From: valtaoja@sara.cc.utu.fi
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Re: More calendar questions
Date: 12 Sep 92 09:50:45 GMT
Organization: University of Turku, Finland

In article <1992Sep11.172022.12670@hellgate.utah.edu>, lchoqu%peruvian.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Lee Choquette) writes:
> (Please note my new E-mail address.)
> 
> While in Finland I picked up a card from the post office with postage rates on
> one side and a calendar on the other.  The name days on the calendar don't
> correspond to either of the calendars that were posted here.  Do the
> Finland-Swedes have their own set of name days?  If so, maybe I should tell my
> friends they need to give me presents on the 30th of May.  :-)  Kent?  Annika?
> 
> Other calendar questions:  Since when did Alla hj{rtans dag (Valentine's Day)
> get on Nordic calendars?  Is that something the greeting card industry thought
> up?  Why do the Finns celebrate Kristi himmelsf{rdsdagen (Ascension Day in the
> UK; we don't have it in the US) on a Saturday instead of a Thursday like the
> Swedes?  What's the point of having a holiday on Saturday?  Why don't I end a
> sentence with a period?

Yes the Swedes do have a completely different set of name days, and what's even
worse (or better), the Orthodox (Greek Catholic) people have a third one! Thus,
for example today, Saturday the 12th of September, the Finnish name day is
VALMA, the Swedish/Finnish DAGNY, and the orthodox AHTI. And yes, if you are
really clever, you could insist on using all three calendars and thus get
presents three times a year with a suitable name which is included in all three
calendars. Of course it helps if you have a Finnish father and Finnish/Swedish
mother and you yourself have just converted to orthodox catholicism...

Valentine's day became popular a few years ago, and the reasons are purely
commercial - it has never been a part of Finnish traditions. Of course the
ever-present and increasing American influence helped a lot. And I still
haven't received a single valentine...

The point of having a holiday on Saturday, dear Watson, is that the workers
don't get an extra holiday. Moving most of the Christian holidays (excluding
Xmas and Easter) to Saturdays was a part of a complicated agreement between the
trade unions and the government some time ago; in short, the workers got an
higher overall raise in their salaries but lost a few extra holidays. 
The church of course did not like the idea at all. But note
that now we are starting to have them again in the middle of the week in their
proper places and as public holidays!

Why don't you end a sentence with a period?
>   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
>    . . . Lee Rurik Choquette . . . . The nice thing about standards  . . . .
>   . . lchoqu@asylum.cs.utah.edu . .  is there are so many to choose from. .
>  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrew Tannenbaum . . .

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Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic