During the holidays you may have found yourself staring at your planner or calendar in dismay: How do you fit in drinks with your friends, a company dinner, Christmas Eve (or Day or both) with your family, and perhaps even a pre-holiday date or two? How do you stay on top of all the invitations sent by DM, email, text, WhatsApp, and every other form of communication that exists these days? How do you survive the non-stop Groundhog Day-like series of lunches, dinners, and drinks, and somehow squeeze in a few hours at the gym too—after all, no one wants to start the new year with “get back on track” at the top of their list of resolutions? There is only one solution: Don’t bother with any of it. If you think this is the attitude of a Grinch, think again. The Finns have made it a lifestyle—and even found some mental peace in the process.
Not content with having given the world the sauna, xylitol, and Nokia phones (yes, they are all Finnish inventions), it seems that the residents of Europe’s northernmost latitudes have now also found a perfectly satisfying way to handle the many social engagements that crowd everyone’s days during the holidays. They have even coined a new term: kalsarikännit. It is a compound of kalsari (underwear) and kännit (intoxication or drunkenness) and it means exactly what you imagine it would: Getting drunk in your underwear.
Or, if you prefer, it describes the habit of staying indoors in your comfortable clothes (or without any clothes) and ignoring any kind of external engagement or obligation while sipping a glass or two of wine (you decide the number, but the point is not to get plastered). In Finland, they are so proud of kalsarikännit (it’s pronounced more or less as it looks, but if you want more guidance than that, this YouTube video will be helpful) that they even included it in a set of custom Finnish emoji released a few years ago. (Yes, Finland is the first country in the world to have its own custom set of emoji, it appears.)
It is hardly surprising that this type of solitary recreation was popularised by Finns, who have a reputation—perhaps due to the country’s harsh climate—for being rather introverted, not interested in small talk, and very protective of their personal space (we are well aware that these are clichés, but there are also, perhaps, kernels of truth to them). In any case, we think there’s something to be said for the bah-humbug attitude.
