris Harrison spent an equal amount of time mentioning Rachel and the “historic moment” later to come on ATFR as he did Nick’s “desperate search for love.” When Harrison asked the audience who Nick would end up with, the option of “no one” got the biggest round of applause. But why? Well, first of all, both of these women can do and deserve much better than a whiny man-child with no job. Additionally, even though it’s really gross because it happens so often, people enjoy watching Nick cry. Except his parents.... 

They are equally as desperate for him to find someone, or just join Match.com, and Bella just wants to go back to middle school. Unfortunately for all parties involved--including Bachelor Nation--Nick signed a contract and has to drag this thing out until the very end (or until we get so bored that they just start the next season of The Bachelorette during the finale). 

Family Time

To ease his emotionally exhausted parents into the last week of Nick’s journey, the producers have the “safe/easy choice” come in to meet them first. In addition to Raven having already kind of met Nick’s parents at Bella’ soccer game, she’s the girl who would blindly and willingly accept a proposal from a man wearing a Livestrong band, no matter how embarrassing his lisp was. She’s meant to reassure his parents that at least one girl is interested in being their son’s wife. Raven is as charming as we expected, and the editors did a great job of reinforcing the overarching theme of Raven being the “no brainer” choice. Nick’s mom is still guarded, however, explaining that she has a certain emptiness in her heart (aka shame) due to all the devastation Nick has suffered at the hands of ABC. Nick’s dad, a sleepy garden gnome, seems more optimistic because Nick (unlike his dad) is finally in control “so maybe he won’t get slapped down.” 

*Enter Vanessa* Per the editing, Vanessa comes in HOT, telling his mom that she’s not 100% sure she wants to get engaged to Nick and making his dad cry. His parents are understandably incredibly concerned that Vanessa is the same type of girl he always goes for (a brunette alpha), and seeing as it’s never EVER worked out before, this is probably going to end in heartache once again. Seeing as Nick, much like his dad, is clearly a beta, I don’t think his pairing with an alpha female is necessarily a bad thing. His parents make it work--hell, even my parents make it work (sorry mom, but everyone knows you’re the boss, not Ralph). The problem with Nick, however, is that he weaseled his way onto a franchise that consistently recruits women who are just flat out out of his league. He’s not good-looking enough, he has no job, he’s SO insecure, he can’t stop crying, he has a lisp, he wears turtlenecks...you get the point. So it makes sense for his parents to be worried that whatever hot alpha female he chooses is probably not going to stay with him...because she won’t.

Last Dates

Nick’s final date with Vanessa is wack AF. First of all, the last person I want to meet while on a date with my potential future fiance is Finland Santa Claus. Not only that, but I certainly would NOT be interested in hanging out with this man in a small candle-lit shack. Mall Santas in the US already depress me because they’re just lonely fat men. But “real” Santa speaking Finnish and living in a shack with no electricity is some next-level shit. Hard. Pass. After escaping Santa’s rape shack, Nick and Vanessa spend the remainder of the date crying into each others arms. Vanessa wants some reassurance from Nick, but he won’t give it to her because that’s not how this show works. Vanessa’s hesitance is understandable, but also this is a fucking fantasy. Do your homework and watch a full season so you know what you’re doing before you come on and make demands of a man with no dick. 

Sticking with the theme of “light and easy,” Raven’s date consists of yet another opportunity for Nick to show of his skating abilities without much substance. Nothing serious is discussed and there’s not much of a takeaway other than “Raven will say yes.” I personally would have preferred more on-camera time for the puppies in lieu of their fireside chat. While the absence of any serious conversation is meant to suggest things are easy with Raven, to me it comes off more as both parties knowing they aren’t going to end up with one another. If you’re supposed to be getting engaged THE NEXT DAY, wouldn’t you want to talk about where you’re going to live, your friends and family, and all that important life shit that exists outside this fantasy world? Obviously the answer is yes, which is why it seems clear to me that they’re just going through the motions at this point. Then again, aren’t we all?

The Proposal

By the time Neil Lane makes his standard cameo I’m barely paying attention. Nick looks at some gaudy rings that you would only accept if you were getting it for free, eventually picking the biggest one because who cares, he’s not paying for it. There’s something very gross and fake about a man picking out an engagement ring on the day he actually proposes. Then again, he also picked his fiance on the day he proposed. To no one’s surprise, Raven is the first out of the limo and the one to get dumped. But not before Nick let’s her give one last speech about how she loves him and is ready to be his pretend wife. Nick shockingly starts to cry as he gives the standard “I love you, but I’m not IN love with you” breakup line. I don’t buy that Raven’s stoic face was due to shock, as she claimed on ATFR.  If you’re Raven you’re thinking “phew, I made it to the top 2 and got to travel around the world, I’ll be on Paradise, and MOST IMPORTANTLY...I’m not stuck being engaged to Nick Viall.” 

She’s the real winner in this story. And if the lack of gaudy ring on her finger doesn’t prove it, her response of “I know you will” to Nick’s pathetic claim that he’ll miss her seals the deal. Even though she walked away the winner, she still deserved a coat to wear back to the limo. Even though the show tried really hard to make it seem like Vanessa may not accept his proposal and make this whole episode more dramatic than it really was, I don’t think anyone was convinced. As soon as Vanessa walked into the room Nick broke down and launched into a speech about how he had been falling in love with her since the beginning but was scared she didn’t feel the same (despite her repeatedly telling him she did). For all the huffing and puffing Vanessa had done about not necessarily wanting to get engaged, she immediately said yes to Nick’s proposal, disappointing everyone but Nick’s parents. Hooray for “love.”

After the Final Rose

Okay first of all, I have a very hard time understanding why anyone would want to dress up and go to a 3+ hour live watch party of the Bachelor. Some of those women were decked out. Like, watch with your friends in sweatpants? Anyway, the best part of the ATFR was how fucking incredible Raven looked. She had that glow of someone who dodged a Nick Viall bullet and I couldn’t be happier for her and all the kissing/fingering she’s going to do on Paradise this summer. The second best part of ATFR was how MISERABLE Vanessa looked. 

