Pikkujoulu aka Little Christmas (1 of 3)
Last night was Christmas party 1 of 3. This one was at the agency with
all the Wundergirls and Wunderboys. Party 2 will be just a small
affair with me and the three guys on my immediate team. Party 3 will
be the big huge corporate Christmas party thrown by the client, so big
that I actually have to pay money to attend. These early Christmas
parties are called "Little Christmas" or "Pikkujoulu."
We started last night's fun at the office, where we had drinks (including glögi, the traditional hot wine drink), catered dinner, and a presentation on why selling bottled water is as stupid as selling bags of air. Then we just hung out, dancing and playing Beatles Rock Band and decorating gingerbread cookies. Like these:
Then they handed out a lyrics sheet (all in Finnish of course) to a song called "Tonttujen Jouluyö." We all sang the song and acted out what was happening in the lyrics, which was cute but there was one problem...I had no idea what I was singing. So I just confusedly did what everyone else did, but a few seconds behind. We started on the ground and had to dramatically stand up, then dance around squaredancing-style, then pretend to eat, and then walk around all hunched over. I was offered two explanations of what the song was about:
In either case, I very much liked the line "Tip-tap, tip-tap, tipe-tipe, tip-tap, tip, tip, tap!" Someone shot a video of our song and dance and will be posting it on youtube so we can send it out as a company Christmas card, and of course I will share that as soon as I get the link.
Shortly after we headed to a fancy cocktail bar, where we had yummy berry-based cocktails and broke approximately 40 champagne glasses because everyone was pretty wasted. It was really nice because the music wasn't too too loud so you could actually talk and joke around with everyone. Apparently I talked and laughed a lot, because my voice is totally hoarse today. While we were at the cocktail lounge, one of the Wundergirls told me about a bar next door, which is one of Helsinki's best rock bars so we went to check that out. There's an upstairs bar part and a downstairs venue, and lots of rocker types hanging around. It is the Finnish Gatti's!! Yay, a potential candidate for my bar...in that sense becoming the Finnish Tin Hat!
After that, a few of us went and got some pizza. While eating my pizza, I looked at my watch and saw that it was 5am. The party started at 4pm. This was a THIRTEEN HOUR PARTY. Realizing it was so late/early made me suddenly very tired, so I called it a night. Another one of the Wundergirls shared a cab with me, and I managed to get all the way home without vomiting in my mouth OR on my knee! I consider that a success, although I think all my Finnish friends would probably be a little disappointed.
We started last night's fun at the office, where we had drinks (including glögi, the traditional hot wine drink), catered dinner, and a presentation on why selling bottled water is as stupid as selling bags of air. Then we just hung out, dancing and playing Beatles Rock Band and decorating gingerbread cookies. Like these:
Then they handed out a lyrics sheet (all in Finnish of course) to a song called "Tonttujen Jouluyö." We all sang the song and acted out what was happening in the lyrics, which was cute but there was one problem...I had no idea what I was singing. So I just confusedly did what everyone else did, but a few seconds behind. We started on the ground and had to dramatically stand up, then dance around squaredancing-style, then pretend to eat, and then walk around all hunched over. I was offered two explanations of what the song was about:
- It was a children's song about little Christmas elves who
sneak out of their holes and tip-toe around, go into people's houses,
eat their food, dance, play, and then pick up their messes and sneak
off on tip-toes back to their elf holes.
- It was a song for the annual ritual where we reaffirm our
allegiance to Satan. As a first-time participant, I was Satan's newest
bride. The part at the end where we hunched over was our descent back into
the fiery pit of hell.
In either case, I very much liked the line "Tip-tap, tip-tap, tipe-tipe, tip-tap, tip, tip, tap!" Someone shot a video of our song and dance and will be posting it on youtube so we can send it out as a company Christmas card, and of course I will share that as soon as I get the link.
Shortly after we headed to a fancy cocktail bar, where we had yummy berry-based cocktails and broke approximately 40 champagne glasses because everyone was pretty wasted. It was really nice because the music wasn't too too loud so you could actually talk and joke around with everyone. Apparently I talked and laughed a lot, because my voice is totally hoarse today. While we were at the cocktail lounge, one of the Wundergirls told me about a bar next door, which is one of Helsinki's best rock bars so we went to check that out. There's an upstairs bar part and a downstairs venue, and lots of rocker types hanging around. It is the Finnish Gatti's!! Yay, a potential candidate for my bar...in that sense becoming the Finnish Tin Hat!
After that, a few of us went and got some pizza. While eating my pizza, I looked at my watch and saw that it was 5am. The party started at 4pm. This was a THIRTEEN HOUR PARTY. Realizing it was so late/early made me suddenly very tired, so I called it a night. Another one of the Wundergirls shared a cab with me, and I managed to get all the way home without vomiting in my mouth OR on my knee! I consider that a success, although I think all my Finnish friends would probably be a little disappointed.
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