Christmas time is here. Again! Whether you celebrate the tradition of Christmas or not you might be interested in picking up a word or two in Swedish, related to the season.
This poster is free to print (you would make me happy though if you shared it or left a comment) – put it up somewhere where you make sure you lay your eyes on the words at least daily.
You have probably heard of Lucia; the Queen of Light who brightens the dark morning of December 13 in Sweden. Even if the 13th this year coincides with a Friday, “dark” refers only to the lack of light.
In short the Lucia tradition consists of a procession with a Lucia up front, followed by handmaidens (tärnor), star boys (stjärngossar), brownies and elves (pepparkaksgubbar och tomtenissar). All but the brownies and elves wear white gowns. Lucia wears a light crown/wreath whereas the handmaidens each carry a candle. Lights are normally battery operated. There is beautiful singing. Either it really is, or you are a parent. These Lucia processions can be enjoyed at every preschool and school, and sometimes even at workplaces. Most towns have an official Lucia procession visiting hospitals and elderly, malls and libraries. There is also a national broadcast.
Lucia behind the scenes
Being an “outsider” to this enchanting Swedish tradition, what you may not have heard of are the small battles leading up to this event.
There is only supposed to be ONE Lucia in the procession. During the early years of school exceptions may be allowed but sooner or later the process of electing only ONE Lucia is introduced. How unfair. At least these days not only girls with long blond hair are chosen. Sweden wants to pride itself for diversity, but when it comes to boys being Lucia you can tell that traditions are not so easily rocked.
Teachers struggle to persuade at least SOMEONE to be a star boy (stjärngosse). There are traditional songs to be sung about the star boy Staffan so at least one is a must. This category does not seem to be popular any more. Because of the cone shaped paper hat? The annoying elastic ribbon – making sure it stays during the procession – does not exactly help.
Red ribbon or glitter for handmaidens (tärnor)? Lucia wears a red ribbon around her waist. Handmaidens, if anything around the waist, are meant to wear glitter – same as in their hair. Opinions seem to differ though, and the discussion is to be continued. Somehow official handmaidens tend to break the rules more often. You can also catch them wearing lingonberry sprigs instead of glitter. Not around the waist though.
Batteries for handheld lights and wreath run out last minute. Does not matter how many times you checked and exchanged them for new ones. Murphy’s law.
“Tärnljus” (the handheld lights of the handmaidens) resemble something out of Star Wars, and are hence used for light sword fights while kids are getting ready to enter the stage. How many lights will be broken this year? Easy to spot the guilty ones in the procession.
Ironing long white gowns last minute. Not only must we find last year’s, try them on, buy new ones and hand the old ones down. Did you know how long it took me to iron the one I wore at 8 months of pregnancy? Yes, I was an expat at the time – you know it; homeland traditions tend to become very important once you are not actually living in your passport country. Actually, it was peer pressure. I don’t personally partake in Lucia processions in Sweden. It is for children and teens unless you are a member of a choir.
Oh the decision of which of the children’s Lucia procession you need to opt out of since they tend to be held at the same time. This year all “our” teachers were being pro-active enough not to schedule the celebrations on the actual date itself. Since they all had the same idea it failed
When all is settled (well, as good as it gets) you still miss most of it since there aren’t really any chances of clear visibility of the procession and your little ones. Grandparents, relatives and friends who have managed to arrive an hour earlier (since they were not on ironing or baking duty) make sure of that. If you are lucky you might catch a glimpse or two though on one of the iphone screens held up in the air.
Not to mention when real candles are used. Hair burning, candles needing to be relit – you get it.
What can I say; I love traditions. I am so glad that we have Lucia!
Now I just need to schedule the baking of the saffron buns I was appointed to do for 80 parents, grandparents and kids celebrating in one of my children’s classes. Right; the celebration which I will only attend for a short while – remember the double booking?
December 9 is apparently Gingerbread Day in Sweden. As I’ve said before – keeping track of all days in Sweden dedicated to Swedish pastries, cakes and cookies is probably a full time job. At least if you’re supposed to keep up with the baking yourself. Luckily there are bakeries and supermarkets more than eager to profit from these appointed days. In fact, they are part of the industry coming up with the days in the first place.
Well, I must say I thought all days in December were Gingerbread Days. At least when it comes to eating them.
essential vocabulary of the day:
en pepparkaka – a gingerbread biscuit
med kristyr – with icing (icing that hardens)
utan – without
even more essential:
många pepparkakor – lots of gingerbread biscuits
mums – yum, yummy
Photo shows result from multicultural gingerbread project last year. Kids and moms in my international network had fun while decorating for local exhibition at the library.
One of the most exciting and charming aspects of different cultures are the different traditions. The best part is that they are usually free to adopt! On Sunday the 1st of December Sweden celebrates 1st Day of Advent (första advent). This marks the beginning of the Christmas – unless you haven’t been able to avoid Christmas Markets already in November.
You probably know that it is common among Swedes to not pay many – or any – visits to church during the year.1st of Advent is however doubtless one of the most popular Sundays to attend the church, if any.