That is NOT the face of a woman excited to be engaged. In fact, it’s not even clear if Vanessa knows what it means to be engaged. When Chris Harrison asked if they were going to get married, Vanessa said “we’re taking baby steps.” Ummmm there’s no such thing as “baby steps” on The Bachelor. Also, what do you call the last few months? If anything, that response just confirms that there is no way she is going to marry this walking box of kleenex. And if that answer didn’t convince you, then surely the words used to describe their relationship such as “struggles” and “ never easy” and “I’m a realist” underscores that this “relationship” will last just as long as Nick will on DWTS. The entire interview is so uncomfortable and so clearly filled with tension that ABC had already planned in advance to use the last third of the program to focus on the first ever Blachelorette. Rachel, sporting a new expensive set of extensions, is brought out and *surprised* by being given the opportunity to meet a few of the guys from her season. This “historic” moment that Chris Harrison kept chirping about all night was almost as uncomfortable as Vanessa and Nick’s interview. All in all, the entire finale fell flatter than Nick’s limp dick because no matter how hard he or ABC tries, it’s nearly impossible to find someone willing to marry this manboy.

[mcrmadness]

4, 11, 18 & 26 for the non american ask^^

Thanks! :D

4. favourite dish specific for your country?

Does rye bread count? You just can't get the perfect type of rye bread from anywhere else than from Finland, and I think also Estonia loves their rye bread? There's probably some dark breads in Scandinavia too but I feel like they might be a bit sweeter, which is not my favorite. (They also had rye bread in Poland when I visited there, and it was fine but not like the one I've got used to here :D)

The typical, good Finnish rye bread is almost or only 100% rye and it's slightly sour. I usually eat only rye bread that is 100% rye because the wheat there is totally pointless and if it's not wholegrain, it's just... basically same as putting sugar in the bread, (the wheat there) has absolutely no nutritional value.

***

11. favourite native writer/poet?

Hmm. I don't like poems in any language and apparently this is something I've had since I was a little kid because I always took some Finnish poetry books from the bookshelf (my mom loves poems, especially this author's) and yeeted it to somewhere in the room............. I just didn't like having it in the bookshelf at all XD

I also haven't really read any books from Finnish authors. I don't think we have THAT big of a scene, it's quite difficult to be any kind of artist in Finland cos you have to do so much work for that and it still might not be enough. I guess most here do several things, or write a book as a sidejob because it might be impossible to make a living with that. The first and latest book written by a Finn (Antti Holma) was this autobiography by someone who started as an actor, but doesn't even live in Finland anymore because this country just doesn't offer him suitable work anymore, and he can still write occassionally when living abroad. I liked the book tho, but I don't know if I he is the best answer for this when his books are literally the only two books written by a Finn that I have read.

I own more of non-fiction by Finns, but mainly those are just horse related books, e.g. about the history of Finnhorse, or horse training books from an animal trainer Tuire Kaimio, and her books were my first touch to "natural horsemanship" when I was 13.

Also, Finland of course has a long history of writers, there's lots of big names and altho I like reading, I'm so bad at reading books people label as classics. I haven't read any of those books that "every Finn has read". Like, no... I'm not interested in most of the topics, I even hated Kalevala (our natural epic) at school because I hate poems so much that I was crying blood (also from my ears) whenever I had to hear those super annoying Kalevala rhymes.

***

The rest of the stuff under the cut.

18. do you speak with a dialect of your native language?

Yes!!! I'm from the East Finland and from an area where there is no particular dialect but it's like a mixture of all the Eastern dialects, and there's lots of variety already within the area of my municipality (the other end speaks slightly differently than the other end, and I live here in the middle :D). So this is really a mix of Savonian, South- and North-Karelian and I think something might come here from the Central Finland too.

I'm also extremely fond of dialects and my paternal grandma was from South Osthrobothnian, very close to the West coast, and I just recently talked about it with my mom and she said that altho my grandma lived and also died here in the East (and I was born here and have lived my whole life here so far), she absolutely hated the Savonian dialect and always said that she's not going to start talking in it EVER XD And she didn't! She always talked in her South Ostrobothnian dialect and altho I don't really remember much of that - I was 13 when she died - I guess it still is so strongly in my genes because every time I hear that dialect somewhere, I just feel like I had gone home and I feel so warm inside! Also I relate so strongly to the stereotype of West Finnish people, they're said to be very reliable and honest, and I'm a nice mixture of that AND the Savonian stereotypes too. ("A cunning Savonian", for example, lol. Apparently it has something to do with the dialect/worrisome nature of us and we not really giving straight answers, even if it wasn't even actually LYING - there's also a saying that "When a Savonian is speaking, the listener is in charge.")

That's also why I have, unintentionally, adopted lots of the Ostrobothnian dialect into how I speak, so my personal dialect is not only what people here normally speak, but also has lots of features from the Ostrobothnian dialects.

