Every country celebrates Easter differently, if they even celebrate it at all, and I was happy to learn all about Sweden's Easter traditions this past month. In Sweden, the school students all get a week off which would be similar to the USA’s spring break. The country is split into two different Easter breaks. I got the break the week before Easter, and other districts got the week after. Because my host family was in Thailand for the entire holiday, it was just my host sister Ebba, their new puppy Kourtney, and me. We hadn’t really planned on celebrating Easter too much because it was just the two of us, and there would be no children around, but when we talked about it and realized how much free time we had, we decided to set the decorations up for my sake. Back home, we decorate the house mostly with just a few spring-themed knick knacks and ceramic bunnies scattered around the house, gel flower stickers to put on the windows, and each child's Easter basket set on a windowsill. In Sweden, the decorations are similar except for a few added surprises. Every year, as Easter approaches, Swedes go out and grab small branches off of trees, put them in a vase, and stick colored feathers to the ends of the branches. Everywhere, throughout the cities, in neighborhoods, and in homes, you can find these small bundles of sticks and bushes covered in feathers. I’m not quite sure why they do this, but it certainly does brighten the streets. As far as Easter dinner goes, it is very similar to a traditional Swedish Christmas dinner. There is actually a joke in Sweden about how all of their different holidays consist of the same foods. The main holidays where Swedes enjoy this meal are Christmas, Easter and Midsommar. I have experienced both Christmas and Easter so far, and now I get to try a Midsommar meal as well! At our Easter dinner we had boiled and painted eggs, salmon, pickled herring, potatoes, meatballs, and a few other traditional items. After Easter dinner, we ate large amounts of candy from our Easter eggs. Back at home, when we have an Easter egg hunt, we usually hide a few dozen small plastic eggs for children. The eggs generally include one bite-sized candy bar, or a few small pieces of sweets. Here in Sweden, their Easter eggs are much larger in size and are stuffed full of candy, and sometimes if you’re lucky, money. At our Easter celebration, Ebba and I each got to find one large egg with candy that lasted us each for quite a while. Another new tradition that I learned about was the witches. Much like at Halloween, small children can dress up as witches and go from house to house asking for candy. I myself didn’t get to experience or see this, but it was still interesting to hear about.
As far as Easter goes in Sweden and the US, I saw more similarities than differences, but still enjoyed learning more about Sweden's culture.
Words of the Week
Påsklov- Easter break
Påskägg- Easter egg
Påskhare- Easter bunny
Vår- Spring