onsdag 13 december 2006

Candles in their hair

Jag e-mailade en engelsktalande vän idag och berättade om Lucia. Det gick sådär ärligt talat. Följade mail skickades:

"Swedish culture and traditions, lesson #1! :
Today, 13th of december, is a swedish holiday called "Lucia"! Basically its about spreading light and goodness in the dark and cold december =)
Originally LUCIA was an italian virgin who was tortured and burned, as a martyr, since she didnt want to marry the man she was supposed to be with. But now we celebrate this as a holiday of light, christmas carols and gingerbread...haha.
I will try to explain how it works :)
In every school, kindergarden, church, hospital and so on, girls and guys walk in a long line singing songs, carrying candles... Everyone´s dressed in white. The girls wear a silver or red ribbon around their waists while the guys wear hats quite similar to ku klux klan, but decorated with golden stars.(How horrible, really! We dont think of it like that though, of course)
In the front there is a girl who is the "Lucia" and she´s got candles in her hair... Every school, city and even the country has its own Lucia, and usually you can vote the whole December to decide which girl it should be. Its more and more becoming a beauty pageant though..
It is a very very beautiful holiday, cozy and christmaslike. So happy Lucia to you =)"


...there is a girl who is the "Lucia" and she´s got candles in her hair...

...the guys wear hats quite similar to ku klux klan, but decorated with golden stars...

well, swedish people are a bit weird, I guess ;)

2 kommentarer:

Anonym sa...

får jag göra ett tillägg?

"and the guys usually all look like they want to die, while their embarrassed voices sounds like a sort of mumbling in the background. and the girls have a special way of pronouncing the words in the songs, that they oddly enough only use for this occation. (eller hur?!) the biggest challenge is for the lucia to keep smiling while stearin is dripping in her face."

det roligaste med vårt tåg, bestående av fårösunds högstadieelever, var när stjärngosse-strutarna slog i dörren på vägen in, så att alla gossarna fick böja sig och därmed skapa som en våg i tåget. det var nog iofs inte positivt för generings-faktorn. det rann ångest av scenen.

Anonym sa...
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