Happy Independence Day Finland

Hello dears,

Today Finland is celebrating 99th Independence Day. To celebrate it I got two candles, blue and white ( the colors of Finnish flag) and also bunch of flowers, also colors of Finnish flag.
As food I made sauteed reindeer, in Finnish "poronkäristys". It's traditional Finnish food from Lapland. I have never made it at home and I was suprised to notice that it's actually quite easy to make :) I definitely gonna make it again.

Sauteed reindeer.

There's couple things that Finns are obsessed to do on Independence Day.

• to watch Tuntematon sotilas, "The Unknown Soldier", a movie based on a novel By Väinö Linna.  The story is about the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union as told from the viewpoint of ordinary Finnish soldiers. Here's a clip of it, in Finnish: 

 
 

• and watch Linnan juhlat on the evening, also known as Itsenäisyyspäivän vastaanotto. In English, Presidential Independence Day reception. It's held in Presidential Palace and it is broadcast on national television and has been a perennial favourite of the viewing public.

Personally I have never watched "The Unknown Soldier", not a fan of war movies. But this year, I gonna watch it. Since every year I hear comments like "you aren't a true Finn if you haven't seen the movie." A newsflash, I haven't read the book either.
 What comes to the Presidential Independence Day reception, never understood what is so great about watching people getting a good meal while you're eating potato chips front of your TV. But I guess I might watch the reception this year, so I know what people are talking about at work tomorrow.

Happy Independence Day Finland!

Till next time!