Santa
And Christmas
the North Pole, Sweden
How do people
in Sweden celebrate Christmas, you wonder? Well, let me tell you!
Christmas In Sweden starts on December 1 (the start of Advent). Late
fall/early winter tends to be a very dark and dreary season when
the sun rises at 8 or 9 am and sets again at 3 or 4 pm. To
combat the darkness, people put up their electrified stars and
candles in the windows. It is also common to light a lot of
candles all around the house at this time of year. Swedish
people also like to sip “Glögg” (heated up, sweetened red wine
laced with cinnamon and other spices) and eat gingerbread
cookies to get into the Christmas spirit.
A few days
before Christmas, Swedes decorate their houses with Santas,
angels and colourful ornaments. The Christmas tree is also
purchased around this time and decorated beautifully with lights
(usually white lights, but colored lights are becoming
increasingly more common), ornaments and garlands.
The main events
of Christmas take place on December 24 (Christmas Eve). Around
lunchtime the traditional “julbord” is served. It is a
smorgasbord of various dishes, such as sausages, meats, pickled
herring, candies, cookies and Christmas porridge. The Christmas
ham and lutfisk (fish prepared in a traditional way) are also
“must-haves” on the Swedish “julbord”. It is all very delicious,
but extremely filling!
At 3 pm on
Christmas Eve, another Swedish Christmas tradition takes place.
Children and adults alike gather around the TV to watch Donald
Duck, Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Cinderella, etc. wish everybody a
very merry Christmas. Yes, all the American classics!
When the
“julbord” has been eaten and the TV-show is over, it is usually
time for the arrival of Santa Claus! He comes walking in the
dark, carrying a lantern to guide his way. The Swedish Santa
Claus wears a red coat and a red Santa hat. There is also the
obligatory white beard, and sometimes also glasses to hide the
real identity of Santa.
When Santa Claus
arrives to the door he knocks. He is let in, and he then asks
“Finns det några snälla barn här?” (“Are there any nice children
here?”). As the people in the house yell “Yes!”, Santa walks in
and is shown to a chair. He sits down and opens his big bag
filled with presents. After all the gifts have been delivered,
Santa leaves again.
The presents are
then opened, and the evening begins to wind down. The children
are playing with their new toys, and the grown-ups might sit
around and talk, have some drinks and snacks or coffee. It is
early to bed for some people who like to get up really early the
next morning and go to the traditional Christmas Day church
service. For other people, Christmas Day might be a day when you
sleep in late and have a hearty breakfast based on the leftovers
from the “julbord”. The rest of the day is usually spent
reading, watching TV, eating and just plain relaxing.
Merry Christmas
from Sweden!
| This article was written by
Anna Persson. Anna co-runs "Santa
Letters - Sent From Sweden
http://researchonkids.com, a service that sends letters
from Santa. Ms. Persson has authored numerous academic
reports and studies dealing with children. You may place this
article article anywhere and redistribute it so long as you
do not change the content in any fashion and keep
this resource information (with author's name and web site address,
etc.) attached to the article. Thank you for reading. |
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