Christmasy Stuff

Christmas decorations in Sweden I think are a little less tacky than in Australia, with a bit more of a religious and traditional theme. There are less santas and reindeer around, and more Advent candles - the pyramidical stacks of 7 candles, one row for each of the 4 weeks before Christmas. Stars also hang in most windows, and strings of lights resembling icicles, stars, snowflakes, and even a couple of snowmen.



Hard to see, but most windows here have something - a triangle of advent candles or stars.


My flat - I went for the tacky. A snowflake and blue lights as icicles was my theme. As I didn't want to start drilling holes to get power to the outside balcony, its all hanging inside. I also have quite a few candles, which are great here in the darkness and give a warm light to the place. The only problem is putting them out - there is almost no airflow in the flat and gets very smoky.






Grey Santa (Tomen). Tomte are mythical Scandinavian elf, which are generally small, bearded, wear grey or green coats and red hats. They looked after the animals and property of farmowners, and would get up to mischief if they didn't get their single gift of pudding on Christmas Eve. The image changed slightly with time, and the jolly red-coated, red-hatted fellow became popularised when a Swede used it for a Coca Cola Christmas ad campaign.

Chrismas goats. Apparently a sign of the devil, what started out as a prank became a tradition, to send someone goats made of straw. Personally I'd rather decorate a tree. Some towns in Sweden also build a big sraw goat, and in Gävle it is now almost a tradition that it gets burnt down every year, often within just one day of it being erected. Check out the link below.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2005-12-04-christmas-goat_x.htm