To the Americans Living in Finland

[mossman]

It's Christmas time again, I need some help with Christmas gift ideas. What is popular there with kids ages 8 & 12? What can't you buy there that they might like there? Any type of clothing? I forgot to add that these are boys. One year I bought these laser tag guns and last year I bought them Robosapien and the roboraptor. I needed to buy them stock in energizer due to all the batteries that they take. So I am looking for ideas of something that might the boys might like. I also want to know if you can you buy Liz Claiborne , Banana Republic or the Gap over there? I still have parents & g'parents to buy for as well. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Kiitos

Whew, must sort out me glasses, read that as tasers and stocking up on energizers, ouch!!!. We only had bows and arrows and they had rubber suckers instead of points,

[Jukka Aho]

(Scrabble is only OK if they can play in English because you can't play scrabble in Finnish with the English letters - may be stating the obvious here, sorry)

Just so that the OP doesn’t get confused: there’s also a Finnish edition of Scrabble which includes the Finnish letters Ä and Ö. But it has only really been available here since the mid-1990s or so... in its original form and by its original name. Before that, Finns used to be more familiar with a Swedish variant of the same game, called Alfapet.
 

[Millie]

I have a 12 year old boy.
He plays football, also likes salibandy and ice hockey. So sports gear and tickets are
He is starting to show a vague interest in clothes. Roll and roll T shirts
He plays guitar hero and various PC games.
He listens to music.
He watches DVDs (fun stuff like Simpsons)
He knits pipos.
He will only play board games if we are at the mökki, but he does quite enjoy them (Scrabble is only OK if they can play in English because you can't play scrabble in Finnish with the English letters - may be stating the obvious here, sorry), also enjoys playing cards.
Reads. Books are OK, as long as not too many.
Money.

HTH

Thank you Penelope, I think we spoke 2 years ago. I am going to need some translations. What is pipos and salibandy? What does this mean? " Roll and roll T shirts "Do you have Uno over there? I know this is another battery operated item but what about those mico helicopters? My husband loves to play with it He buzzes it around the dog and likes to pester me with it. Some men never grow up
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Super-Micro-Rad ... d_sxp_f_pt

[Jukka Aho]

I have a 12 year old boy.
He plays football, also likes salibandy and ice hockey. [...] He knits pipos.

I am going to need some translations. What is pipos and salibandy?

Pipo:

• Pictures of people wearing pipos
• “Pipo” in English — a previous discussion on the topic (don’t let the propeller beanie images on the first page to fool you, though – pipo is not a propeller beanie.)

Salibandy = Floorball:

• Floorball article in Wikipedia
• Pictures of players and gear

Do you have Uno over there?

Uno the card game? It’s well known, and quite popular in Finland... or at least it used to be in the 1980s; I’m not up to date on the current situation.

[Rosamunda]

Yes, we have UNO here and it is quite popular (though most kids seem to play Poker these days).

Those helicopters things are in ALL the malls this Christmas.... (attention!!! low-flying aircraft!!!) - this year's must-have toy apparently. My kids have never really been interested in remote control toys (except the hovercraft we bought in the UK which was a big hit on the lake at the mokki) so I don't think my 12 yr old would be that interested. In the malls the helipcopters were doing best business with the slightly younger kids (and the dads). OTOH if you got them one each they could have races.... more fun.

Rock n Roll T shirts - I mean anything with a band on the front. Or maybe a hockey team, skateboarding is still OK. But no logos (eg Nike etc) or anything ???? (Jukka Aho help...... a word that sounds like "fruity" and means (I guess) chav-ish, ponced up etc ie: expensive).

[Jukka Aho]

(Jukka Aho help...... a word that sounds like "fruity" and means (I guess) chav-ish, ponced up etc ie: expensive).

A word in which language? “Pimpy”? “Blingy”? “Spensy”?

[Rosamunda]

In Finnish. I asked one of my kids. The word is fruitari (???) but it means someone who is trying too hard to be cool. But apparently not chavish or bling-bling. The ones who have their jeans round their knees.

[Millie]

Thank you, you are helping. So pipos are stocking caps not just skull caps correct? They like rock and roll t shirts of any sort? Please do not tell me Slipnot is popular.. I wouldn't buy that for my own children. Are Chucks (Taylor by converse) shoes popular? Poker does seem to be a popular game. I think that I would rather find something not battery operated. So no clothes with logos on it.. Not even Under armour? http://www.sportsauthority.com/product/ ... 88.1320893 Under armour is popular here but it could be with older kids and adults.