When I write online, I often clean up my dialect a bit because this Eastern dialect is actually really, really strong. I love how it (also) sounds, it has this very relaxed sound to it, like there's no worries in the world? I love it. So when I write, I write a bit closer to the common spoken Finnish, but when I start speaking... my dialect gets very strong again. Sometimes, if I'm nervous, I go more into the cleaner version because this dialect is also very noticeable and usually whenever I speak it somewhere else, people will comment on it because West Finns often find it so funny or cute sounding - or the opposite, some find it extremely obnoxious and wish no one would speak in it :D Actually if I see anyone commenting how annoying the dialect is, I start talking or writing in it even more strongly on purpose XD

Another funny thing I have noticed about how I speak is that, well, in Finnish the 1st pronoun is "minä", most people say "mä", but in my dialect it's "mie". I have always found that fun to say, but I have never liked writing it. Whenever I did comics or wrote stories/fanfiction in Finnish, I always wrote "mä". I just could not hear "mie" with them. But lately I have noticed that when I want to talk about me in a written form, like a comment on youtube, writing "mie" will give away immediately that I'm from the East and the dialect will piss off people. Sometimes they even come to comment to me something racist about Russia altho I have no connections to Russia? My whole family tree is from Finland, I might even have some roots in Germany, actually. So I very often have now replaced that with "ite" when I write - it comes from the word "itse" which, well, it's easiest to translate into German as it means "selbst". So basically I say "I myself...", but I use it like a pronoun because you can do that in Finnish, and it gives me the opportunity to avoid using "mie" and sounding "childhish", but still I have a pronoun there. Fortunately in Finnish you can also leave out the 1st and 2nd pronouns but when I add "ite" there, it kinda just emphasizes the verb even more.

Omfg I love languages and linguistics and dialects so much, I could just keep going about Finnish dialects and mine but I could imagine it being very difficult to comprehend if you don't have any existing knowledge over Finnish overall! :D

***

26. does your nationality get portrayed in Hollywood/American media? what do you think about the portrayal?

Very rarely, currently I can't remember any that would have not had Finnish people working with it. Usually Finland is not really known in the US, I think not everyone even in Europe know what or where is Finland even, so usually any time this country gets mentioned somewhere, everyone goes crazy.

There's probably not a single video on youtube without at least one comment going "Suomi mainittu, torilla tavataan!" if Finland has been mentioned in the video. That phrase means "Finland mentioned, let's meet at the market place!" I even use this tag in Tumblr whenever I see some random post with lots of notes and someone mentions Finland (and the someone is not Finnish themselves).

Actually, now I just remembered something! In The X-Files there has been a mention a few times! I don't remember anything else but this one episode about a chess player boy, and Scully says "Helsinki syndrome", which is an alternative/old name for "Stockholm syndrome" :D Always have to throw a party after that line XD (Jk :D)

There's also this one time when Conan O'Brien made fun of Finns on tv, and he got a bunch of angry letters from Finns and he actually apologized on tv :D Then, I don't remember if it was before or after that, he noticed he actually looks a lot like Tarja Halonen, who was our president at the time, and he made some jokes about that and in the end he actually visited Finland and even met with her, a few times :D That was HUUUUGE for us Finns XD I remember watching the episode of his visit to Finland with my family lmao.

Now I also remembered something else... SO TYPICAL OF ME :DDD ...also typical of me to forget it right after remembering it. Wtf was it again? Oh yeah! I watched lots of Jackass and Viva La Bam when I was a teenager, and it was so exciting to see how excited Bam Margera was over Finland, because he was really into Finnish (metal) music. He even once made a movie, which wasn't that interesting tbh, called "Where the F* is Santa?" and it was kinda sweet of him how he got so angry every time someone said Santa Claus comes from the North Pole, because he knew he comes from Rovaniemi, Finland instead, and he tried so hard to pronounce the name correctly and corrected everyone who thought Santa doesn't come from Finland :DD

Okay I think this is ENOUGH ::D

[gethealthy18-blog]

223: Mindset for Moms – Tips to Get More Done & Stress Less This Year

New Post has been published on http://healingawerness.com/news/223-mindset-for-moms-tips-to-get-more-done-stress-less-this-year/

223: Mindset for Moms – Tips to Get More Done & Stress Less This Year

223: Mindset for Moms – Tips to Get More Done & Stress Less This Year

In this New Year check-in, Heather and I chat about our goals for this year, upcoming projects, and tips for getting more done with less stress this year!

Episode Highlights

Stress-reducing tips: Learn the top things we’re both doing to reduce our stress and be more productive including self-care, organization tips, and more.

Sauna vs. Red Light: We answer the much-asked question: what is the difference between red light therapy with infrared waves and infrared saunas?

Finland: This leads into a discussion about Katie’s upcoming trip to northern Finland (Lapland) with Tero and the Four Sigmatic crew to learn about how medicinal mushrooms are sourced and about the indigenous Sami tribe (inspiration for the book Santa Sold Shrooms). Follow Katie on Instagram if you want to keep up with the trip next week!

CBD: We also delve into the new research on CBD and how we’re both using it for different things. See this podcast for the full scoop.

Sensory swings for vestibular function: How hanging sensory swings from my kids ceilings has been a time and stress saver this winter

Reducing Plastic Use: We also go deep on the subject of plastic use and encourage everyone listening to reduce their use of plastics (especially single-use plastics) both for the sake of health and of the environment. With floating islands of plastic in the ocean that are the size of Texas, and plastic chemicals found several kilometers deep in the ice of the Arctic, this is now a global problem and we can all pitch in to reduce our dependency. Check out this post on reducing plastic use for some ideas.

Health Trends for 2019:

We delve into some health trends we anticipate continuing to grow in popularity in 2019. Specifically:

Elderberry

All things elderberry seem to be on the rise, and with good reason. While both of us have been using homemade elderberry syrup for years, we’re starting to see all types of remedies and even skin care that involves elderberries. Want to get creative? Try these elderberry marshmallows or elderberry tea.

CBD

Another health trend that seems to be exploding right now! Be careful, because there are many types out there and some are not as effective as others. I personally prefer this one because it is water soluble and colloidal so it’s highly effective and doesn’t use solvents to extract.

Digital Detox

After years of increasing technology use, we’re seeing a trend toward intentional time off from technology and seeking out quiet and focus. Personally, we love taking digital days off for a mental reset.

Rethinking Sunscreen

With Hawaii leading the charge, many states and countries are moving to reduce or ban chemical sunscreens that can harm ocean life:

In a world first, last May Hawaii passed legislation that will ban the sale and distribution of any non-prescription sunscreen containing these chemicals (found in 78% of the most popular brands) from 2021. The Caribbean island of Bonaire followed in the same month. The most comprehensive ban so far is in the small Pacific island nation of Palau, which is to ban the buying, selling, importing or manufacturing of sunscreen and skincare products that contain these chemicals and eight additional ones, from 2020.

