Miss My Loves Lohja: Lohja's Old Time Christmas Fair

It was a cold and grey Saturday but Miss Mo and I were enveloped by the warm and cosy atmosphere of Lohja's Old Time Christmas Fair. Lohja's Old Time Christmas Fair is Finland’s largest two day Christmas fair and attracts almost 250 vendors and 30000 visitors each year. I am not surprised as I was very impressed by all the handmade products on offer. It ranged from handmade pottery to handmade Christmas wreaths to wood smoked salmon to fabric toilet roll holders. 

Whilst the Christmas Fair was in full swing, the visitors got a surprise in the form of an impromptu performance by opera singer, Heikki Orama, who is Lohja City's and Tenor Days' artist of 2014. Heikki will be displaying his vocal talent at the Tenor Days in August 2014, but until then he is Tenor Days' official pop up artist and can display his opera skills at events and special locations. He can pop up anywhere at any time and give a splendid performance without any prior announcement and free of charge. Fun!

We wanted to know more about Heikki Orama and his love for opera. Heikki told us that his love for singing first showed at age 3-4 when he sang to family members, neighbours and guests at their home. In 1962, at age 9, he joined the boys' choir 'Cantores Minores' at Helsinki Cathedral where he got his first musical education after which it was easy for him to continue his vocal studies at the renowned Sibelius Academy. After graduating from the Sibelius Academy Heikki got an engagement at the Finnish National Opera.

Heikki's musical talent did not go unnoticed abroad and Heikki decided to move to Germany where he sang in different opera houses for over 10 years. He then got homesick and moved back to Finland and since then he has been a freelance singer in Finland and other countries. He is also a church musician in Lohja, especially in Karjalohja and Sammatti, which includes tasks such as organising musical life and arranging concerts in both churches.

Heikki admires several singers one of them being a Finnish bass, Kim Borg, who had an international career in the fifties and sixties. Kim spent the rest of his life in Copenhagen as a singing professor. After Heikki's studies at the Sibelius Academy he studied with Kim Borg for some time and Heikki debuted several songs Kim Borg had composed. Heikki told us that Martti Talvela was a big hero of his as he was an energetic artist and devoted his whole life to music. Martti was an idol to every bass singer. Other idols include Heikki's personal friends, Matti Salminen and Jaakko Ryhänen, with both of whom he has sung together. Heikki wishes both Matti and Jaakko all the best and he especially wants to wish Jaakko a Merry Christmas as Jaakko has experienced some health problems in the past year.

Heikki believes music knows no boundaries. He has performed in many countries including Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium, Japan, USA and Australia. Heikki thinks that the language of music is an international one which people from different countries have in common and which everyone understands. We couldn't agree more so we accompanied Heikki to the library where he gave another impromptu performance which was warmly received by the public.

Watch the video of Heikki Orama's impromptu performance at Lohja's Old Time Christmas Fair.

After enjoying Heikki's performances Miss Mo and I explored the many goods Lohja's Old Time Christmas Fair has to offer. One of my favourite stands was that of 'Uusi Tarina'. The vendor was a young woman who had made beautiful boxes for storing keys and jewelry using wooden boxes and covering them with old book covers. I love the idea as it is so unique and the book covers are all originals some dating back as far as 1913. Another favourite were the stands selling gingerbread houses. For me the handmade items are what makes the Christmas Fair so special. I am not handy or crafty at all and I really admire people who are and am often amazed and awestruck by people's creations. I will definitely check Lohja's Old Time Christmas Fair again next year. Hope to see you there!

Uusi Tarina

We were keen on finding out what foreigners think of Lohja's Old Time Christmas Fair. When we heard a man speak English we quickly asked him where he is from and what he thinks of the Christmas Fair. His name was Pontus and he came all the way from..Stockholm. Stockholm is not exactly Tahiti and Pontus has been living in Virkkala for the past three years, but we asked him what he thought of the Christmas Fair. It was his second visit to the Christmas Fair and he really liked it.

*This post is in cooperation with Lohja City*

Ticket sales for Lohja's Tenor Days start on 20.12. For more information on Lohja's Tenor Days go to:

http://www.tenoripaivat.fi/

For more information on Lohja and events in and around Lohja go to:

http://www.lohja.fi/

http://www.visitlohja.fi/default.asp

The story behind 'Dokkän, Oriental Decor'.

 

In the heart of Helsinki is a cosy interior shop called Dokkän. During our visit to Habitare 2013 we fell in love with Dokkän's products. We therefore decided to get to know the owners of Dokkän, Finnish Terhi and Egyptian Riham, and ask them several questions to find out more about the story behind Dokkän. Before you start reading the story do grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea as it sure is an interesting one!

