Christmas Eve Review

  • December 26, 2006 6:04 PM

I forgot to write about Christmas Eve. I had a good Christmas this year.

The morning started out with delivering Christmas chocolates to family-friends. We got a 5-hour tour of many Stockholm suburbs, including a couple apartments, a country farmhouse, and a ride on the ferry. The people at the houses gave us chocolate pieces and said that it was a Swedish tradition to give something back if a person delivers a gift. Some also gave us tours of their homes so I could see how they were decorated.

People tend to decorate their windows here much more than in the States. They put up holiday-themed curtains and display upside-down v-shaped candleholders and lit up stars. I also noticed alot of amaryllis bulbs.

We got home just in time for Kalle Anka (swedish for Donald Duck), the yearly Disney Christmas special. It’s a set of edited clips from throughout the years, and dubbed in Swedish, and with Swedish subtitles. I recognized quite a few of the clips, but had a hard time understanding it because of the dubbing.

Afterward was dinner – salted ham, mashed potatoes, mashed parsnip, ham and cheese sandwiches, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers. For desert, we had rice pudding. Usually the one who finds the almond/cinnamon stick in their pudding dish either has to do the dishes or has good luck for the next year.  I wasn’t clear which, but it was delicious.

That evening, we opened presents. Thomas’ family was very kind to me and I received many gifts – alot of kitchen and bath items.  Thomas got me a gift certificate for a day spa in Georgia. Thomas’ sister was able to be included from North Carolina by connecting with us on video conference and through a recorded DVD of Thomas’ niece.
I took a few photos of throughout the day and of some of the traditional decorations around the house. The entry photo shows a tasty treat called bulla – like little sweet rolls, but with marzipan and pearl sugar.

Bromma Airport Geocache

  • December 26, 2006 2:11 PM

A couple of months ago, I received a notice that my Swedish Picture Dictionary Travelbug returned to a geocache near Thomas’ parents house. I had dropped it off two years ago when I was here last time. I left a notice on the Travelbug page to leave it in that cache so I could see it when I visited this holiday. Today, we found it.

The walk was about 2 miles each way, and the cache was hidden at the Bromma Airport, which is a pretty small airport. We passed through a shopping area that has the Swedish equivalent to Home Depot, Walmart, and Best Buy and stopped for a French hotdog and Coca Cola Light. I was excited that I was able to use the little Swedish I’ve learned in my language class to order my meal. The guy selling the food was excited to practice his English with me.

Tomte Clause

  • December 23, 2006 4:38 PM

While Thomas and I were downtown, we stopped at a department store called NK. Inside, kids were lined up to sit on Santa’s lap, except that it wasn’t Santa. In Sweden, Tomte comes to visit. His suite was a little different (seen in entry photo) and the parents didn’t have to pay for a photograph.

I did some reading up on Tomte: (paraphrased)

For centuries, it was tradition to set out a bowl of porridge for Tomte, the Christmas gnome, on Christmas Eve. Tomte would decide the family’s fortunes for the coming year. In the 1880s, Swedish artist Jenny Nystrom drew jultomten as a white-bearded gnome in a red cone cap.

Jultomten impersonators hand out presents, or julklapp — “Christmas knocks.” The name comes from an ancient gift-giving tradition where the gift-giver would creep to a friend’s door, knock hard, open the door and throw the present inside the house — then run.

The recipient would have to figure out the identity of the giver by deciphering a little verse written on the wrapping. Some Swedes still spend hours writing clever rhymes to attach to each gift, suggesting its contents, or teasing the recipient.

Tomorrow, we’ll be delivering gifts early in the morning julklapp-style to Thomas’ family’s friends. Tomte will visit our house while we’re gone, and we’ll open presents after dinner.

Shopping in Gamla Stan

  • December 23, 2006 2:36 PM

On Friday, Thomas and I went to Gamla Stan. We had a delicious lunch with his Mom at a little cafe, and then we headed our separate ways for Christmas shopping. We went by Thomas’ favorite music store, Sound Pollution, where they have plenty of angry Swedish metal, and then looked in a few tourist shops.

I was amused by a Scientology bookstore we passed – one wall was covered with the same book, and when I asked Thomas what kind of bookstore had such limited inventory, he pointed out the Scientology sign.

Before meeting up again, Thomas and I walked to Riddarholmen to get a closer look at his favorite church.

The soda in the entry photo is called Julmust.  It’s only sold at Christmas time.

Hanging Out in Djurgarden

  • December 23, 2006 11:57 AM

Thursday, Thomas and I went to Djurgarden with his mom. We ate lunch (shrimp soup and applecake) and then walked around Waldemarsudde Museum. The museum had an quilt exhibit by Kaffe Fassett. He has a very simple and colorful style, and he only uses fabrics he’s designed. Unfortunately, cameras were not allowed inside. Outside, though, I was amazed that the sun started setting around 3PM.