Integration of Conventional and Alternative Medicine

We’re excited to see an increasing amount of integration between conventional and alternative medicine and doctors from each category being willing to work together. Specifically, we’re even seeing research about concepts from traditional Chinese medicine being used in conventional cancer treatment:

Yung-Chi Cheng, a pharmacology professor at Yale School of Medicine, worked on studies to help reduce side effects of chemo for cancer patients. He realized that those who finished treatment lives longest, so he figured that if they could increase the number of patients who didn’t discontinue treatment because of side effects like nausea and digestive problems, more people would survive. He used traditional herbs used in Chinese medicine to help these patients and while more did finish treatment, he noticed another side effect: their cancers shrunk faster than those who didn’t.

This has led to a potential cancer treatment based on Chinese medicine called PHY906 that shows promising results.

Placenta Research

Thanks to some new breakthroughs we’re learning much more about the amazing placenta. Researchers think this new data will give them an early window and possible way to help at-risk pregnancies and create new tests to help detect and remedy problems early.

From the article here:

In addition, at a recent meeting in Bethesda, Md., of the Human Placenta Project, several teams of researchers showed off sophisticated new techniques that enable the placenta to be studied in real time. That work could help doctors diagnose dangerous complications in pregnancy — including pre-eclampsia (a form of high blood pressure), preterm birth and fetal growth restriction — early enough to intervene. It might also help to reveal why boys are much more vulnerable than girls to disorders of brain development, including schizophrenia, A.D.H.D., autism, dyslexia and Tourette syndrome.

Resources We Mention:

Books We Mention:

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Thank You to Today’s Sponsors

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Source: https://wellnessmama.com/podcast/mindset-for-moms/

[flyingsayokko]

International Destination Branding and Marketing

Finland is a small but a unique country and there are full of cultures and natural resources. Compared to other countries, their tourism marketing targets are not massive but more specific. For instance, If I ask someone about Finland, he or she would answer this question differently. Sophisticated Finnish Design? (ARABIA, Marimekko? Ittala?),Home town of Santa Clause?, NOKIA?,Snow sports?,Sibelius?, Aurora?, Sauna?, High standard of Education?or Moomin world? Those attractions are not fit for all travelers but Finnish CVBs already know who their targets are.

If you are not traveling person, you might think of the location of this country in the world. There are several direct flights operated by national flagship career from some other countries. Personally, I want them to keep their capacity of tourists therefore they could keep relaxing atmosphere of the city and their precious natural resources. I visited this country after busiest season of my work. During my stay in Finland, I completely recovered from my fatigue and fell in love with this country! I was the person exactly in their target markets.

As the branding concept, Finland is not something for everyone but something special. That’s true but not. I mean, Who does not fall in love with this country once you visit?

Visit Finland

(Visit Finland: visitfinland.com)

“Visit Finland is an integral part of Finpro, a registered association almost 100 per cent funded by the Finnish Government.The aim is to help companies attract foreign investments to Finland, become more international in their line of work and promote Finland as an attractive tourist destination to a world-wide audience.”

Identity

Visit Finland identify four characteristics of Finland such as Creative, Contrasts, Credible and Cool. These characteristics exactly describe what Finland is and are used consistently for its branding.

Creative

    The unique cultural and natural surroundings have inspired Finns to     compose music, create design and develop unique technical innovations.

Contrasts

    Finland is full of interesting contrasts – the four seasons, the midnight     sun and the winter night, city and countryside, East and West. You name     it.

Credible

    Traffic, service, safety, technology – everything runs like clockwork.

Cool

    People, lifestyle, climate – all are one of a kind.

Marketing Themes

(Visit Finland: visitfinland.com)

The following tourism themes have been developed on the basis of Visit Finland’s core values:

·Silence, please presents Finland as a counterpart to the hectic, ever-accelerating rhythm of daily life. Finland offers peace and quiet, and space to breathe, even in the heart of the city. Here, visitors can take things easy, stay at a cottage, enjoy a sauna, and explore an untouched natural environment.

·Wild & Free displays the opportunities that the Finnish nature offers for spectacular nature activities such as snowmobile and dog-sled safaris, island hopping by boat, canoeing in the archipelago, or even a snowball fight in the city.

·Cultural beat stands for the uniqueness of Finnish culture and the global phenomena it evokes, such as Finnish design, Father Christmas, heavy metal and delicious natural produce.

Slogan

“I wish I was in Finland”

Finland is different from other destinations in many ways. They compared some pros and cons to other countries. Their Brand Book contains a lot of visual images and they represents what Finland is. There are not man made beach resort but natural beaches for relaxing. If travelers in busiest travel resorts notice that they do not want man-made attractions any more, that slogan would exactly represent their feeling.

“ In the travel market, Finland is a challenger. Like Apple in the computer business, the VW Beetle in cars, or Virgin in airlines. As such we have the responsibility to act like one. To break the conventions and be brave.”

Brand Book

http://static1.visitfinland.com/travel-trade/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2015/04/VisitFinland_Brand_Book_175x220_LR_9559.pdf

Target Markets

Outside Finland Visit Finland is represented in the following key target countries: China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Russia and USA.

Their Key Target Markets are where the direct flights are operated by national career, Finnair. They focus on their targets country as one of the stopover destinations.

Target Groups

The main target group of Finland consists of people who have travelled a lot and are seeking new, fresh options. Instead of pleasing everyone, we are targeting the marketing activities to people whose set of values matches travelling to Finland. We call this group as “Modern Humanists”. They appreciate quality of life, pure nature and responsibility. That is exactly what Finland offers.