So what is Swedish Advent all about; beyond religion? Well, there is “fika” involved (surprised?). We might invite/be invited to friends and family to enjoy a cup of coffee, lussebullar (saffron bread) and ginger bread cookies. Not to mention a loaf of soft ginger bread and perhaps a few more cakes and cookies. “Glögg” (mulled wine) is also popular. You sip from small cups, often with almonds, hazel nuts and raisins floating on the ruby red, spicy surface. Glögg is made with various contents of alcohol as well as totally without (“saftglögg”). For advent we also bring out and decorate our special candle light holder; holding one candle for each of the Sundays in Advent. On the 1st of Advent we light the first candle and let it burn – not too long since it is supposed to last until 4th of Advent. On the 2nd of Advent we light not only the first but also the second candle. You get it. The candle light holder (“adventsljusstake”) is traditionally decorated with moss, mushrooms and sometimes lingonberry sprigs. I use walnuts in one of mine. I have been toying with the idea of decorating only with candy but have resisted the temptation so far.
adventssljustake
End of November and December are dark times in Sweden, literally speaking. We do what we can to brighten up the surroundings – also literally – by decorating gardens and balconies with garland-style lights; preferably in white; however colorful lights are not uncommon. Our windows are decorated with an Advent star; by tradition a hanging paper star but an Advent star standing on the window sill is increasingly popular. It has to fight over the space on the sill though, since this is normally the place for the electric seven armed candlestick (not to be confused with the menora) that not only decorate the windows of our homes but also the ones of our workplaces, as well as most official and commercial buildings.
adventsstjärna
If 1st of Advent coincides with 1st of December another tradition also commences on this day; the Advent Calendar (“adventskalender” or “julkalender”). The most common calendar is made of thicker paper and holds 24 windows (“luckor”). On each day until Christmas (celebrated on the 24th of December in Sweden) children get to open one window to reveal a picture. The most popular calendar is probably the televised version; a story with a new episode on each day in December. You can buy the calendar in the grocery store. After you have watched the episode you open the window and find something related to what you just saw. Advent calendars also come with chocolate, toys (lego, playmobil etc.) or other surprises, in addition to different shapes, designs and materials. These days there are also calendars trying to break into a market of not only children. For instance there are Advent calendars with beauty products or lottery tickets.
adventskalenderThis Advent Calendar I bought in the States. It is from Germany.
Oh, and windows must be washed for 1st of Advent. It is the busy season for window cleaners as well as for DIYers.
Greg Poehler’s character moves to Sweden to start a new life – because of love. He hasn’t prepared himself for entering a new culture which obviously make room for odd – and seen from an outside point of view; amusing – situations due to culture clashes and not knowing the language.
The show is to be aired on TV4 in 2014 and has also been bought by NBC.
This clip shows an interview with Greg Poehler, an American who himself has moved to Sweden for love, talking about the show. There are also some clips from the comedy show. The first few sentences are in Swedish, but the rest are in English, so stay tuned!
Free printable – Learn Swedish Free Printable Fall
I love the fall and the colors of this vibrant season. It inspired me to make this printable design of Swedish words connected with fall in Sweden. Print and frame or pin it somewhere. Pretty to look at and if you are learning Swedish you are killing two birds with one stone (“att slå två flugor i en smäll”)!
It is free for you to print however it would make me happy if you left a comment and/or paid a visit to Globatris on facebook and liked it! You can also tweet it super duper handy here.
Just click on the picture above, right click and select print, or copy, paste to scale to the size you prefer.
Wordlist:
höst = fall
löv = leaf or leaves
varma jackor = warm jackets
äpplen = apples
handskar = gloves
höstlov = fall break
blåbär = blueberries
november = December – just kidding; November of course 🙂
familj & vänner = family & friends
skördetider = harvest times
promenader = walks
en god bok = a good book
skogen = the forrest
färger = colors
lingon = lingonberries
Allahelgona = All saints
svamp = mushroom
This certainly is a picturesque place! I held a Swedish conversation class in here in October. With most of my office portable; resources and knowledge, I managed to assist one of my customers on a Friday afternoon by the use of brain and a stable internet connection.
Could have done without the bees though; ready to attack anyone who approached the sticky puddle of lemonade on one of the benches. No more bees during Swedish lessons please.
Moving between countries and continents can cause moments of confusion also in the kitchen. Once we have managed to decipher and find the – at least almost – proper ingredients there’s the task of converting volume and weight to something recognizable enough not to make our dish or pastry completely inedible. The conversions causing the deepest sighs in my kitchen are probably the ones where volume needs to be replaced by mass or vice versa.
Long time ago I bought measurement cups that specify both ml, cups and fl. oz. Quite handy. Whenever I need more help I google.
However I came across an app with pretty much all the conversations I can think of; apart from weight and volume a few examples are currency, distance, temperature. You can also convert within the areas of yarn, running, price comparisons and dog years. Ok, so it does not contain clothes and women’s shoe sizes (only mens shoe sizes for some reason). Now that’s a minus!
The app also comes with a tip calculator. And if you are in Sweden/are a Swede; a function for splitting the bill. 😉
The iphone version of the app is free for download here
Speaking of cooking; to be able to quickly convert measurements of different kinds is surely also on the rise the more we search for recipes online; the more we share our food culture online.
Found these inspiring and cheerful notebooks in a bookstore today. Aren’t they sweet as candy?! Bought a few in addition to a white Moleskine – you can never keep too many havens for your ideas and words, sketches and doodles. I also keep a notebook for every Swedish language student that I work with. Works well; handy!
The Swedish TV show “Så mycket bättre” (So much better) gathers Swedish musicians/artists and have them interpreting each other’s songs. The most interesting combinations usually occur when artists of totally different genres and musical eras are mixed.
Here is an example; rap artist Ken Ring remakes iconic Lill Lindfors. Swedish music, in Swedish.
Check the lyrics via Tunewiki.
“slå klackarna i taket” in Swedish means to have fun, to party.
