Christmas!

I know Christmas was about a week ago! I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas! I know that I had a life changing one. It may have been way different from how I celebrate it. But it was fun and different. And I just happen to like things that are different. That's basically the main reason I am doing my exchange. But the Swedish traditions for Jul (Christmas) are pretty amazing and a little strange.

First off, it isn't celebrated on the 25th like everywhere else. Instead it's celebrated on the 24th. This tradition dates back to Scandinavian/Germanic pagan rituals. Yuletide was celebrated on the 23th and the New Year was on the 25th. Yuletide was the special celebration for the god Odin, he and his 8 legged horse would visit the children's homes on the last day of the year (the 24th) The children would leave straw and carrots and water for the horse. Odin would replace those foodstuffs with sweet treats and small gifts This celebration lasted for up to 3 days. It is still celebrated this way today. 

The food is another thing. I am used to having prime rib with mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, popovers, and any amazing dessert my mother makes. Here in Sweden, that's not the case at all! It's cold Julskinka (Christmas Ham), boiled potatoes, different cheeses, Santa porridge, a Swedish sausage that tastes like hotdogs, herring in different types of sauce, and meatballs, of course!!!!! This is what I had for dinner on Christmas.

After you eat, you wait for Tomten (Santa) to come and give you gifts! The kids get over filled with joy and they wait for this all night. Tomten is usually the father. He says that he is going out to get something from the store, dresses up as Tomten, comes in with gifts for everyone, then he leaves. Then magically the father comes home almost right after he has left. The kids are disappointed that their father didn't get to meet Tomten, but get over it pretty quickly because it's JUL!!!! They open their gifts are quickly as they can. 

 

Of course, I didn't ask for much from my real parents or from my host parents. I already had gotten the biggest and best gift that anyone could ever give me. I got candy, goldfish crackers, three boxes of strawberry Poptarts,  two Tomten children, movie tickets, an iTunes card, dry roasted peanuts, candy canes, gloves, a hat, and two glass candle holders made in Sweden. It is going to be so hard to bring them back to the States. But if there is a will, there is a way. I have already double wrapped both in bubble wrap. They are going to go in my carry-on. I don't want them to break! 

Tis The Season

I know that I haven't written anything in awhile. And there is a reason for that. It is time for Christmas around the world. And in Sweden, Christmas is called Jul. I have to say, it may not be as big as it in the States, but it is still pretty big here. I have been spending the past couple of weeks going to see many different Lucia plays, buying things for my parents for Christmas, going sledding with my host siblings, Christmas Tree hunting, baking gingerbread cookies and drinking glögg, making a gingerbread house, singing Christmas songs, and watching the snow come and go. I thought I would make different parts of my experiences that I have had over the past few weeks.

LUCIA

Lucia is a very beautiful and amazing experience with singing, dressing up, and somtimes Glögg and pepparkakor. Lucia is always celebrated on December 13th. The story of Lucia is Saint Lucy, or Santa Lucia was a young girl who lived in about 300 CE. At a young age, her Christianity made her the target of anti-Christian sentiment. She was blinded and executed. Lucy is now associated with both light in the darkness and sight. The festival of Santa Lucia celebrates the light brought to one of the darkest days of the year, just as Lucy’s faith shown in a dark period for early Christians. This year it was on Friday the 13th. At a Lucia concert, one girl dresses up in a white dress with a crown with five candles lit. The rest of the girls also wear white dresses, but instead of a crown full of candles, they are holding a single candle in their hands. Most of the time, the Lucia doesn't sing. They sing songs about Lucia and many holiday songs. Some of the songs are in English, some are translated into Swedish, and some are just traditional Swedish holiday songs. It is an experience that I will never forget. In the pictures below, its myself as the Lucia and how everyone is supposed to dress for a concert.

 






Drinking Glögg And Eating Pepparkakor

This is always a fun thing to do. Baking cookies and drinking something warm. In Sweden, we make ginger bread cookies and drink glögg. Glögg is  a spiced, sugared and simmered (or ‘mulled’) red wine. In Sweden this is a beverage consumed almost exclusively during the Christmas season, usually with raisins and blanched almonds added. The drink can have alcohol or not have any. I have tested both. The one with is very strong and you can smell the alcohol. The one without is almost like a hot lemonade with a hint of home spice. Glögg is nice to drink on a nice cold day and it is nice to drink when everyone is sitting around the TV. 



Sledding With My Family

I have gone sledding ever since I was a young child. I have always loved it and always had a soft spot for it. In my more recent years, every time I have gone down the hill in my back yard in the States, I have always flown off and done a faceplant. I would continue to sled even after doing who knows how many faceplants. On top of doing faceplants, I would sometimes fall off the back of my sled and land very hard on my back. My luck with faceplants ran out. And I haven't done one in years. But upon riding sleds in Sweden, I have fallen off the back of the sleds many times. Even though, I fell off many times, I still managed to have some good fun with my family.



Baking

I have to say, I have always loved to bake. So nothing makes me happier, but to bake. And I also love it when I have people to do it with! It makes it so you can share the feeling of making something amazing with not only yourself. I have always helped my mother bake, until I learned to do it myself. In Sweden, when it comes time for winter, everyone bakes Lussekatter and pepparkakor. Lussekatter is a bun that has saffran in it. Saffran is a yellow colored powder that is mixed in the dough. This is supposed to symbolize the light that shines through the darkness of winter time. I have to say that even though the bun doesn't have much of a sweet taste, it is still pretty good. We also put together a ginger bread house. It wasn't home made, but it was still made with a lot of love.


 

SNOW!!!

One of my favorite things about winter. I have always loved snow. You can ride snowmachines, you can play in it, you can build snow forts, have snow ball fights, go sledding in it. There are many fun things that you can do in the snow. Being from the NorthEastern part of the States, I have seen snow many times in my life. Having it for a few months a year makes it even that much more special to me. At my home in the States, they have receieved snow in October, which is VERY early. It didn't stay for long. In Sweden, we didn't get snow until late November. It left just as fast as it came.

Christmas Tree Hunting

Another favorite part about Christmas and winter time, the tree. The smell of the tree always makes me smile. Just like in the old days, some people here in Sweden, go out and cut their own trees. Instead of buying them. I have to say it makes for more memories doing it this way. It was today that me and my family went out into the woods with some friends from my rotary club and we searched for a tree! I loved it! I loved being in the woods, cooking hamburgers and hot dogs, having glögg, meeting new people, seeing known faces, and having a good time all around. We spent time as a family and I loved it.