 Social Media Channels

 Finnish tourism organization covers all types of media channels that we access as usual. We can find their sophisticated image photos and simplified messages. Their promotion visual and tone manners are based on their 4Cs and core values and they do not exceed core values of marketing plans.

You Tube - 10k subscribers  https://youtu.be/O2tinqjEfqw

Instagram -192k followers https://www.instagram.com/ourfinland/

Facebook - 458,981 people like https://www.facebook.com/visitfinland

Twitter -50.5k followers https://twitter.com/OurFinland

( https://www.instagram.com/ourfinland/ )

In my opinion, their promotion is only for specific target markets who loves nature therefore probably it’s hard to get a number of new visitors and we need to search more details about the destination voluntarily to reach those information. Finland is a place for the young who starts new business. The other characteristics of the destination would attract other visitors and promote the destination.    

Speaking of other destination, Iceland is one of the popular destination for stopover and adventure lovers.

“As of 2015 the number of foreign visitors has exceeded 1 Million, and tourism is responsible for a share of nearly 30 percent of the country's export revenue. As a result, tourism has leapfrogged industrial products as the country’s most valuable source of currency income.”

“In recent years Iceland has enjoyed greater exposure from increased attention in the international media than ever before. Events such as a volcanic eruption in Europe's biggest glacier, Vatnajökull and recently in Eyjafjallajökull, countless triumphs of pop-artists like Björk, Sigur Rós and Of  Monsters and Men, have all attracted media attention to Iceland in recent years.”

Marketing Themes

“Iceland It’s not for everyone. It’s not for those who go where everyone else goes. It’s not for the conservative and expected traveler. It’s for those who travel the world to experience something different, to come back with stories to tell and secrets to share. The stories of Iceland don’t stop as winter comes. Every season, and in every region, Iceland offers secrets to the adventurous and enlightened traveler.

So welcome! To all those who travel with the spirit of adventure, exploring and creativity. It may not be the first place you think of travelling to this season, but it’ll be the first place you tell your friends about. Come and be inspired by Iceland”

Target Markets

Their target markets have specific characteristics. As a stopover destination from North America and Europe, they focus on visitors from high standard living countries. Prices are extremely high in Iceland so that targets would be limited.

The “Enlightened tourist”

Between 20 and 65 years old

•Urban profile

•Above average education

•Above average income

•Above average consumpiton of internet, mobiles and media

People that do not want to follow the herd

•Want to travel independently

•Interest in culture, ideas and lifestyle of other people.

People that want to travel to new and exciting destinations

•Want to go on vacation during winter time

•Are open to new experiences

•Seek new challenges

•Are ready to share their experience with others

Social Media Channels

They also cover all popular media channels.

You Tube - 5,862 subscribers https://youtu.be/z8TUcWYDxjk

Instagram -70.9k followers https://www.instagram.com/inspiredbyiceland/

Facebook - 191,170  people like https://www.facebook.com/inspiredbyiceland

Twitter-42.1k followers https://twitter.com/icelandinspired

Tumbler http://inspiredbyiceland.tumblr.com/

As one of their campaign, they created “Iceland Academy” it’s not only to attract visitors but also suggest manners and rules how visitors should behave in Iceland. They use actual person who is in charge of each areas. It makes us feel friendly and closer to the destination.

Compared to two destinations, their attitudes are a bit different.  Iceland promotion is more active and more specific than Finland. Official web sight of Finland has a lot of great images and wonderful leads that stands for Finnish Designs and concept of the country but if we need specific information it takes a  time to find it out.

References

Visit Finland

http://www.visitfinland.com/

Visit Iceland

http://www.visiticeland.com/

Íslandsstofa -Promote Iceland

http://www.islandsstofa.is

[padfootagain]

Submitted by @madamrogers :

At first, I want to thank you for hosting an event like this! It has been so interesting to read about movies from other countries and I decided to put only Finnish movies on this list. Some of these I’ve seen, some are important or have a significant meaning for our culture or were just quite popular when they came out.

Tie pohjoiseen (Eng. Road North) 2012 - Directed by Mika Kaurismäki - Starring Vesa-Matti Loiri, Samuli Edelmann

Summary: A drama, a road movie about a father who meets his son after a long time. The father wants to bond with the son after these long 30 years and they go on a long road trip to the north.

Jenna’s Note: Vesa-Matti Loiri is one of the most iconic faces of Finnish cinema (and also music, he’s a singer as well) and he really deserves all the appreciation he gets. Him and Edelmann (who is also a singer, they sing the ending song of the film together) work very well together in this one, they have chemistry and it’s visible how much they’ve enjoyed working together. This is one of my own favorites of Finnish movies.

Lupaus (Eng. Promise) 2005 - Directed by Ilkka Vanne - Starring Laura Birn, Karoliina Vanne, Hanna Lekander, Ilkka Villi

Summary: A movie about three young women who live a normal life in Finland until Winter War in 1939. All three of the women join the Lotta Svärd, a Finnish voluntary auxiliary paramilitary organisation for women. The movie follows the women from Winter War in 1939 to Continuation War in 1941 and till the year 1956.

Jenna’s Note: I’ve seen this once and I remember I liked this quite a lot. For once there’s a movie about Lotta Svärd. I’ve always respected them a lot. This has some war scenes, if I remember right, and everyone is not making it out alive but it also shows how there can be happiness in the middle of fear and death.

Poika ja ilves (Eng. Boy and Lynx) 1998 - Directed by Raimo O Niemi - Starring Konsta Hietanen and Väinö the Lynx

Summary: A movie about a friendship between a boy and a lynx.

Jenna’s Note: I loved this movie as a child. I haven’t watched it in years, but it really is a touching story. I remember how most of the girls had some sort of a crush on this boy, Konsta Hietanen, who nowadays plays music and I think has come back to acting after playing football for years.

