I chatted to four University of Tartu researchers on Twitter about their Christmas. Please meet Senior Research Fellow in Botany Aveliina Helm, Professor of Philosophy of Language Tuomo Juhani Yli-Vakkuri, Professor in Information Systems Marlon Dumas, and Professor of Jazz Music Iñaki Sandoval.
While Aveliina Helm’s Christmas seems to be traditionally Estonian, the rest of the company’s holidays are as international as their backgrounds. What unites them all is a hearty Christmas dinner with family or friends, as well as doing some work during the holidays.
Let’s see what our researchers’ Christmas look like.
What makes it feel like Christmas for you?
Being at home, spending time with children, baking gingerbreads, decorating tree, and (if lucky) having snow and sledging aorund the house. Also… a feeling of constant overeating, I must admit…
— Aveliina Helm (@aveliina) December 17, 2018
Lots of different things. I’ve lived in Helsinki, Mexico City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Montreal, Oxford, and Berlin among other places, and I’ve come to associate different sights, scents, weather conditions, etc. with Christmas in each.
— Juhani Yli-Vakkuri (@ylivakkuri) December 17, 2018
It is a quiet time, a break from everyday’s stress, people all agree to be happy at the same time, there’s too much food, it’s a time for good thoughts.
— Marlon Dumas (@marlon_dumas) December 17, 2018
Spending Christmas days in Pamplona, my hometown, with my parents and brother. Quiet family time at home. Having wine and tapas with my friends through old town’s narrow streets, and the smell of roasted chestnuts by St Nicholas. Lottery day on December 22nd.
— Iñaki Sandoval (@inakisandoval) December 18, 2018
My mother’s gorgeous lamb from the oven on Christmas eve. Music school Christmas concert, with the same songs I used to perform when I was a student. New Year’s concert from Vienna and sky jumping competition on tv on January 1st.
— Iñaki Sandoval (@inakisandoval) December 18, 2018
Blood sausage: yes or no?
Yes 🙂
— Aveliina Helm (@aveliina) December 17, 2018
Yes, please!
— Juhani Yli-Vakkuri (@ylivakkuri) December 17, 2018
No.
— Marlon Dumas (@marlon_dumas) December 17, 2018
No blood
— Iñaki Sandoval (@inakisandoval) December 19, 2018
What is a must on your Christmas dinner table?
We usually have very typical Estonian Christmas table – sauerkraut, pickled pumpkins, cranberry jam, a salad named “rosolje”. One exception is that we try to avoid intensively grown meat, thus we usually cook self-grown lamb instead of Estonians’ favorite – pork.
— Aveliina Helm (@aveliina) December 19, 2018
I don’t think there are any specifically Christmasy dishes that are easily available in all the places I listed, so I’m going to say: Champagne. If I could get it everywhere, though, Finnish rutabaga casserole (lanttulaatikko) would be one.
— Juhani Yli-Vakkuri (@ylivakkuri) December 17, 2018
Depends on where I am. In Estonia that would be pork and sauerkraut. In Australia, lamb BBQ. In Central America, tamales and turkey.
— Marlon Dumas (@marlon_dumas) December 18, 2018
Lamb
— Iñaki Sandoval (@inakisandoval) December 19, 2018
Are there any Christmas traditions that you follow?
Yes, of course. Christmas are very important to children and they really enjoy our little family traditions that we have tried to establish, including a little hike in our forest in the morning of 24th for finding Christmas tree. Hike has become an important part of Christmas Eve
— Aveliina Helm (@aveliina) December 17, 2018
Yes, all the usual as in other families – gifts, dinner, gingerbreads, visiting grandparents between Christmas Day and New Years. We all try to rest a bit and spend more time together than possible during busy school- and workdays.
— Aveliina Helm (@aveliina) December 17, 2018
And I just remembered – one important Christmas tradition in our family is decorating our sheep barn with spruce trees and spruce branches on Christmas Eve. Sheep really appreciate it – they have usually eaten part of the trees already by Christmas Day.
— Aveliina Helm (@aveliina) December 17, 2018
Yes, having a lavish dinner with friends and/or family. But what that amounts to depends on where I am and with whom. I’ve even had Chinese food for Christmas in some places in the English-speaking world
— Juhani Yli-Vakkuri (@ylivakkuri) December 17, 2018
Going to the church and putting gifts under the Christmas tree.
— Marlon Dumas (@marlon_dumas) December 18, 2018
Music school Christmas concert, and later wines with old friends
— Iñaki Sandoval (@inakisandoval) December 19, 2018
Do you work during Christmas? If yes, how much?
I usually do, yes. However, unless something is really urgent, I take it easy and focus on the parts of my work that I really enjoy like learning a new skill or preparing dissemination materials. Over recent years I have realized that resting is actually very necessary…
— Aveliina Helm (@aveliina) December 19, 2018
Yes. In fact, the most recent paper I published was one that I finished and submitted with my coauthor on Christmas Day last year. His family, who I was spending Christmas with, probably thought that was odd, but I think the holidays are among the best times for doing research
— Juhani Yli-Vakkuri (@ylivakkuri) December 17, 2018
Yes, a couple of hours per day on things that require unrushed thinking
— Marlon Dumas (@marlon_dumas) December 19, 2018
I do, you always need to keep an eye on things. But in low activity mode
— Iñaki Sandoval (@inakisandoval) December 19, 2018
Do you experience Christmas stress? If yes, how would you describe it?
I do. It is mostly related with the necessity to make gifts. Children of course really enjoy it and I am also glad to make them happy, but all the preparations are relatively stressful. So, with adults in our family we have decided to skip gifts and just focus on being together.
— Aveliina Helm (@aveliina) December 19, 2018
Sometimes I have. I find cooking for large parties to be stressful, but in recent years I’ve been leaving the cooking for others to do. Otherwise, if things get too hectic, I take a break from the festivities to think about my research, which I find relaxing
— Juhani Yli-Vakkuri (@ylivakkuri) December 17, 2018
To me, Christmas is the opposite of stress.
— Marlon Dumas (@marlon_dumas) December 19, 2018
No, I just have “Viljandi stress” 🙂
— Iñaki Sandoval (@inakisandoval) December 19, 2018
Merry Christmas!
Inga Külmoja is an author and the editor of the UT Blog.
