Finally, Christmas is almost here! In Sweden, Christmas countdown has arrived to “lill-julafton” – little Christmas Eve. The fact that even the days before Christmas have names, may tell you how important Christmas used to be – and still is!
The countdown starts with the first Sunday of Advent (this year Nov. 28) which kicks off adventsfika (afternoon coffee with Christmas cookies and sweet buns), Christmas concerts and – by now long ago – Christmas shopping.
Paper advent calenders are still popular and starts on the 1st of December. You open a little door every day from December 1st to Christmas Eve (24th) to see what is drawn on the sheet behind. There are available in America as well, but most commonly filled with a piece of candy instead of pictures. The most popular Swedish advent calender is, however, “Julkalendern” a kid’s TV show with one short episode every day. Every year is different and most of the shows are by many considered to be the best Swedish TV productions for for kids. It started in the 60’s and caught on quickly in the neighboring Scandinavian countries. For another few weeks, you can catch up with this year’s Swedish julkalender on SVT play.
Lucia is the next big event, celebrated on December 13th as I described in our previous blog post.
After Lucia, Swedes get busy getting their Christmas food, bread, sweets, trees and gifts ready. Rooted in the times when most people were farmers and had to prepare all the meat from their Christmas pig, there are many dishes on the “julbord”, a Swedish smörgåsbord with the addition of a Christmas ham.
The julbord is served on the 24th. It is also the day when tomten (the Swedish Santa Claus) visits late afternoon to give gifts to all nice children. The blog “Celebrate Christmas like a Swede” has a wonderful description of what we do. Look under the heading “Things we do and dates to remember” except that they forgot “annandag jul”. Literally it means “second day Christmas” and it is another holiday to do nothing or shop for bargains at the first day of the Christmas sale.
This Christmas tree has an eclectic mix of ornaments from Europe and America. With that we thank you for being our reader and wish you
Merry Christmas – God Jul – Frohe Weihnachten – Joyeux Noël
Hyvää Joulua – Glædelig jul – Buon Natale – Feliz Navidad
the glimling team