Joulutarina (Eng. Christmas Story) 2007 - Directed by Juha Wuolijoki - Starring Hannu-Pekka Björkman, Otto Gustavsson, Kari Väänänen, Minna Haapkylä

Summary: A story about an orphaned boy called Nikolas becoming Santa Claus.

Jenna’s Note: This is the movie I watch every Christmas. I could say it’s one of my favorite Finnish movies of all time. It also makes me cry very much, which is always a good sign. It was said somewhere that “if Walt Disney would’ve been able to tell a story like this, he would have told it,” and I think it’s absolutely true!

Äideistä parhain (Eng. Mother of Mine) 2005 - Directed by Klaus Härö - Starring Topi Marjaniemi, Marjaana Maijala, Esko Salminen

Summary: The plot of the story is based on the time of the Second World War and the main character of the story is a Finnish boy (Eero Lahti). The biological father of Eero (Kari-Pekka Toivonen) is in the Finnish army. He dies in the front and Eero’s mother Kirsti falls into deep depression. As the war gets worse, Eero is sent to Sweden to a new Swedish family. In the new family, he has a father Hjalmar Jönsson, mother Signe Jönsson and a grandfather (who cannot speak but hears everything). He also meets the neighbor’s daughter Siv. And then he has to go back to Finland when the war ends.

Jenna’s Note: I saw this one for the first time when I was quite young and I remember crying so much during it. Only seeing the add or the first minutes makes me cry. It’s a sad, momentarily very unfair story but it’s still very beautiful, touching and deep.

Prinsessa (Eng. Princess) 2010 - Directed by Arto Halonen - Starring Katja Kukkola, Samuli Edelmann, Krista Kosonen, Peter Franzén

Summary: After a difficult childhood spent in foster homes, cabaret dancer Anna Lappalainen suffers from severe delusions and ends up in psychiatric care. She claims to be Princess, a member of the English royal family.

Jenna’s Note: This is a biographical film, based on a life of Anna Lappalainen, and I didn’t know this before. I like the psychology in this and it’s pretty good as a movie too, the main actress does really good job but some moments are quite disturbing. This gives me vibes of Russell Crove’s movie “A Beautiful Mind”, even though the setting is different.

Tuntematon sotilas (Eng. The Unknown Soldier) 2017 - Directed by Aku Louhimies - Starring Eero Aho, Johannes Holopainen, Jussi Vatanen, Aku Hirviniemi, Hannes Suominen, Paula Vesala, Samuli Vauramo

Summary: Based on Väinö Linna’s classic novel “The Unknown Soldier”, the part of our national legacy, the movie tells a story about a machine gun company of the Finnish Army from a frog perspective during the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944.

Jenna’s Note: This is only one of the versions; there is the first one from 1955 and the second from 1985. And because it was Finland’s 100th year of independence last year, they made the third version. I haven’t had the chance to see this one just yet, but one of the versions is on TV on the independence day, so I’m waiting for will it be this one. This has a good cast, some very popular and good Finnish actors and this is a very liked film, so I’m looking forward to finally seeing it. I’ve seen the other two versions, and I personally like the 1985 version the best.

Helmiä ja sikoja (Eng. Pearls and Pigs) 2003 - Directed by Perttu Leppä - Starring Mikko Leppilampi, Laura Birn, Amanda Pilke

Summary: When the Hirvonen brother’s (Läde, Timo, Ruho and Poju) bootlegging father ends up in jail, his sons need money to pay his debts to local crooks. The brothers suddenly get a new family member when their stepsister, Saara, moves in with them. Soon they find out Saara has an outstanding singing voice and the boys come up with an idea to send her to a child star contest. To train the girl a former child star, a current pub rose, is employed.

Jenna’s Note: The name is funny, I know. Don’t stare at it too much. In a way it suits this movie quite well. In which the girls are the pearls and the boys the pigs, haha. This is a comedy and basically only one Finnish comedy I’ve seen and liked. I also love Mikko Leppilampi, he is a good actor, but nowadays he is mainly a host in different programs.

Tom of Finland 2017 - Directed by Dome Karukoski - Starring Pekka Strang

Summary: Touko Laaksonen returns home to Finland after serving in World War II. In post-war Helsinki, he makes a name for himself with his homoerotic drawings of muscular men. Before finding fame, Laaksonen finds challenges from his sister and Finnish society due to his art.

Jenna’s Note: I haven’t personally seen this movie yet, but decided to put it on the list since it has been sold to another countries, the concept. And I think this movie was in cinema in other countries too. It’s a quite big thing in Finland, there are all kinds of stuff about it, from bed covers to everything.

Syke (Eng. Pulse) Since 2014, still ongoing - Created by Petja Peltomaa - Starring Lena Meriläinen, Tiina Lymi, Leena Pöysti, Iina Kuustonen

Summary: A show about four nurses. In every episode there are two or three patients whose lives have something to do with the nurses’ lives; they know each other or something else. It also follows the nurses private lives: love, hate and other things.

Jenna’s Note: The only tv series of the list! I’ve watched this since it began and it’s the best Finnish show I’ve ever seen. It’s interesting, something is always happening and the actors are good. It almost got cancelled but then another channel bought it and there’ll be another season later this year, it’s the fifth.

Just made the list, thank you so much for the recs, Jenna!!

[mariaclaragomez276]

Where the SLH Team are dreaming of spending Christmas

We’ve had to use our imaginations for most of 2020 when it comes to travel, stocking up on inspiration for when we can explore the world again. While we’re planning to stay closer to home this holiday season, the most magical time of the year has us dreaming of snowy or sunnier settings – here’s the SLH Team’s Christmas wish list.

We’re dreaming of a White Christmas…

Daniel Luddington – Vice President of Development

I would head to Swedish Lapland for a Scandinavian Christmas beneath the Northern Lights at Arctic Bath, one of our newest and coolest additions to the SLH portfolio – think floating cabins, star-gazing decks and real life reindeer with a traditional Sámi herder.

