Lucia

Today was the Swedish Lucia Day. Old hymns and carols were sung by a group of singers from the Music College in Malmö. They walked into the main reading room, wearing white dresses, with lit candles in their hair. Very traditional. The program was very good. There is a clip on Youtube from a Lucia celebration somewhere in Sweden, if you have never seen one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk0FyZqNp5Q

It's a week and a half until Christmas, but the real holiday spirit isn't that obvious. This is mainly due to the weather. There is no snow. But we try to do the best of the situation, there are many ligths in the trees downtown, the shops are displaying every Christmas decoration they have, and we have already started to eat the traditional food. We have had ginger snaps (cookies) every day at work this week, for instance.

Yesterday I received a package in the mail. It was three large bags with tea. My sister had entered my name in a competition, and I had won first prize. Now, I don't drink tea, but I can give it to someone that does. My mother, perhaps.