Glad Lucia!

[goroth]

Do as the swedes do on the 13th of December, when all light and hope is gone: eat gingerbread and saffron buns, put candles in your hair and celebrate an obscure saint!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP_ydEd-yMw[/youtube]

[Iommic Pope]

I remember reading about this as a kid in my grandparents World Book Encyclopaedia from the 60s.
Fascinated me.

[fcknoise]

As a kid who spend middle school (tror det är högstadiet) in music class this is my most dreaded tradition. Every year our teachers forced is to "lussa" at least ten times.

Sweden might be open and tolerant, but we still have a long way to go until middle schoolers can wear dresses without consequences in front of the idrottsklass (the special class for sports. Hint: they were obnoxious douchebag bullies)

[UglyCasanova]

Do as the swedes do on the 13th of December

And norwegians.

Giving a classroom full of kids sugary buns and burning candles always seemed like a great idea to me.

I didn't mind the dress..

[UglyCasanova]

For lazy fucks

Saint Lucy's Day is on December 13, in Advent. Her feast once coincided with the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year before calendar reforms, so her feast day has become a festival of light.[1][2] St. Lucy’s Day is celebrated most commonly in Scandinavia, with their long dark winters, where it is a major feast day, and in Italy, with each emphasizing a different aspect of the story.

In both Norway and Sweden, girls dressed as Lucy carry rolls and cookies in procession as songs are sung. It is said that to vividly celebrate St. Lucy's Day will help one live the long winter days with enough light.

Saint Lucy is one of the few saints celebrated by the overwhelmingly Lutheran Nordic people. The St. Lucy's Day celebrations retain many indigenous Germanic pagan, pre-Christian midwinter elements. Some of the practices associated with the day predate the adoption of Christianity in Scandinavia, and like much of Scandinavian folklore and even religiosity, is centered on the annual struggle between light and darkness.

[fcknoise]

I didn't mind the dress..

Neither did I. It was just one of many embarrassing moment in those years. Like being low key blackmailed into singing "hot dog boogie" during puberty. It did cure my stage fright though

[snipelfritz]

Hooray! How lovely.

[Ugly Nora]

Can't get a decent saffron bun in the USA, so I'm out.

[snipelfritz]

Surely there is some St. Lucy's Day-associated cocktail?

[Chankgeez]

Look, it's Scandinavia:

[goroth]

Can't get a decent saffron bun in the USA, so I'm out.

I can translate a good recipe if you want.

[goroth]

And even post it.

[SPACERITUAL]

What the heck is a saffron bun? That sounds like some weird thing the bully is making the main character buy him in an anime....

[UglyCasanova]

A sweet soft/airy roll with saffron in it. Raisins are optional.

[goroth]

I just made 50 of them.
They are very tasty.