Christopher Grime – Head of Product Integration

The romantic in me likes a cold and perhaps also snowy Christmas. Carol and I spent a few days in the Cotswolds in late November last year at Dormy House and whilst there was no snow, the Christmas trees were up, the smell of open log fires pervaded the air and hot chocolate or hot toddies were the order of the day. It would be lovely to go back there.

My other choices would be El Lodge Ski and Spa as I have never skied in Spain before; Hotel Rangá in Iceland for the Northern Lights and hot tub under the stars; Storfjord Hotel in Norway for those views of the fjord by the patio fire pan…and perhaps some Storfjordbrygg – an ale produced for the hotel and served nowhere else – what’s not to like; Dorsia Hotel & Restaurant in Gothenburg – I have only been to Stockholm in Sweden and I loved that, so I would love to give Gothenburg a try; and finally Hotel Lilla Roberts in Finland – I love the Art deco style and for some reason I am strangely drawn to the concept of a traditional Finnish sauna followed by ice swimming!

Rafael Pirassinunga – Operations Manager – World of Hyatt Partnership

I’d love to spend Christmas at Terelj Hotel, just outside of Ulaanbaatar. Mongolia has always fascinated me and as a proper Grinch I’d like to spend Christmas in a non-Christmassy location, social distancing from the world. It combines all the wild beauty and serenity of the steppe with comfort and services of a luxury hotel –  what’s not to like? Plus, winter is also the season for eagle hunting which is one of the coolest things in the world I’d like to experience.

Abi Tottenham-Smith – Head of Social Media

I am a big lover of a cold, snowy Christmas. I have only ever been abroad somewhere hot over Christmas once in Vietnam, and it was pretty miserable to be honest – for me, Christmas just isn’t the same in the heat, and away from family! Therefore, I would love to spend Christmas with my family at one of the SLH ski hotels. Miramonti Boutique Hotel has been on my list for a while, purely for the photos of the swimming pool and the ‘relaxation room’ but it looks even cosier in the winter, and the perfect place to spend the holiday season!

Jemima O’Lone – Digital Content and Design Manager

My travel plans have been thin on the ground this year, like everyone else, and I have longed for a hot weather holiday! However, I just can’t tear myself away from mountains, snow and open fires in the winter! So it would have to be Storfjord Hotel in Norway or any one of our beautiful ski hotels.

Chloe Frost-Smith – Digital Image & Content Executive

Although I am almost certainly Vitamin-D deprived after this year, I would always still opt for a white Christmas on the slopes – it’s hard to beat a Christmas Day ski! Le Coucou Méribel looks incredibly stylish as well as cosy, and the French really know how to celebrate when it comes to festive food. Thinking closer to home, retreating to Inverlochy Castle in the wilderness of the Scottish Highlands for the holiday season would be top of my list, for both Christmas and Hogmanay.

Gabor Toth – Global Training and EMEA Revenue Account Manager

I would like to spend the holiday season at Le Grand Bellevue, Gstaad – you have pretty much everything you want on your doorstep. Apart from being surrounded by hundreds of kilometres of ski pistes, the location offers you everything from restaurants to shops, to events for all ages. I would also enjoy the hotel’s own spa after skiing all day and in case you’re too tired or lazy, you can dine in at the hotel, where you can choose from their Michelin-starred menu, featuring amazing sushi or traditional Swiss cuisine.

Patrick Pieters – Senior Revenue Account Manager – EMEA

It would have to be Nimb Hotel in Copenhagen for me – the Christmas lights in the Tivoli Gardens are a must see!

Floriana Cosentino – Revenue Account Manager EMEA

I would love to stay at Crossbasket Castle in Scotland. I have never been yet unfortunately, and love the idea of staying in a traditional Scottish castle. Their rooms look so spacious, warm and full of character. It has lovely grounds and a river just by it, with a little terrace where I would love to have my tea. I can imagine it all “Christmassy” with their special festive package –  this would make me feel it is Christmas at its best.

Crystal Davies – Senior Revenue Account Manager – APAC

I would like to spend Christmas in Eichardt’s Private Hotel in Queenstown, New Zealand. The hotel is located right in front of Lake Wakatipu, the longest lake in New Zealand which is 380m deep. The water temperature is about 15 degrees even in summer, it is so deep that it never gets warmed up! Christmas is rather hot in Australia where I live, so it would be the perfect place to escape the heat.

The hotel main building has mountain and lake view suites, and the Penthouse is on the top floor with the most amazing bathtub overlooking the lake. The hotel has a fine dining restaurant, a recently opened spa, and is in a superb location, with many shops, high end and casual dining options available within walking distance.

The amount of activities I would be able to do nearby the hotel is impressive. Many water sports and sky diving can be arranged, along with the longest bungy jump (134m) in New Zealand which also happens to be in Queenstown. If you are not so extreme, walking by the lake is just lovely. The hotel has a luxury yacht, Pacific Jemm, which takes you out for a day tour or sunset cruise – a nice way to spend Christmas with family and friends. You can be very active or relaxed during your stay, I highly recommend it.

Anna-Lisa Hafgren-Willis – Regional Manager – Americas & Travel Trade Relations Manager

I would love to experience a European Christmas market and doing so amidst the medieval walls of Tallinn would be a double treat. Returning to the lovely Hotel St. Petersbourg for a sauna and cocktail by a fireplace would be magical.

Lita Moreno – Sales Manager, Southeast USA

I would love to spend Christmas anywhere where there is snow – Stein Eriksen Residences in Utah, Le Grand Bellevue in Gstaad or Le Coucou Méribel. I don’t really ski but would love to do other activities, explore the towns nearby and get cosy in front of a fire place at night. I live in Florida so it’s quite hard to get into the Christmas spirit when it’s warm!

