Holiday traditions
Key holidays that can come into the discussion are midsummer, Santa Lucia, and Christmas.
Ideas for talking about midsummer:
- The process of creating the maypole
- Gathering everyone for the afternoon’s festivities
- The dancing and singing (see the page with songs and the dance pictures)
- Creating flower wreaths
- The tradition of seven types of flowers under the pillow so a girl can dream about the man she will marry
- The food tradition (basically a description of the smorgasbord)
- Dancing on the dock in the evening
Ideas for talking about Santa Lucia:
- Saffron buns (discuss the flavor, the shapes)
- How it is celebrated at schools, work, and at home
- The music and words
- The story of St. Lucy (Santa Lucia)
Ideas for talking about Christmas
- Typical decorations
- lit stars in the windows
- white strings of lights in outdoor bushes and as decoration on the house
- straw figures and ornaments
- candles
- Advent tradition
- Christmas Eve as the key day of celebration
- Julmiddag (describe typical dishes, including ham and rice pudding)
- Jultomten (the Christmas elf, essentially Santa Claus)
- Kalle Anka (Donald Duck, shown about 3pm in the afternoon)