To my Swedish friend Harald Carlsson, Christmas is the biggest holiday of the year. His enthusiasm for the season easily competes with Will Ferrell’s character in the movie Elf. During December, Harald is the Christmas sprit embodied. I knew this previously, having known him and our American friend John for over a year now, but I never understood the depth and breadth of the Christmas holiday in Sweden. A holiday seeped in tradition, Christmas this year was more than I could ever imagine.
First thing about Christmas in Sweden is that it is actually on the 24th, and the 25th is more about going out and seeing friends. Since his family is separated, we had double the celebration, starting with a meal and presents at his dad’s house. We also watched “Donald Duck’s Christmas” on TV. An American Disney Channel special, it was dubbed in Swedish. I was told that for kids, Christmas does not start until Donald Duck comes on. In this overall un-religious country, it is more Christmas than the Christmas Story.
After a nap (napping happened a lot on this day), we ate another meal at his mother’s house and opened more presents. We also watched another very traditional TV show, whose major theme is a “Robin Hood” of Christmas who takes presents from the rich and gives them to the poor. It was all in Swedish, and to me very, very strange. Afterwards it it was off to Midnight Mass, which was a beautiful service. The songs were fairly similar, and I managed to sing along through most of it.
The menu for the traditional Swedish Christmas dinner was quite different, as it included the following:
-Swedish Meatballs with lingon berries
-Pickled Herring on brown bread (surprisingly I was a fan on this, even for Swedes it can be occasionally questionable)
-Smoked Salmon with Crème Fresh
-Little sausages that I think were made of pork. Harald just told me they were “Super Swedish”
-A salad of creamed beets and potatoes and vegetables
-“Julmust” A type of ultra-sweet soda. During the holidays more Julmust is sold than Coca-Cola
-Shots of Snapps with dinner accompanied by singing
-“Julbeir” A dark beer sold only during Christmas. Every year in Sweden there is a competition among the breweries for the best Christmas Beer.
-Blood pudding, which is pretty much what it sounds like. I had a rough time with this one.
We also exchanged gifts. I got a sporty shirt, a warm hat, huckleberry jam from Montana and a mix CD of Swedish music. The guys loved the goofy Fez hats I brought them from Morocco, and Harald’s mother Kristina liked her Moroccan scarf.
The 25th we made our appearance at the club in town, and danced the night away. Going out on the 25th is bigger than New Years Eve, and John and I made it our mission as Americans to have more fun than anyone in the country. We fist-pumped until our arms were sore, I showed off my cowboy jitter-bug dancing skills, and did my good deed by escorting several lost boys out of the ladies room. As a group, the Swedes we met were beautiful, well dressed, and very friendly.
On the 26th we went to a local hockey game. Hockey is huge in Sweden, and the 8,000 person stadium was almost sold out. It was really exciting to see game live, and the Karlstad team won by 2 goals, upsetting the ranking of the number one team in the country. After a dinner with Haralds dad, the guys left to continue their adventure with some skiing in France.
The enthusiasm everyone had for the holiday was contagious, and seeing Harald and John again made it even better. It was so good to know that I can be gone for four months, and the instant we start hanging out again it is like nothing is different. They both remarked on how I had changed, laughing at the fact that right now I only have in my possession four shirts and two pairs of pants. Despite the jokes about me becoming a dirty hippie, I know we are just as good friends now as we were when I left.
It was wonderful to spend Christmas with a family. Harald’s mom was so nice and welcoming, and their apartment near the river was warm and comfortable. Everyone made an effort to speak English to us, and I felt very much included in the family.
I am now in Lund, a Swedish city where Harald’s sister Tove studies. Tove brought an exchange student friend home for Christmas as well, a French girl named Elise. Elise invited me to stay with her for two nights, and go exploring in the city of Copenhagen, Denmark, which is only a 40 minute train ride away. On the 29th I will make my way to Berlin for my next holiday adventure, New Years at the Brandenburg Gate. I could not have wished for a better Christmas.
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