Katrin Holtkott – Barter Room Co-ordinator

Please put me down for Storfjord Hotel in Norway (happy to share it with any of my colleagues!) I love the Nordic design and décor, I will feel even closer to Santa Claus, and the idea of long hikes through the snow and forests with an open fire and cosy blankets waiting on my return, a good book and a glass of wine or hot chocolate (or both!) – what could be better for a Christmas break?

April Lee Smith – Group Accounts Assistant

I would stay at the Stein Eriksen Residences in the USA. The mountainous snow and wooded exterior give it an old school American Christmas movie feel. I can just imagine spending a few days here with the family.

Sunny Season’s Greetings…

Barbara Levedag – Vice President Business Development EMEA

Regarding Christmas wishes, I shall be joining the sun seekers amongst us – and my choice would be The Plettenberg by The Liz McGrath Collection. I’ve been lucky enough to have visited ‘The Plett’ once in June 2019 – a stay too short. My heart beats for the stellar beauty that is South Africa.

Situated along one of the country’s many incredible sights – the Garden Route – the hotel enjoys a prime position right on one of the many beautiful white sandy beaches around the small town of Plettenberg. Watch the Indian and the Atlantic Ocean meet – including whales (seasonally) and dolphins if you’re lucky from the hotel’s beautiful terrace or from one of their delightful Corner Suites.

The property’s feel good vibes coupled with a genuine friendliness of a wonderful team invite instant relaxation in a picture-perfect beachfront setting.

Oswaldo Sampaio – Head of Quality Assurance

Whilst all of our SLH hotels would make a wonderful home-from-home during the holiday season, given the opportunity there is one hotel in our portfolio where I would spend my annual leave – at Baros Maldives. Despite the isolation in the middle of the Indian Ocean they have very strong Wi-Fi so one could even stay there to WFM – ‘work from Maldives!’

The property opened in 1973 – it is a grand dame that has stood the test of time and aged truly gracefully by renovating, adding new facilities and staying on trend with the latest features in modern hospitality. Their facilities are second to none and the service, provided by their long-standing staff, is unforgettable. Our best senior inspectors left Baros Maldives in awe: awarded the 2017 Resort Hotel of the Year by SLH, I came to Baros with pretty high expectations. My experience at this hotel sets the benchmark of what an SLH experience should be – it was nothing short of amazing. Very proper, traditional hospitality in paradise, a well-oiled operation that I can’t wait to experience again one day.

Suzanne Drew – Director SLH Finance and Data Protection Officer

I would like to spend Christmas at The Sandpiper, after a year of feeling trapped inside and seeing very little sun, Barbados would provide a welcome respite from the gloomy UK winter.  The smell and sound of the Caribbean Sea, a Rum Sour from Harold’s Bar and the sunshine on my skin are what I need.

Joanna Renwick – Executive PA to CEO

I would love to spend the holiday season on Petit St. Vincent Island with my family. I grew up in the West Indies on the island of Grenada and Christmas for me was always a huge family occasion – my favourite part was always Boxing Day on the beach with all of our family and friends. You’d often see Santa whizzing past on water skis!

This year has been really hard not being able to see my family because of COVID-19 and it has me craving the beautiful white beaches, warm sunshine and the scent of spices in the air.

Maddy Morgan – Director of PR Worldwide

I have never spent Christmas somewhere hot and having missed out on all my holidays this year a tropical Christmas is definitely on the cards. I would love to go to Calala Island in NiCaribbean and completely switch off in one of the four suites at this ultra all-inclusive hideaway while my kids are entertained by pirate treasure hunts. Maybe I’d take over the whole island for the ultimate festive reunion!

Jessica Sparkes – Head Of Digital Performance

A usual Christmas for me is always a big family occasion, so it would need to be at a UK country house with beautiful grounds for walking off all the turkey and trimmings. However, as with everyone else this year, I am seriously craving some holiday sunshine. I would love to do something a bit different and escape the UK, traveling far, far away to the Cook Islands – staying at the Pacific Resort Aitutaki, swapping mulled wine for beach cocktails!

Laura Bizayi – Senior Digital Campaign Manager

Huvafen Fushi Maldives – because we have just been speaking about where we’d love to be right now! Maldives is on my hit-list anyway, but after the past year – the lockdowns, the current gloomy UK weather – I’d love to take isolation to a whole new level by lounging in my lagoon bungalow with 360 degree views of the ocean, basking in all of the sunshine I am so yearning for.

Viola Azzolini – Revenue Account Management Team Director

I would love to spend the holidays at The Norman Tel Aviv because it is pure luxury but not pretentious, small but with all the ‘essential’ services (a rooftop terrace with swimming pool, restaurant in an elegant outdoor terrace), just a stroll away from the lovely Neve Tzedek neighbourhood. Not my typical Christmas because normally it would be in the cold mountains of northern Italy but I think that we all need a change to our routine after this year.

Chloe Musumeci – Senior Revenue Account Manager – EMEA

During the Christmas time I dream of being in one of the suites at Le Barthélemy Hotel and Spa, ideally in the beautiful La Suite Plage with walk-out access to the beach. There is nowhere I’d rather be!

Isabel Urdiales – Senior Revenue Account Manager – EMEA

I would like to enjoy some winter sun at La Sultana Marrakech, and experience their one-of-a-kind festive programme, which includes a 50-minute massage and lots of other treats. They also offer bespoke experiences during the holidays like hiking or e-biking in the Atlas mountains or discovering the Agafay desert. Apparently you can also book to have a Christmas tree in your room!

Jill Liu – Sales Manager, China

I would like to stay in one of our Maldives hotels, for example Milaidhoo Island Maldives, just purely to enjoy the sunshine, blue skies, and white sandy beaches. I would also like to stay in one of our hotels with a cosy fireplace like Hotel Haven or Ariana Sustainable Luxury Lodge, with a simple blanket and a book close being warmed by the fire.

The post Where the SLH Team are dreaming of spending Christmas appeared first on Small Luxury Hotels.

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