As well as free drinks they had a little buffet, so everyone was eating free cheese, meatballs, olives, pickled onions, chocolates and biscuits, so it was like a real party. There was also free non-alcoholic glögi on tap. For English people, it's like mulled wine but the Finns prefer to add rum or vodka. As this was without alcohol, it was warm, spicy fruit juice. I can now say with certainty that making a cocktail from glögi and Karpalo Lonkero does not produce very pleasant results.
I've never been to a bar in England that made such an effort just to make everyone happy at Christmas. On New Years Eve last year The Dev in Camden gave a free shot of Jäger to the first 100 people through the door, but as you had to pay £5 entry for a bar that's normally free it didn't really make much difference. It just meant you'd bought a very expensive shot, and apart from that nothing happened. I'm told this really isn't unusual in Finland, and that lots of bars do it for Christmas, New Years Eve and the bar's birthday.
It was nice though, it involved some drunken phone calls to England and it was nice to hear some English voices again. I think everyone was very happy.
I ought to go to Maistraati to finish sorting out my social security but today is more a day for sitting down quietly.
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