Merry Christmas! Hyvää Joulua!
It’s been a helluva year, let me tell ya.
I have not felt like writing anything lately because life has just been a huge drain. I know other people feel the same way. Hopefully it will get better and we leave 2020 behind soon enough.
In any case, I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. Stay safe, don’t drink and drive and arrive alive!
Since we’re on the theme of Christmas, I learned a few things about Christmas trees in Finland that I didn’t know before. Finns put up 1.4 million trees every year and that doesn’t include fame ones! About one million are purchased and some 400 000 are taken from people’s own properties… It takes about 8-12 years to grow a Christmas tree. You can find out more cool facts from Joulupuu Seura.
If you’re the environmentally friendly type, you can also rent Christmas trees. A few years ago a couple of fellas east of Helsinki had an idea to rent out Christmas trees to people, the idea being that you receive a live tree in a pot and you can give it back so it can continue growing for next year. These guys even have a web shop! Check it out.
I have had a fake tree for many years. I bought my first one in 1999 when I got my first apartment in Finland. It’s only 150cm tall and I have so many ornaments that I had to break down and buy a bigger tree this year. It’s still not big enough! And since coronavirus has messed up our regular Christmas routine, we are staying home this year. I have decided to enjoy it. I love this tree – I think it looks great!
Merry Christmas everyone! Hyvää joulua!
Life in Finland (and beyond) 
God Jul, greetings from the other side of the Baltic Sea 🙂
Thanks Jesper! Happy New Year!
Lovely to hear from you again, and happy Christmas! May 2021 be better for us all.
Thank you Kate! Happy New Year to you!
Fake trees are what we have in Australia. Natural trees are beautiful but not sustainable for all.
I like the recyclable tree idea.
Do Aussies decorate other (real) tree species for Christmas? What kind of coniferous trees are native to Australia? (Now I am very curious!)
Yes we do decorate our trees, fake and natural. Only a few people buy real Christmas trees. They are expensive and not widely available. We have some species of Pinus trees, (pines) and native Cypress species here. Our climate is not generally cold or wet enough to grow many species of conifers.