Christmas in Sweden
"God Jul"
The 13th December is a very important day in Sweden. It is St. Lucia Day and the youngest girl in each family dresses in white with a red sash and puts a crown of candles on her head. This was how a young Christian girl called Lucia dressed many centuries ago.
The rest of the family are awakened by her and she serves them with coffee and freshly baked buns. Each town has its own Lucia Queen who leads a day of processions and celebrations.
In Sweden people put Advent candles in their windows. Some families even replace their curtains with red and white. At Christmas the meal consists of all kinds of meat, dried cod fish and rice porridge.
The Jultomten (Yule Man) is always remembered with a big bowl of porridge too because he is the good little gnome who takes the place of Santa Claus for Swedish childen. On Christmas Eve, when everyone is sleeping, he arrives in a sleigh pulled by a goat and he leaves his presents.
