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THE PANEL

What’s the best thing about Christmastime in Sweden?

Every week a panel of readers discusses a topic of current interest. This week: Christmas in Sweden - ho, ho, ho or no, no, no?

What's the best thing about Christmastime in Sweden?

Emma Chataway

Emma Chataway

So far this is only my second Christmas in Sweden. The the first time was in 2005 and on the 25th of December it snowed, and kept snowing all day and night. It was magical; suddenly the streets resembled the Christmas cards I used to give and receive even though we always celebrated a sweltering Christmas in Australia.

However the thing I love most is the traditions here. The real Christmas trees, glögg, the decorations and candles in every window, the assortment of strange food and a weird attachment to sitting around and watching scenes from old Disney movies. I can’t directly relate to a lot of these things, but it’s a lot of fun to experience such defined traditions, even if some of them are a little quirky.

My Mum is coming over for Christmas, and she is bringing two cases of Bowen mangoes with her, so I get the best of both worlds: family, cartoons and eating a juicy mango while watching the snow fall.

Daniel Nyström

Daniel Nyström

For me it’s the social part, to be able to disconnect work and focus on the people close to me one hundred percent.

I also enjoy the feeling of warmth and the nice lighting all over town.

Graeme Newcomb

Graeme Newcomb

The best thing about Christmas is how is seems to lift the entire national psyche. During the run-up to Xmas, with its many rituals (the Xmas lights, adventsljusstakar [Advent candle sticks], Santa Lucia, baking pepparkakor [ginger snaps], drinking Glögg etc.), one can clearly discern a lifting of spirits as Swedes briefly emerge from winter hibernation to celebrate. Pity we can’t find suitable rituals for November, January, February and March!

Kristina Assouri

Kristina Assouri

I could answer this question with one word: SNOW. Not slush, not flakes, but real snow that you make snow angels on. Christmas without snow is like having a Ferrari with no gas. It’s just not right.

Growing up in Southern California, we always dreamed of a “white Christmas”, and right after Thanksgiving began the tradition of hanging snowflakes and icicles from the edge of the rooftops of our house.

There was even a street in our neighborhood called “candy cane lane” because of the lengths the neighbourhood collectively would go to, to make sure that it was really a winter wonderland. This was a tradition my dad hated but the ladies of the house (my sister and my mom) insisted upon it and often won. I can tell you, it is no easy task but what’s Christmas without snow after all?

So when I came to Sweden, that was the first thing I looked forward to, only to discover that half way around the world, the Swedes shared the same feelings about Christmas and snow. Last Christmas was a bit dry to say the least and this Christmas season I have been observing more “icicles” being hung from rooftop edges, no thanks to global warming of course.

So, in conclusion: Swedes and Americans, we are not so different… real, or man (or woman) made, it just isn’t Christmas without snow.

Katarina Johnsson

Katarina Johnsson

Christmas time for me is a welcome light in the dark. It has a lot of upsides; you spend time with family and you have time off work and perhaps you get presents too. It also literally provides some light during a miserable period weather wise and light wise as there is no guarantee of snow this time of the year.

I absolutely adore the light decorations on the balconies, the “adventsljusstake” and the “julstjärnor” [Christmas stars] you see in the windows. What is best for me about Christmas time in Sweden is having something to look forward to during November and December.

Thomas Smith

Thomas Smith

The best thing about Christmastime in Sweden is that I will spend my first Christmas with my fiancée, Laila! I look forward to all of my new country’s traditions and ways of celebrating a God Jul [Merry Christmas].

I am told that it rarely snows in the south of Sweden, where I live, at Christmas. I am hoping for some magic of the season this year to make my first God Jul in Sweden one of the best! God Jul, Laila, I love you.

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

What’s your favourite Swedish dialect?

The Local's regular panel grapples with Sweden's many dialects and tries to decide whether they should be classified as throat diseases or things of poetic beauty.

What's your favourite Swedish dialect?
Image: Paulo Correa

Tiffany Hoffman

Tiffany Hoffman

Since I’m still new to the Swedish language, it’s quite difficult for me to distinguish between the dialects, but I can recognize a few. Here in Linköping, I think the dialect is easy to understand, but Skånska–really deep Skånska–is like its own language.

