Julbord och Sankta Lucia

It's a wonderful time to be in Sweden.  Despite the seemingly 24-hour darkness and the ever-lasting frozen fingers as I bike around town, there is so much to look forward to during this time of the year.

The Swedes take the holidays season very seriously.  As I walk through Gälbo, nearly every window displays advent candles (no doubt bought from Ikea, seeing as how they are all identical) and star lights hanging from the ceilings.  Dark days are countered by beautifully lit candles.  There may not be so many commercial Santa Clauses, candy canes, Rudolph decorations, or even flashy and multi-coloured LED lights, but it's a different kind of a holiday here; elegant, simple, and more or less traditional.

Korridor Julbord

This weekend, my corridor mates and I sat down together for Julbord: my very first Christmas smörgåsbord!

Jul translates to "Christmas," and bord means "table." So we had a nice Christmas table with tons of different foods that my corridor mates normally eat with their families.

Köttbullar, being fried in all their glory.

First on the list of things that we absolutely had to have, were köttbullar, otherwise known as Swedish meatballs.  Elvira and I made these together.  They were really easy to make, and really didn't seem so different from regular meatballs apart from the addition of nutmeg, but hey, I'm in Sweden and I made them with a Swede...so I guess they can be considered Swedish meatballs!  I knew we made them right when one of the girls in the corridor, who rarely compliments, told me they were really great.

Prinskorv and boiled potatoes

Karro fried up a package of prinskorv, which are mini pork sausages.  They were not especially special, but apparently they're another must-have on the table.  Anton boiled some potatoes, and we ate that with senap, which is a mustard sauce.

Rödbetssallad (pink) and Sill (centre)

We also had sill, pickled herring.  You can get this in a variety of different sauces, but I think the mustard one is pretty good.  Not a fan of the herring itself though!  Rödbetssallad is another important component to the meal.  This is a beet salad made with a mayonnaise-sour cream dressing.

Vörtbrod

No Swedish meal is complete with bread, butter, and cheese.  We had a special, wonderful bread called Vörtbrod, or Julvört.  I love this bread so much, it`s slightly sweet and is flavoured with holidays spices (my guess is cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves).

Julmust - the Swedish cousin of Dr. Pepper!

Can't forget Julmust.  This is basically Coca Cola, or Dr. Pepper...but not quite the same.  Just try it and you`ll know what I mean!  But all the Swedes drink this, as it is only sold during the holidays.  Sweden is supposedly the only country where another soft drink outsells Coca Cola, so much that Coca Cola has now created its own version of Julmust in order to compete.

Ris a la Malta

For dessert we had something simple but very traditional: Ris a la Malta.  This is a rice cream dessert that`s so simple to make.  You take rice pudding (my corridor insisted on buying it pre-made) and mix it with whipped cream and pieces of orange.  The rice pudding itself is served as breakfast, warmed with spices and raisins.  Whoever received the hidden almond in his or her bowl will be married ;)

Elvira and I.  No, this is NOT what we normally wear!

And, for the first time, I was actually looking forward to a fast-approaching Monday morning.  It was a special day, because it was December 13th.  In Canada, this means nothing to us.  But here, it`s an important celebration during the holiday, called Sankta Lucia dag.  St Lucia actually comes from Italy, but is a huge part of Christmas here as well.  Traditionally, in the morning, the oldest daughter in the family will wake up in the early in the morning, to bring coffee (obviously - we`re in Sweden!) and Lussekatter to the parents, while wearing a wreath with lit candles.  Saint Lucy was a Christian martyr in the 200`s, whose husband denounced her and was ordered to be killed.  However, the guards tried to burn her, but were unsuccessful, and ended up having to take out her eyes with a fork (what...!!).

This day is so big here that every town elects a girl to be St. Lucia, kind of like a beauty pageant.  She is then crowned, and in major cities, is crowned on live television.

Sankta Lucia..am I really that short, or are they all just giants?!

Choirs sing all day long, and as I am a member of ULLA, the SLU choir, I got to partake in this very memorable choir day!  Like my outfit?  The white dress with the red sash represents St. Lucia's blood that was shed, and the candles signify the fire that refused to burn her.  We sang all over campus, and I apparently was able to fool everyone into thinking I actually knew the words to all of the Swedish songs ;)

Christmas baking, Lussekatter on the right.

The previous day I had made lussekatter, the tradtional saffron buns, so I was able to enjoy these while sitting in my boring lecture on earthworms, with Martina.  The library also served glögg (mulled wine) and pepparkakor (gingersnaps), which are consumed throughout the holidays.

I really have nothing to complain about at the moment ;)