Christmas of old friends in Mellunmäki is unique and unhurried. The most important thing is relaxation and peas.
Flea bag the frost pinches the cheeks on the morning of Christmas Eve in Helsinki. Even 12 hours earlier, it was raining from the sky and the air was more reminiscent of gray November, but in the morning it’s like magical white earth and bright sunshine.
At noon in Mellunmäki, the morning is still going on, because Mira-Pauliina Puhakka and Wall Barren still finishing their breakfast. Rammstein is playing in the background creating an atmosphere Du hast.
The friends are celebrating Christmas together for the fourth time. They call their Christmas celebration “the Christmas of the outcasts”, but according to their friends, their own Christmas celebration is more of their own choice.
“I’ve started to look forward to Christmas, when there are nice things to do now. Everyone else is doing something at Christmas, so now you can also relax and do nothing,” says Karu.
For him and for both of them, the Christmas days are above all about calming down and being together. About being able to be relaxed without schedules or too tight frames.
Kuusi is built in the living room with joint efforts.
Completely Christmas is not traditionally celebrated in Mellunmäki either.
On the eve, the friends made a traditional visit to the hypermarket, buying cupboards full of food. The list is very traditional: fish, boxes, green marbles and peas. Peas are the cornerstone of the duo’s Christmas meal, and they went to get them from the store earlier just to be sure.
After the morning oven porridge, the long-awaited moment arrives: the decorating of the easel by the Christmas tree officials. Decorative ribbon, homemade snowflake decorations and rainbow flag ribbon are wrapped around the stand. An actor sets Karu as the star Jeff Goldblum the representing figure.
The top star is Jeff Goldblum.
“We eat, hang out, make art and play,” Puhakka lists the day’s program.
“Let’s watch YouTube videos. I show drag queen videos and you show videos of guys who make puzzles”, Karu continues.
Although this is the fourth Christmas together, Puhakka and Karu have known each other for fifteen years. They originally met while studying comics at Liminga Art School. That was the beginning of a friendship that continues to this day.
Mira-Pauliina Puhakka started her morning with Korean Christmas pop.
At Christmas people gather traditionally to their homes with their families. However, not everyone’s own biological family is the closest family. Many of those who responded to the Christmas survey conducted by HS spent Christmas alone or with one close person. For some, loneliness is a choice, but not for everyone.
Karukin says that he spent one Christmas alone. However, Kaverijoulu has won.
“We just started a new tradition of winter solstice. We wrote things on paper that we don’t want to carry over from this year to next year and burned them in a candle flame,” says Karu.
A shopping trip to the hypermarket on the eve has become one of the friends’ Christmas traditions. The cupboards are now full for Christmas.
“It was really cleansing. You got to thinking about things you’re ready to give up,” Puhakka continues.
After the Christmas stand is ready, the friends move on to decorate Puhaka’s apartment with dozens of colorful Christmas balls. The apartment is comfortable, according to Puhaka, he is not stressed about cleaning.
The Christmas zine is completed during the Christmas holidays and the days in between.
Once the decorations are ready, it’s time to prepare the Christmas zine. At the art party, the intention is to record at least the instructions for the tap dance and to document the Christmas cleaning of the refrigerator. The Tekken toy is also on the list. But if you don’t like it, you don’t have to do anything.
And that’s the best thing about this Christmas.
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