Riham and Terhi. Guess which one is Finnish.

Five years ago Riham's husband got offered a job at Nokia. I know myself that it is hard to move to a different country and leave your family and friends behind. Moving to a different country is equal parts daunting and exciting. It is almost like a marriage: something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. The old represents the things you leave behind such as family, friends and the place you grew up in. Something new represents the new country, new things and new friends which lie ahead of you. The borrowed represents the new culture you have to adjust to and the parts of the new country you have to borrow in order to fit in and feel at home. And sometimes it makes you feel blue as you miss the things you left behind.

The things Riham misses most are the weather (for obvious reasons), her family and friends and the fact that you can lie on the beach in the morning and be in the mountains in the afternoon as it is so easy to travel around Egypt. She also misses the fact that when you visit family or friends you are always offered some food. Coming from Holland where visitors only get one cup of coffee and one cookie I actually think Finns are quite hospitable!

Luckily for Riham Egypt isn't that far away and she does travel to Egypt regularly to check on the merchandise and see familiar faces. In fact, Terhi and Riham are planning a trip to Egypt and Morocco in the future to check on merchandise so Riham gets a chance to mix business with pleasure. Perhaps it was because of this very reason that Riham decided to open a shop with Egyptian interior decoration items. 

Now you must wonder how Terhi and Riham met. I know I did. Around 10 years ago Terhi started living in Spain for several months a year. Terhi's husband and a business partner of his bought a villa in Fuengirola which is located in the south of Spain. The villa is called Villa Naranja as it looks out on an orange tree. As Terhi has an interest in interior decorating, Terhi's husband asked Terhi to decorate the villa and Terhi decided to decorate it with a mix of Scandinavian and Moroccan pieces. Terhi knew a reliable man in Southern Spain who sells Moroccan pieces and she started buying things from him. The mix was a success and Terhi's husband started getting interested in importing Moroccan interior pieces to Finland. Most Moroccan pieces are imported from Fes, Morocco.

Riham and Terhi met when Riham was planning to move to another location (Dokkän is located on Annankatu in the heart of Helsinki) and Terhi was interested in moving into Riham's shop. Terhi and Riham soon realised that their items were very similar and that they share a love for oriental decor. Terhi imports pieces from Morocco and Riham from Egypt. Terhi has a feel for what Finnish people want and Riham knows the story behind the products. The perfect mix for a partnership. They met in March this year. Two months later Dokkän opened its door.

We wanted to know about the name of the shop: Dokkän. It almost seems Finnish but the word is actually Arabic and it means shop. Riham wanted a name that means something to her whilst at the same time being relatively easy to pronounce for Finnish people. I do wish Finnish people would give their shops names which are easy to pronounce for foreigners!

Dokkän's clientele includes half-oriental people and people who have lived and/or travelled a lot in Oriental countries and are interested in adding oriental pieces to their Scandinavian interior. A funny thing is that they also frequently get Moroccan people trying to sell them their merchandise.

Dokkän's products have been featured in magazines such as Koti ja Keittiö (My's favourite!), Divaani, Plaza and several others. Their products are a mix of Moroccan and Egyptian products. At fist glance the products look similar yet on closer inspection are different. The material and patterns can be different and as all products are handmade there can be slight differences in colour and fabric. For me that is the charm of handmade products. Their handmade products include Moroccan crockery, beautifully intricate lamps which are perfect for the dark evenings ahead of us, leather pouffes, bags, slippers and Kilim. Kilim is a tapestry-woven rug or other textile with geometric designs in rich colours. Dokkän offers beautifully handmade Kilim pillow cases and placemats. The placemats were Riham's idea and her father in Egypt made them a reality. Customers can have Kilim mats and pillow cases made to match.

Terhi and Riham are looking into selling oriental jewelry. Riham has gifted Terhi an Egyptian necklace which is quite similar to Finnish design such as Kalevala but slightly more exotic. When we visited the shop Terhi had paired the necklace with Kalevala earrings and the mix really works. Terhi sure knows how to mix Scandinavian with oriental style. All Dokkän's items are handmade and therefore chic, unique and magnifique! Visit their shop on Annankatu and you too will fall in love with their handmade products.

On Monday October 21st we will celebrate our blog's first anniversary. Our celebration will include a raffle and Terhi and Riham generously donated one of their precious Moroccan handmade leather Marrakesh style pouffes for our raffle. Make sure you join our celebration by participating in our raffle for the chance of winning the handmade leather pouffe below.

For more information go to:

http://dokkan.fi/