Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Christmas is coming the goose, the turkey, the ham, the duck, the rabbit is getting fat.

Ok, here in Sweden we might not eat THAT much Christmas food, but it nearly seems like it! Tonight, I suppose, is the day they start celebrating. Tonight we are eating some sort of special "roll" that is boiled in water with vegetables and that kicks off the eating frenzy. Tomorrow is then "Julafton", which to us is Christmas Eve Day. The day we do nothing, but here in Sweden, it's the big day! We are going to eat a Julbord, which is ham, meatballs, herring (which I promised I would try), and many many other things. I promise, I will take a lot of pictures. There are a lot of foods they are telling me about, that make me a little bit nervous. We will eat that all together at 1 or 2 pm, then at 3 we will watch "kalle anka" which is Donald Duck, but every year they ALL watch is at 3 and it's a very traditional and old Christmas special. After that is when granpa goes and "gets the newspaper" and then magically Santa appears! And brings gifts! Fun that he comes in the middle of the day and you actually get to see him! :)

The next day is "Juldagen" which is our Christmas day, which is the best day. Well here, it's the nothing day. They sit around, mess about with their gifts, watch TV, rest, do whatever. So I will make some Christmas potato soup, which is what I always remember my dad making for Christmas.

The next day is "Annandag jul" the day after Christmas. And this day, they celebrate again! What?! Great! We are going to have a smaller get together, with just his sisters and their fiances, and eat a nice big turkey!

I am so excited I can't wait to see and feel what Christmas is like here in Sweden. I want to share something so special with Fredrik. I think sharing Christmas the way your spouse did their childhood is really important. The 26th is also special, because it is the day Fredrik first stepped foot in Kansas! One of the best days of my life!

All in all, I am in a VERY joyful and jolly mood. There is about 5-6 inches of snow, I baked a beautiful red velvet cake for tomorrow, Fredrik will be home from work soon and will have 4 days off, and tomorrow is Julafton! :) I have been taking pictures of snow, the cake and other interesting things, but I forgot to get my camera cable, so it will have to wait untill later to see pictures! I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

The Swedish word of the day is "julklappor" which means "Christmas gifts" and is pronounced "yulklappor". Here in Sweden, you don't even have to ask them to wrap your Christmas gift, they just automatically do it, even if it isn't even a Christmas gift! :) They are REALLY good and really fast!

3 comments:

  1. I love your Christmas spirit in this post and I'm so happy for you that you've decided to embrace fully the gift that it is to spend a Christmas in Sweden with the man that will be your husband. You'll never forget it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It sounds as it there are a lot of feasting to a Christmas in Sweden just like in the USA! We are having a white Christmas here in Colorado, too! Make many sweet memories!

    Gran of The Dukes
    Colorado, USA

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds likes LOTS of opportunities for "Kodak" moments. Enjoy this first holiday in Sweden with Fredrik and his family. Write EVERYTHING down so you can share all of the details and then next year we can include some Swedish traditions in our celebrations. Merry Christmas and God Bless! --Leslie :)

    ReplyDelete