Lucia of the day.
In Sweden, Santa Lucia is celebrated the 13rd of December. The Lucia Tåg (procession) marks the end of the darkness and comeback of light.
The end of that hideous Fall and beginning of the lovely Christmas/Winter season in Sweden. When the snow falls, the real cold covers the lakes and we can all be happy, snowy and cheerful. Decorate the house, buy presents and light up candles, with some carols as background.
My company was kind enough to arrange its own procession - for the tradition's sake - and invited us all to glögg (delicious Swedish mulled wine) and pepparkakor (gingerbread cookies that even my father loves). It didn't meant a lot for me at the beginning, but year after year, I became more and more identified with the thing, until it actually became my own Xmas Alarm!
You can try home too, just go to IKEA and get glögg&pepparkakor!
Mumma!
Lucia showing up, smell of pepparkakor & glögg meant a happy wait until the trip back to Spain. This year, everything is a bit different. No snow and a lovely fall is paid with no trip home. Still, we visited the Swedish Embassy and attended the Lucia Celebration, saw the kids singing and ate the mandatory cookies.
17C & sunny. Still, a great chance for celebrating our local customs with our new environment as well as a bunch of Spanish, who worked across the street, as the Embassies are placed one beside the other. Here it comes, the expat Lucia in Tokyo 2011!
Cute!
Apart from Lucia, there are other famous characters like small santa (tomtenissen)
Star Boy (Stjärngossen)
and pepparkakskillarna!
The Tåg is essentially a procession, led by the appointed Lucia, that goes around the restaurante, cantine, office, church or embassy - as applicable.
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