Finland is the land of thousands of lakes. Is the sheer a amount of water – and the need to carry it from the nature to the living quarters – the reason behind the great interest the Finns seem to have in such a boring everyday object as a bucket?
In Finnish contemporary folk culture we can find an ämpärijono, a queue of people waiting their turn to grab a free plastic bucket handed out as a publicity stunt, taking place any other Sunday with special success rates in mid to late summer, before the start of the berry picking season. There is also sangonheitto, a traditional sport in which a bucket full of cement is thrown as far as possible – little bit like in shot put, part of track and field competitions.
Bucketful of love… just don’t spill it!
But what traditional skill related to bucket could be more artful than sankohiipiminen, literally, sneaking with a bucket? I was introduced to it, as I assume most kids in Finland are, around the age of seven. It was summertime in the lakeside cabin, and as there was no running water, everybody had to join in the effort of bringing in as much water as was needed for cooking, doing the dishes and bathing in the wood stove sauna. So I was told, with much emphasis on the weight of the task, that I was to start helping in carrying in the water – and that I should do my best not to spill. Ever since I’ve spent a week every summer holiday practicing the noble art of filling a 500 litre domestic use container with two 10 litre buckets. One for each hand. It’s better for the balance, you see.
What I was not told and have only recently come to know, is that you can also compete in the art of transporting water without spilling it: Bucket Sneaking World Championships exist. It blew my mind!
When did you carry water around the last time?
Did your parents and grandparents have running water when they were your age?
As 5th- and 6th-grade homework, write a page on either one of these themes: “What everyday object should we value more?” or “Importance of water”
As 4th-grade homework, write 4 sentences about weird traditions of your home country.
Weird Finnish Traditions 