It’s an evening in December. The streets are covered in snow and Christmas lights, and among them you see people hurrying along the street to escape the biting wind. You decide to step into a shopping centre to escape it as well, and inside, you see the holidays in full swing. Helsinki is glimmering. There are Christmas lattes, gingerbread specials, ornaments, tinsel and fake snow, and every advert in every store tells you what to get for your loved ones, your coworkers or even your pets. You’re more of an online shopper, so you’ve ordered everything you need well in advance, but the sense of anticipation is palpable.

You decide to get something nice and warm to drink to ease the cold that is still rattling your bones and pop into a café. You get your glögg, sit on a couch next to the window and observe how the holidays affect the people going by. Some are still running to meetings while others are trying not to trip as they rush to lectures and that one is definitely fighting the urge to call in sick from that evening shift. But in each of their eyes you see a little glimmer. Like a little Christmas magic. Except you don’t believe in such nonsense, absolutely not, of course not. Bah! Humbug!

You try to turn away from the outside world and focus on your drink. It’s warm and comforting. But as you sip on it, you mind starts to wander back to the people outside. What are their stories? What are their lives like? What will they be doing once the stress and hassle is over? You think about the holidays coming up and all the things you’ll be doing with your family. Traditions. The outside world looks more intriguing by the second. Does that person in the thick wool coat also watch the Snowman on television? How early does that sweet old couple eat Christmas dinner? What time do those kids get their presents? But then again, you don’t really know if any of those people are like that. Maybe the person in the wool coat enjoys a good book instead of watching TV. Maybe the old couple prefers to stay up and eat snacks instead of a full hearty dinner. Maybe you have no idea when people “should” get their presents in the first place. Maybe you’ve celebrated in your own way. And maybe by you I mean me.

I have always enjoyed the holidays the way my family and I celebrate. We go to our grandma’s house on Christmas Eve for porridge, sauna, board games, dinner and presents. Our family doesn’t really think about it all that much, it’s just the way we’re used to doing things. So we have traditions, they’re just… unconscious? No, that’s not right. Semi-conscious? Yea, that makes more sense. So, we have our semi-conscious traditions, but as I sat in that café sipping my glögg, I also thought about the traditions I have outside of those. Ones that I’ve never really paid much attention to before. The more I thought about it, the more I found, so here are a few examples.

Some traditions I share with friends and some I follow fully by my lonesome. The first one that came to mind is something I do with others: some of my friends and I partake in Whamageddon. For those who don’t know what it is, essentially your goal is to make it to Christmas Eve without hearing Wham’s holiday earworm, “Last Christmas”. There are more rules to it, but I won’t bore you with them here. Anyway, my friends and I have made it our mission to play this game every year, because that song starts playing in almost every shopping centre and grocery store well before Christmas, even in Finland. We keep each other updated on our progress as the month moves forward and more often than not we’ve all survived pretty long. My family doesn’t listen to the radio and when I’m in public my ears are covered by headphones, so I’m usually safe. This time around I wasn’t so lucky. I lost because of a meme my brother sent me on Instagram, which had the song playing in the background. But, as per our agreement, I’ll be cheering my friends on as they try their hardest to avoid the song.

Another tradition that I uphold is that I visit the Helsinki Christmas Market. I live somewhat close by, so it’s a quick trip and I love walking around, looking at the stalls and what they have to offer. There’s usually some jewellers, knitters and other crafters, painters, woodworkers and a blacksmith. And of course a lot of delicious food from rye bread to donuts and of course, hot drinks. I have to admit that most of the time I get maybe like one or two things at most if something really catches my eye, but after walking around for a bit I get something to drink and sit down to enjoy it. Sometimes a friend or two tag along, sometimes I’m invited to join in on other people’s plans and sometimes I go by myself, but I visit every year. I had not realised that I do this until I started thinking about it in depth while sipping on my glögg that one December evening.

Unlike the other examples, there is one tradition that I have for the holidays that has never been a communal thing. Every year, without fail, I make myself a little nook somewhere and rewatch an old favourite movie, movie series or television series that has nothing to do with Christmas. I have a few that I circle through so it’s a bit more varied, but just as an example, last year I watched the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy on my holiday break. The Lord of the Rings is a long-time favourite, but other examples include BBC’s Pride and Prejudice miniseries from 1995 and movies from studio Ghibli. It’s by far a lot less Christmassy than my other traditions, but it’s a comforting ritual nonetheless and because of the joy and nostalgia I feel while watching them, I think it’s a perfect holiday treat.

Now, before I let you go enjoy your own holiday traditions, I’m going to tell you about some other holiday treats we here at BTSB have in store for you. Rasmus makes their BTSB debut with a gloomy yet beautiful short story and Robi shares some thoughts on the holiday season and what it means to “earn” a break. Valo writes a review about Florence + the Machine and Spotify’s silly genre names, while Emilia gives expert advice for thrifting. And with this lovely array, BTSB wishes you a merry Christmas, a happy Hanukkah, a joyous New Year, or whatever it is you choose to celebrate in your own way! Stay cosy, we’ll see you in 2025.