Päivää päivää, Roope, kiitos ihan hyvää!
I'm living in Joensuu, it's a town (pop. ~50 000) in North Karelia, in the east of Finland.

Sorry folks for being slow, took a couple of days holiday 'round last weekend (+ the ordinary excuses, busy with this and that)...

My favourite 'flavour' with viili is blackcurrant jelly (not too thick), but nearly any additive is ok, as far as I've seen used. Also, kermaviili (viili made of cream) makes a marvellous salad dressing, pure or seasoned with eg herbs of Provence etc.

I saw 'Sampo/tdtef' a couple af years ago again (first time being back in the 60s at school) and isn't that - just as I remembered - a true achievement of the socialistic realism if any!! The film makes me see John Wayne in a completely new light, as far as acting is concerned. I heard that some of the Finns involved with it are still ashamed. The relief is that the Soviet paid the bill.

Re St. Urho's (~Brave) Day: it is not very commonly known here in the 'old country' and certainly has no roots in any older Finnish mythology. What stated about it and its origins above is true, I'm quite convinced. I myself learned about it some 20 y's ago but cannot remember whether it (then) was the grasshoppers or the poisonous frogs he should've banished from Finland. Interesting that we still have grasshoppers, toads and frogs, but NO poisonous frogs;-) Nevertheless I've come across a couple of times on St. Patrick's Day (keep in mind that there are 'Irish pubs' also here) a health being raised also to "St. Urho".

terveisin (~with regards) AKS