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| It was dark when we got there, so I borrowed this picture off the web so you can get an idea of the exterior of the building |
The party began in the wing of the castle that had held the livestock. :-) They had glögg (a hot, spiced cider) and pepparkaka (basically Swedish gingerbread cookies) as everyone greeted each other. One of the things that feels odd to us in Sweden is that there is much more hugging than we are used to. Men, women, coworkers, etc. often hug in greeting and farewell. Also, everyone is on a first name basis in Sweden-- that is part of the we are all equal vibe that is Sweden. When we'd asked what we should wear, we were told "whatever you want." We were glad we'd chosen to dress up. Most of the men were in suits or at least shirts and ties and most of the women were in dresses. In Sweden, people dress more casually for work than in the US, but they seem to enjoy dressing up for social occasions.
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| Trough in the "barn" |
After a while, the party moved across the courtyard to the main part of the castle for dinner. As we got up to the seating area, we found there was a list of table assignments on the wall and once we got to our assigned table, place cards for each person. You were seated across from your date and then the couples were arranged in the tradional manner so it went girl, boy, girl, boy. We noticed that no one was sitting down. We are getting pretty good at playing follow-the-leader, so we didn't sit either. Everyone stood behind their chair for the next 15 minutes or so until everyone had gotten to the dining room.
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| In the dining room. Swedes counter their dark winters by lighting lots of candles. |
Dinner was a traditional Swedish Christmas smorgasbord. Yes, that word is a Swedish word. Translated it means sandwich table. :-) There was a table of various kinds of cold fish--herring, eel, salmon, and something with claws; a table of warm foods like meatballs, small sausages, and potatoes; a table of cold meat cuts like the very traditional Christmas ham; and then a table with bread and cheeses. Since the castle was trying to reflect its historic roots, the meat choices were interesting. In addition to typical ham, they served wild boar, moose and reindeer. Sorry kids, Rudolph is no longer available to pull the sled! There weren't many fruits or vegetables-- grapes with the cheese, some potatoes and some pickled beets. We tried most everything except for the fish. We would have tried at least a little of that, but it was very popular and we didn't feel like standing around waiting for food neither of us are very fond of.
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| The cold cuts--ham, wild bore, moose and reindeer. The reindeer is second from the front. |
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| Fish and eel |
Next, very Swedish experience. Next to the places at the table was a printed sheet of song lyrics. Every so often someone would get everyone's attention and then the whole group would join in singing one of the songs, typically followed by a drink for those who partake. Swedes like to sing! I've definitely never experienced that before at a big dinner.
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| Sing-along lyrics |
Once again, despite all the stories in our "cultural training" about Swedes being reserved, we had many nice conversations with people Thaniel did and didn't know. People seem very curious to learn what an American family thinks of living in their country.
Dessert was traditional rice pudding. Apparently that is what you leave for Tomte (Swedish Santas-- but they are little gnomes that live in the woods or under your house, not some guy from the North Pole) instead of milk and cookies.
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| Typical Swedish Christmas decorations-- real flowers, candles and pretty stars. |
After dinner, it was back to the barn for Fika. Swedes love Fika, which is coffee and sweets. We passed on the coffee, of course, but enjoyed the sweets. Then they had a live band and dancing. As is often the case in Sweden, the band sang American songs in English-- mostly old 70s rock. I found it particular funny for us when they sang "Country Roads." Dancing in Sweden seems to be more like the US was 20 years ago-- meaning people still actually dance rather than just bob to the music. We danced a little (too out of shape to dance a lot!) and visited with people, and before we knew it found it was way past our bed times.
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| Fika and dancing |
We could have actually stayed overnight at the hotel. The company had included that in the party which we found odd. But since we live just 20 minutes away, we opted to just go home and sleep in our own comfy bed-- and make sure our kids were settled into theirs.
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| Good Night |
