Thanksgiving in the US
Thanksgiving was the first holiday I ever experienced in the US before I even decided to stay here, and it will always be a special holiday for me. Not for the reason that it is an official holiday but on a very personal level. This was the first time at a big family dinner with what was to become my American family, all at the same time in the same room. Up till this point, I have just met them a few at a time.
It was a bit overwhelming at first, I was still at a stage of thinking in Swedish and everything that was said went through a translation process in my brain so my conversation was a bit slow, and the amount of food, not even our Swedish Christmas tradition has anything in comparison.
But today, many years later, both the family and the dinner table have shrunk, and I miss those who no longer are with us, my husband, my in-laws, and my father back in Sweden, although he was never part of a thanksgiving dinner over here.
Season three almost over
I am surprised how fast this season of my podcast has gone. When I started back in August it looked so far away to complete a season, and now we are almost there. Only three episodes left, and the last one for November is talking about Alfred Nobel, who was a Swedish inventor, the Nobel Prize, which is awarded in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Litterature, and Peace. It has later been an addition os a prize in Economics.
I will also cover the Swedish tradition of Sankta Lucia, the Lucia tradition can be traced back both to the martyr St Lucia of Syracuse (died in 304) and to the Swedish legend of Lucia as Adam’s first wife. The annual candlelit Lucia procession on 13 December is perhaps one of the more exotic-looking Swedish customs, and there is an actual connection between the Nobel Prize and the Swedish Lucia.
For the future
If you are curious about the rest of this season’s episodes, or what will happen with A Swedish Fika in season two you can subscribe to my monthly newsletter using the form below.
