cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/32844100

Finnish independence day ritual - the shaking of hands.

Picture of a widely shared ritual in modern Finland: people gathering to family homes on Finlands independence day December 6, to watch in TV how our president and his/her’s spouse shake hands with all the people invited to their official independence day party.

It takes about 2-4 hours, people drink and eat while discussing the outfits and persons shaking hands.

  • InfynisEnglish
    2·
    5 days ago

    Finland wasn’t always independent? Were they part of the Soviet Union?

    • m_fOPMEnglish
      2·
      5 days ago

      Yeah, there’s some history there:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_of_Finland

      Most recently Russia, pre-USSR, but also the Swedes were kind of dicks back in the day. I’ve heard that to this day, speaking Swedish in a Finnish bar might get you ignored by the bartender.