Because of my own southern American accent, I can definitely appreciate and respect the Skåne dialect–and the teasing that comes with it–and I think it’s fun to hear. I haven’t heard many dialects from the north, but I look forward to the day when I’m fluent enough in Swedish to pick them out.

Robert Flahiff

Robert Flahiff

Dalarna’s Dalmål! C’mon, who doesn’t get a chuckle from “Jordpäron” (Earth Pear), which is a potato in my parts. Funny part is that we have so many sub-dialects that old-timers can tell people their neighborhood or village just by listening to them for a few sentences.

But I think the real reason I like Dalmål is that I just don’t comprehend Skånska – it sounds like somebody speaking out of their nose with their mouth full of gravel. And I know I may take some heat for that, but if you are speaking in Skånska, I just won’t be able to understand you anyways….

Sanna Holmqvist

Sanna Holmqvist

Without any trace of doubt in my mind – Skånska. The Skåne dialect. That is what I have grown up with and that is what makes me feel comfortable and at home.

There are so many kinds of Skånska, every district or city has its own. Within the cities, the different parts may have their own too. Old people in Malmö, where I live, tell me that in their youth, they could easily decide from which side of town someone was (so it is worth remembering that the city used to be perhaps even more segregated than it is today).

Posh Fridhem or workers’ Möllan; Kirseberg, Holma or Kulladal; your specific version of Malmöitiska gave you away instantly (to native Malmö ears). But this is probably true in many cities.

Skånska is soft and singing, yet with a rougher touch from the r’s (that are pronounced as in Denmark, Germany and France) and the diphthongs, somehow: cursing or getting angry in Skånska is more efficient than in other dialects… But when spoken in a friendly voice, there is nothing that sounds nicer and kinder.

And Skånska is absolutely impossible to imitate, if you don’t speak it naturally. So many actors and comedians and imitators have tried and failed (embarrassingly enough, often without realising). It is almost impossible to get the melody absolutely right and the r’s flowing effortlessly.

We mostly get embarrassed and feel awkward when people try. Especially if they think they are funny. I haven’t ever heard anyone succeed. I don’t know if this is good or bad – it is simply how it is.

Nabeel Shehzad

Nabeel Shehzad

I am very new to the Swedish language and still do not understand it fully. In the beginning all the dialects were the same to me. I couldn’t understand anything. Now when I have started understanding, I can see the difference in dialects too.

The Swedish dialect spoken in southern Sweden, like Gothenburg, seems best to me as it is easy to understand. I think they speak it very calmly. Stockholmers on the other hand speak much faster and always look like they’re in a hurry and skip over words. I find it very difficult to understand even a single word sometimes.

Then there is this Rinkeby Swedish, Swedish spoken by immigrants mostly. I like it too as it comes in a different flavour, a bit harsh and a bit loud and with an Arabian accent to it, though a friend of mine calls it a throat disease.

I am still in the learning process and since I am living in Gothenburg I have more influence from Gothenburgish (that’s what I call it at least). To me it is simple, slow and easy to learn and the good thing is people are very cooperative even if you speak it wrong.

Marcus Cederström

Marcus Cederström

I am constantly amazed by the number of dialects in Sweden. In a country of only nine million people there seem to be countless dialects, some that differ significantly from one another in regions that are just a few Swedish miles apart.

But of all those different dialects, my favourite by far is Skånska. And I blame my father completely for that.

My father and his family originate from Skåne. He spent his childhood there and still carries the classic dialect of the region. While he spent his childhood in Skåne, I spent mine in the next best thing. Colorado, in the middle of the United States. Which is almost the same.

Seeing as how my old man was the only Swedish speaker for miles around though, I grew up hearing nothing but Skånska. When we returned to Sweden for our summer vacations, we travelled to Skåne. I have been inundated with the dialect all of my life. And I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Living in Stockholm, I am surrounded by the classic accent of the region, but every time I hear that Skånsk accent, my ears perk up and I feel like I’m home.

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