As they saying goes: never mind

Maansa myynyt. One has sold one's land.

If your friend has sold his land, he may have failed, and he could use some warm words to comfort - for example the following phrases:

Sattuu sitä paremmissakin piireissä. It hurts also in better perimeters, or it happens also in better circuits.

A sentence that you can use to comfort when something has gone wrong: it can happen to anyone.

Antaa piut paut. To give pius and paus.

You can give pius and paus to something, and it means that you don't let it bother you.

Viis'veisata. To five-sing.

You don't need to five-sing about the bad things, i.e. you don't need to care about them.

Viitata kintaalla. To refer with a glove.

In some cases it's ok to refer with a glove for the sorrows, in other words, it's ok to ignore the worries.

Häntä pystyyn! Tail upwards!

Cheer up!

Ei auta itku markkinoilla. Crying doesn't help in the marketplace.

You shouldn't get stuck into your sorrows and whine for too long time, because crying doesn't help in the marketplace.

Eteenpäin, sanoi mummo lumessa. Forward, said the grandma in the snow.

Get over it and move on. Grandma knows.

The mother of all the comfort and cheer up songs. The Finnish version is not as comforting at all.

Wedding

Weddings are wonderful! I can't think of nicer party concept than wedding: all of your dear friends and family gather to celebrate your love. Most of the weddings I've been to have actually been surprisingly traditional. Or let's say conventional. And I'm not saying this as criticism, I just recently realized that my parents' generation was much more radical what comes to wedding. I've listed some of the common features of today's wedding:

• The couple is in their thirties. They've been living together for quite some time already. This makes the gift side a bit tricky, because they most likely already have what they need.
• The bride is wearing white. Even though white dress is supposed to refer to virginity. Which luckily is not the case in reality, usually.
• No rehearsal dinners.
• There's the official wedding ceremony - either in the church or a civil ceremony. In about half of the weddings I've been to, the father has walked the bride down the aisle, in other half the couple has walked the aisle together. We don't do vows, simple "I do" will do.
• The guests are throwing rice on the couple as they step out the church. Except that in downtown rice is not allowed, because it gets mushy and it's not good for the pigeons who will eat the leftovers anyway.
• After the ceremony there's the actual reception. 
• Reception starts by shaking hands with the parents of the couple and congratulating the couple.
• Usually the food is at the buffet. 
• Modern couple doesn't like traditional games, such as highjacking the bride.
• Some DIY-stuff is included in the reception: wedding candies, decorations, placing cards - something is for sure self-made.

Wedding candies without the candies

• There might be a stack of firewood (i.e. hidden bottles) somewhere close by the reception venue.
• After the main course it's time for the speeches.
• The couple starts the cake. Whoever kicks the ground first right after cutting the first piece, he or she is going to "show the location of the cupboard".
• Then comes the dance, usually starting with waltz by the couple.
• In the end of the evening the bride tosses the bouquet. The groom catches the garter with his teeth.

Mind your ears

Music and lyrics are good way to learn language. I'm in great gratitude to New Kids On The Block about waking up my interest towards English language. If learning Finnish through lyrics is your cup of tea, go for it - but watch out these ones, they may cause permanent injuries:



Yö - A band who thinks they are interpreting the deepest feelings of the Finns, but they are taking it all a bit too seriously. Pompous misery.




Popeda - I guess Popeda tries to be a bit of a humor band, but the only problem is that they are not funny. Although I must admit that the lively and rich visualization of the video above made me laugh. Pate Mustajärvi, the vocalist of Popeda has been recording solo, so what's out for him as well.




Sakari Kuosmanen - Whenever there's a significant ice-hockey event, Sakari Kuosmanen crawls up from somewhere to sing Finlandia. He sings and acts as if he was touching people really deep. But. "Oh say can you see" may be the one and only way to start a baseball game in the States, but at least I'm having hard times with Sakari Kuosmanen, Finlandia and sports. Well, it's a matter of taste.