Floor Hockey looks interesting.. that ball would sting if you got hit by it with bare legs.

So that leaves me with 1 female age 45 and 2 males age approximately 45 and one grandpa.... good lord he must be 60's I guess. Should I just get the guys t shirts as well? What do you think about one of those microfiber robes for the female? or I could get a table cloth but I am not sure table shape or size. I only remember rectangle tables when I was there, but maybe my daughter will remember since she went to all 3 homes.

Thank you again - this has been most helpful. It get more difficult as they get older. I have over the years sent k'nex, lincoln logs, rugs with roads on them to play with their cars, nerf balls, games about the US. Those were the easy years.

[EP]

It get more difficult as they get older.

So very true.

I just asked my 30+ son and his girl(woman)friend what they would like to have for Christmas. The answer was "we have everything". So I am not going to get anything that lasts. I will get cosmetics, wine, some exotic foodstuff, candles, and so on. Something like that. And give something of mine, like some inherited things. Jewellery for her, great grandfather´s silver specs box for him.

The young couple just gave us a weekend in a spa. That will not stay in our corners.

Middle aged and older people often want nothing.

[Millie]

In Finnish. I asked one of my kids. The word is fruitari (???) but it means someone who is trying too hard to be cool. But apparently not chavish or bling-bling. The ones who have their jeans round their knees.

now I am curious about this meaning? Are the jeans around the knees because the were (I guess here the term in Urban wear but I call it gang banger clothes) baggy jeans 2 sizes too big or because the draw the legs up to the knees? hipster? pimpster? what?

[Millie]

So very true.

I just asked my 30+ son and his girl(woman)friend what they would like to have for Christmas. The answer was "we have everything". So I am not going to get anything that lasts. I will get cosmetics, wine, some exotic foodstuff, candles, and so on. Something like that. And give something of mine, like some inherited things. Jewellery for her, great grandfather´s silver specs box for him.

The young couple just gave us a weekend in a spa. That will not stay in our corners.

Middle aged and older people often want nothing.

I am the same way, we have reached a point that if we want it we buy it for ourselves. The kids are in college so they want things like external hard drives etc. Have a great day.

[Jukka Aho]

In Finnish. I asked one of my kids. The word is fruitari (???) but it means someone who is trying too hard to be cool. But apparently not chavish or bling-bling. The ones who have their jeans round their knees. :?

now I am curious about this meaning? Are the jeans around the knees because the were (I guess here the term in Urban wear but I call it gang banger clothes) baggy jeans 2 sizes too big or because the draw the legs up to the knees? hipster? pimpster? what?

Ah, fruittari. The term comes from the English word “fruitcake”.

In Finnish youth slang, however, it is used for young heterosexual kids/guys (12—18 years old or thereabouts) who wear trendy, flashy clothes and care about their appearance more than is deemed appropriate for an “ordinary guy” – i.e. “like they were gays”.

Compare to the definition of a “metrosexual” (but those called fruittari are usually younger than the “typical” metrosexuals.)
 

[EP]

Thanks, same to you.

An example of things that we have got from our US relatives that I have liked: herb oils from Napa Valley, a spice mix for mulled wine, some house scent, things like that. Similar things we could have bought here, but those had a nice local touch. Ah, and my all time favourite: a pair of candle sticks that used to be a part of some machinery from a Californian factory that went bankcrupt.

Get something like that for the middle aged and older.

[Pursuivant]

But no logos (eg Nike etc) or anything ???? (Jukka Aho help...... a word that sounds like "fruity" and means (I guess) chav-ish, ponced up etc ie: expensive).

ah, "fruittari" is the modern version of "yuppie"... or whatever... you know, Miami Vice and "Don Johnson look"...I remember back in the day it was lacoste shirts.

[Millie]

But no logos (eg Nike etc) or anything ???? (Jukka Aho help...... a word that sounds like "fruity" and means (I guess) chav-ish, ponced up etc ie: expensive).

ah, "fruittari" is the modern version of "yuppie"... or whatever... you know, Miami Vice and "Don Johnson look"...I remember back in the day it was lacoste shirts.

My that does date you doesn't it Thank you that helps a lot. So they kids don't like to look like yuppies or preps is what you are saying. Prep is still popular here. Lacoste is coming back in again. No turned up collars though.