CottageLife

In my previous post I told you how Lapland shows you different things on summer season than winter. But after Summer Solstice, at least on the begin of July the whole Finland seems to close up all its public services and people seem to vanish somewhere.

Lapland's population is approx. 176 000 persons. People mostly don't go away to foreign countries for a longer than 1-2 week holiday in June-August, so they mostly stay in Lapland. But where? Mostly at cottages or at homes. But what is this cottage culture of Finland?

It is "mökki" = the cottage. But why it is there? Why this culture appears so strong all over Finland and also among those persons who already have a house of their own and live even rural? Why they have "mökki"?

First of all it is important to understand that it echoes from old traditional culture from different point of views all over Finland with the same result: summer cottages. When Sámi people lived full traditional life style according to the cycle of the nature they had to travel around like a circle or fort and back, depending on their livelihood. They started to put up permanent small dwellings because it made life a bit more easier. Later when the laws changed because of colonialism they started to have the permanent house where they were forced to stay but still had these dwellings here and there because of their livelihood and surviving. These dwellings still provided shelter when herding, hunting and fishing. Similar culture elsewhere in Finland made people to build dwellings too. All these small cottages were called by different names according to their purposes and geographical location: summer cottages, boat houses, church cottages, meadow shelters etc.

When telling the history of the cottages in Finland it is often connected to the wealthy southern people who started to build up villas by the waters in late 1800 and early 1900. But it is important to understand that the folk had it already and with a long tradition. These cottages had provided even sanctuary during the previous wars and provided it also in 1900 wars. They were the places local people escaped to and hide in  to stay alive over the restless times. Only after the wars in 1900, which means at 50´s-60´s the cottage culture changed closer to it what it is today. People started to maintain only one cottage and they put their money and effort on it. First they re-built their houses in 1945-1950, which were destroyed in the wars, then they kept on building the cottages. And from that the modern culture of the cottages of Finland was born. And because of the wars it is difficult to find older cottages than that in Lapland, where almost everything was burnt in the middle on 40's.

Today these cottages provide sanctuary especially for mental stress of modern work-life pressure for many people living in Finland. We don't have a cottage of our own. We used to go to one shared cottage in Levi. Since covid-19 we have not been there because it was sold. Since that we have been renting one when feeling or needing so. Every now and then we have been invited to visit ones cottages but this summer we actually have accepted few invitations. These pictures on this post are from one private cottage by a big lake in central Lapland area.

If you are invited to visit someone's cottage in Finland they usually say literally: "Come some day for a visit." When a person living in Finland invites you for a visit in their home it means you really are invited and you can pick up the date. In the modern world you are expected to announce the date and the time for the visit ones home. Simply because people are working somewhere else than at home. 

When you are invited to visit the cottage you need to ask the wished date and time for the visit. It means also finding out for how long visit you are invited to: few hours or few nights. When you go, don't expect free room service. You are invited to work there like part of the family, not just hang around like a guest. Don't let yourself to be served. They probably say "no no, you don't need to help, you are our guest" but make sure you are self-initiated and helping also the others. If you are invited over the night bring your own lining or sleeping back and towels. You can get them from the super markets, even disposable, just ask if you can't find. Just use your brains and think how you would like your guests to act if it would be your cottage and your holiday there when your friends are visiting. Like always: live room for the physical space and remember the sauna manners.

The cottages can be very modern with all the facilities. There might be the electricity and sewerage but also no electricity nor indoor toilet. When visiting someone's cottages it is a habit to bring a gift. Practical things are valued, not decorations. Practical gifts can be something that comes to the hygiene or sanitary, disposable kitchen ware, coffee & tea or for example a gift card to ironware store. Also, ask if you can bring something from the grocery. Usually there is no grocery anywhere nearby the cottage so they might have run out of something.

I have wanted to make my own house Green Lady feel like a holiday and cottage. In the way that we don't necessary need to go away to get the holiday mood. If I some day have a cottage of my own I want it to have these beautiful timber walls. Everything else is out of the question. I love these old coffee grinders which are on display at the cottage we visited in June, and will be visiting again in the future. Although I don't drink coffee, I love its aroma. These items reminds me of my childhood.

At the cottages of local people you can see and experience part of the culture history. In Finland you can rent many kind of cottages, also the ones made only for the tourism. They are great too but miss the authentic part.

What is the hook on the wall? Folk calls it "keksin pää". If you use translator for that you get the translation "cookie head" which is actually funny. 😂 It is actually part of the timber rafting tradition. It is like the hook of the pike pole but in log rafting much bigger and stronger. 

When boating with my Forest Sámi grandpa I was his deckhand. On that time children's' life jackets were unpractical, even dangerous if not needed for the saving your life in the water. That's why when carrying out deckhand's duties on his boat for him I was not using the life jacket. Our safety rules were the fact that I needed to be able to dive, swim for 5 minutes in the river / sea, scream aloud and wear a loose-neck shirt. He never allowed me on board before checking my shirt. Why? 

Diving: If I fell off the deck into the water I needed to be able to hold my breath and dive. You fall actually at first into the water. You get up when you just kick by you legs. The surface is always there where is more light. 

Swimming for 5 minutes: It was the time my grandpa evaluated he need for to rescue me.

Screaming aloud: At least that made him to notice I fell off.

Loose-neck shirt: He picked me up from that by the hook of his log rifting pike pole back on the deck. Wow! 

Sounds rough but that's how the life was back then. He had worked also in log rifting so he knew how to do and handle it. But with me he never needed those skills to save a kid. 😅

The cabin we visited has an interesting project going on. There lives bats which you spot in Finland quite rarely. Usually people fear bats and don't want them nearby. At this cottage they have put up even few bat houses after spotting one that needed human help. In Finland I have never seen a bat. Travelling in Greece I saw one at once. 💛

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Water safety rules: Learn to swim. Teach your kids to swim. If the water is a strange element to you, take a course for this and practice your skills. Never go into the natural waters if you can't swim. There might be surprises under the water even it looks shallow. In Finland you can have fatal hypothermia even in low waters during the summer months!