Sweeney's in Sweden!

This picture is to PROVE that we don't eat all the time. Here we are playing poker. Although, I have to admit, Sara made us really good Swedish pancakes for supper. Swedish pancakes are paper thin, & you eat jam on them.

The weather has been so wet & rainy these past few days!
I got to witness a 23 yrs. old Bolgarian guy eat a marshmellow for the first time! He said he liked it, but I couldn't tell if he really did or not.
I went to "Swedish Night" tonight. It was put on by the Vaxjo International Office. They went through each season & told us what the main points are in Sweden, & what traditions there are. Then of course, they fed us a meal!
You sing a song in a circle about a frog with no ears or tail in Swedish. You dance & hop around in the circle. Kids & adults do it. We made & wore headbands with pink & blue flowers on it (made from napkins & construction paper). The guys ate that up, seriously! Kinda strange....
Kids make these chicks for Easter time. They also dress up like witches & go from door to door (like halloween) to get money. They aren't necessarily scary though. They have colorful scarves on thier heads, and bright blush on thier cheeks with big fake freckles. And of course, they get candy in big plastic eggs.
She is from Germany, & he is from Spain.

There is an International service in English every other Sunday night. The "off" Sundays are International group. People of all ages come. This is Johan (from Sweden) doing sound. The other guy is another Adam from the US.
This is where I go to church on Sunday morning & night. It is very similar to what you would find at home. And they are welcoming. I sit in the far right corner. That is where they provide translators that just talk over your shoulder. They usually take about 5 people per translator.
This is the International service band. On Sunday mornings, there is usually a different woman singer every Sunday. Some Sundays might just have a piano (they have VERY talented men that can play piano), & some Sundays a band like above. The Sunday morning is in all Swedish.
This tradition is for Christmas. They drink a kind of Coca-Cola that's not as sweet, a warm blueberry juice (reminds me of blueberry pie filling without chunks), gingerschnapps are very popular, and the candy there is like a very sugary sugar cookie dough dipped in chocolate. The woman represents Lucia. She is a saint of Sweden known for her kindness. Girls dress up like her for Christmas, & guys dress up like him. Girls can't wear candles anymore though, because thier hair kept catching on fire!
For Easter, they also color eggs.

For fall, we were given a warm apple drink (similar to the blueberry one), Swedish chocolate, & a cinnamon roll. Their cinnamon rolls don't have near the sugar goop & no icing at all.