SWEDISH CHRISTMAS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 114, 6 January 1932, Page 2

SWEDISH CHRISTMAS

DIFFERENT SPIRIT THE CHRISTMAS TREE A MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE. RELIGIOUS ASPECT. "Oh, your Christmas is very different from ours in Sweden," said Mrs. Signe Bergvall, a visitor from Stockholm, who is at present "staying in Wellington. The remark was occasioned by her experience of the crowded streets and busy shops there on Christmas Eve, with the noisy youths and young girls, and the general air of high carnival with which the great number of people .usher in the birthday of Christ. "Our Christmas Eve is nothing like yours at all," repeated Mrs. Bergvall. "You see it is the depth of | winter with us, and that makes a difference; but the spirit is different also. The day before- Christmas Eve we get in the Christmas tree. 'If one lives in the .country the men go away and cut it down themselves; if it is in the city the people either buy them ' or secure them from, friends in the country. They usually get them in a day before, because when the weather is wet it takes some time to dry the • tree off under cover. "With us the Christmas tree is all important. On the morning of Christmas Eve it is set up in the window, where all may see it, and decorated with tiny candles each in a little holder and plenty of little flags of all nations, With the Swedish flag, of course, on top. There are also sweets, caramels, and the like on the tree; but not the presents for the children. They are deposited underneath the tree to await the hour of the giving."

Shops Close Early. "In Sweden nearly all the offices close at one o'clock and the shops at three o'clock in the afternoon of Christmas Eve. That is where it is so different from your Christmas Eve," said Mrs. Bergvall. "The darkness shuts down early, and you find it "difficult to see anyone abroad after after five o'clock. As a matter of fact, the streets are deserted, for everyone feels it incumbent to be home then. This dinner is usually served in the kitchen. All the pots and pans are polished up and the place is decorated for the occasion. The one traditional dish is the dipped bread— that is, bread cut into pieces and dipped in the gravy in which the Christmas meats have been cooked. This is called 'dappa i grejtan.' It is not very pleasant, I confess, but it comes down through hundreds of years as a tradition, and no Swedish family would be without it on Christmas Eve. Neither at this hor any other meal

is there any equivalent to the English Christmas pudding. Quiet Family Evening. Then the Christmas tree is lighted up, and there is a jolly hour or two. About seven o'clock the presents are distributed among the children, before they are sent happily to bed. Then follows a formal supper — which is really a full dinner — at about eight o'clock, No one dreams of going out, as there is nothing to see; it is probably cold, often with snow on the ground, and quite dark. It is just a quiet family evening. "Christmas Day is observed in its most religious sense," said Mrs. Bergvall. "There is no jollification, no holiday -making. Nearly everyone goes to chureh, beginning at seven o'clock in the morning. It is then still dark, but the journey to church is made bright and interesting by reason of the fact that everyone's Christmas tree is fully lighted, and as they are set in the windows with the blinds fully . up its cheerful glow shines from every house along the way. There are other services at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., but of course one need not go to all three or four services. Still, it is a very solemn and religious day in Sweden. Boxing Day, as you call it, is "annandag jul' with us — the seeond Christmas — and is observed as a holiday by holding parties, and in the exchange of dinner visits."