Hyvää Ystävänpäivää!

I know I’m late!

I also know I am probably becoming boring by constantly emphasizing things I love about Finland, and luckily for me, the list seems to be expanding all the time. (But then again, not so luckily when I remember that I am actually leaving the country quite soon.) One of the things I liked not long ago was realizing how Finns perceive Valentine’s Day. I am one of those people who don’t really appreciate the date. I strongly believe it is a holiday invented to make malls happy, as well as candy and silly teddy bears manufacturers. I also believe that love should be cherished and praised every day, not once a year. And last but not least, I have been single for so long that I am a bit sceptical towards a holiday that celebrates love. Not my cup of tea, definitely.

(via)

But what does it have to do with Finland?

Well, you see, Finns either agree with me on some of the points above, or are even smarter businessmen that the rest of the world, for they do not celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 14th – at least not in the way the rest of the western world does – but Ystävänpäivä. Friend's Day! How awesome is that? No need to feel left behind on that date because you don’t have a date. Everybody’s got a friend. (I strongly hope so.)

So when it comes to me, I admit that two most important thing in my life start with F. No, it’s not that, you perv :) and it’s not Friday either. Even though I love Fridays. Oooh, Fridays are so good. But no, this time I’m thinking of Friends and Family.

I’ve been through some rough times recently. I’m sure it happens to all of us from time to time, so you just have to endure the bad things and hope for the best. That’s what I usually think, but even a bag of positivity such as myself is allowed to have bad days with no sunlight anywhere to be seen or expected. And I wish to thank my friends for going through it with me.

Thank you for accepting me for who I am, even though I know I can be a pain in the ass.

Thank you for not agreeing with me all the times. It takes a while to understand that my opinion is not always the best and that I’m biased towards this or that, which then affects my attitudes.

Thank you for letting me think my opinion is the best from time to time.

Thank you for sending me hair spray from Germany.

Thank you for China.

Thank you for planning the trip to Brussels with me.

Thank you for Helsinki and Tallinn.

Thank you for all the other trips, I hope there would be many.

Thank you for always being supportive.

Thank you for all the talks, from the contemplations on our purpose in this world to somebody’s really bad taste in clothes (also known as gossip – a guilty pleasure of mine).

Thank you for trying to pull me up when I’m down.

Thank you for being down with me sometimes. Down is also okay if you have cookies and a good friend.

Thank you for being my roomate and still loving me afterwards.

Thank you for not trying to elicite an explanation of importance of having 24 different nail polish colors. And yes, they are different. And yes, that’s the way life should be.

Thank you for making me coffee in the morning.

Thank you for making me bed in the evening when I’m out. And sorry for not respecting it enough and making it myself again – it’s not me, it’s my OCD. Flowers go up.

Thank you for understanding that, too.

Thank you for being a friend even though we don’t talk often or see each other often.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me.

Thank you for letting me know that I’m not the most lost person in the world.

Thank you for being the best versions of yourselves, so I can be proud of you. And I am!

Thank you for holding my hand when you know times are hard.

Thank you for the laugh.

Thank you for the tears.

And most important of all, thank you for being one click or call away. It means the world to me.