Any ideas for a Finland themed hamper?

[wafflebaby]

As the title says- any ideas for a hamper for someone who is planning to visit Finland for the first time?
Many thanks

[ReallyTired]

Fish

[StormyWeek]

Sorry, but that's not clear- you want to send the hamper to Finland? To a Finnish person? To explain Finland? And you want advice from a crowd of Brits?

[wafflebaby]

Sorry if ot clear.
The Hamper would be for a Finland loving Brit who has bever visited the Country before.

[bruffin]

Still doesn't make sense, why buy Finnish in England to send back there.

[Yama]

I have a Finnish friend. Here's what I know he likes:

Vodka
Mika Hakkinen
Football
Outdoor winter sports (all of them)
Oh, and ice hockey. He loves his ice hockey.

Dislikes:
The Russians

[SledYuleCated]

I think OP is wanting to make a hamper of Finnish things/things related to Finland for someone who is going there in the near future and is very excited about it.

Similar to giving someone going on a gap year to Aus some Fosters and a hat with corks on

[GoldQuintessenceAndMyhrr]

You need to buy this person merino wool base layers so they can keep warm. It is freezing. And Hestra fur lined prima loft gloves. Merino socks.
Chapstick and an a cold-cream from the pharmacy.

[GoldQuintessenceAndMyhrr]

this is the best cold cream, from Avene

[bruffin]

Fazer chocolates
Cloud berry jam

[wafflebaby]

Thank you all

Sled is spot on - the Hamper is for someone who is visiting Finland for the first time, therefore I was thinking of making a hamper filled with little Finnish related things

[citybranch]

My mum is Finnish. I'd suggest:

Something from Marimekko. (Socks? Tea Towels?)
Moomin item
Wooden thermometer for the sauna
Plastic bum shaped thing to sit on in sauna
Jar of herrings
Angry Birds item (Rovio is Finnish)
Finlandia vodka
Iitala glasses

I don't know if you live near London but the Finnish Seaman's Mission in Rotherhithe hold their Xmas bazaar in December and it is a lovely place to buy interesting things.

[GoldQuintessenceAndMyhrr]

Out of curiosity, would not your friend be better off buying these items in Finland as she is going there?

[SledYuleCated]

I imagine OP is after a few fun little things to put together rather than things from Finland, IYSWIM. You could do some more generic travel stuff, like a neck pillow, a book for the plane, a passport cover etc.

[CMOTDibbler]

Def Fazer chocs, and reindeer sausage. And something Moomin.

[Librarina]

Moomin stuff!

I love Moomins.

[CMOTDibbler]

I do too, and the Moomin shop at Helsinki airport is brilliant

[Librarina]

Oooohm and there's a Moomin shop in Covent Garden.

Possibly massively outing myself here, but I was involved in an exhibition of Tove Jansson's artwork last year and we couldn't afford to get Sophia Jansson over to talk about the pictures, so I read everything there was to read about Tove and the Moomins and set myself up as an expert on her writing. It was much fun!

[RedToothbrush]

Yama Wed 05-Dec-12 23:11:08
I have a Finnish friend. Here's what I know he likes:

Vodka
Mika Hakkinen
Football
Outdoor winter sports (all of them)
Oh, and ice hockey. He loves his ice hockey.

Dislikes:
The Russians

You don't know my finnish friend do you?! Sounds like you do! Except he just likes all alcohol (its ridiculously expensive there so he seems to go mad here) and you could add The Swedish to the dislike list (very tongue in cheek).

He also likes heavy metal (no one has mentioned Lordi on this thread have they?)

If your friend is visiting Finland, it depends on time of year but this would be my list of things to buy for a hamper:

A good guide book.

Alcohol. Something very British such as a whiskey (If they are visiting/staying with a friend this would be HIGHLY appreciated - they all do alcohol ferry trips to Tallinn - or if they are going on own and staying in a hotel, they might need in a hip flask to stay warm/not pass out at the price of a pint!)

WARM clothes. Hat, scarf, thermals. I visited in Feb a couple of years ago. It was -11C at night but by the sea front in Helsinki it easily felt colder than places I've been which were -19C. Lots of.

A torch (if visiting in winter as it gets dark ridiculously easy) / Eyemask (if visiting in summer as it stays light all the time!)

A jar of lingonberry or cloud berry jam. (Cloud berry jam is more difficult but you can get lingonberry jame at good old Ikea - lingonberries grow in lapland so are both a swedish/finnish thing).

A Finnish Flag.

An extra arm and leg as thats what its going to cost out there!

A bargin bucket copy of Lordi's Eurovision entry.

And if she's going to lapland, this year is supposed to be a solar maximum so theres a high chance of seeing the Aurora Borealis is really high, so anything connected to this (book?) might be a good idea too.

[Yama]

Ha! RedToothBrush - my Finnish friend loves ALL alcohol and heavy metal too. He has a jokey disdain for the Swedes.

I met a whole bunch of Finns at his wedding (abroad) and they all loved a good drink. So they got on rather well with us Scots.

[NettoHoHoHoSuperstar]

Oooh, put Kimi Raikkonen in it then send it to me

[CMOTDibbler]

Redtooth - the Finnish cruise thing is so true ! My Finnish colleagues keep trying to persuade me that we ought to have a team building cruise - trouble is, from the sounds of them we can't risk the team all getting blind drunk on a boat together.

[wafflebaby]

Thanks for all your replies.

My friend is a 'he' not 'she' and he is very much into heavy metal.... I believe this to be one of the main reasons for visiting the country

[attheendoftheday]

What about:

A cd - maybe Erasmus or Lordi, possibly the Finlandia Symphony by Sibelius.
Some Finnish food - reindeer or cloudberries if you can get them.
Some homemade puella (a type of sweet bun, lots of recipes on the internet)
Some good coffee, or hot chocolate
A moose crossing sign
A moomin book
A cuddly reindeer
A woolly hat and gloves
Trunks (for the sauna)
Something with Father Christmas on (because he lives on Rovaneimi)

[attheendoftheday]

Some other thoughts:

A knife from a company called Martiini - they're beautiful and really useful if you're an outdoorsy type.
A wooden cup called a kuksa
A sauna ladle
A book called The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna