Re: [Leica] Da'n före da'n (The day before the day)

[Robert Clark <rclark01@comcast.net>]

Daniel:
Your has to be the post of the year...a most fascinating look at all the 
things related to Christmas.  I must admit I was pretty mesmerized with 
the photos of the shopping and all the food.  Whenever I am lucky enough 
to travel outside the USA, I like to see the way people in other 
countries do the normal day to day things and your post covers all the 
interesting stuff for me.  The LUG is a wonderful place and posts like 
this keep me coming back for more.

Robert Clark
Lancaster, PA

Daniel Ridings wrote:

>Swedish children learn to count like that before they learn to count
>numerically ... da'n före da'n före da'n före da'n (the day before the day
>before the day before the day ...)
>
>On the day before the day, the day being Christmas Eve, my wife and I get
>up early and go to the market as soon as it opens:
>
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2718.jpg
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2719.jpg
>
>Now mind you AND BE WARNED VEGETARIANS (I'll mark the shots you can safely
>look at), in Sweden Chrismas means we eat. We start on Christmas Eve and
>we make more food than anyone would possibly want and then we eat
>leftovers until the 13th day of Christmas.
>
>People in Scandinavia were poor, extremely poor. It's no slump that over
>50% of the Swedish and Norwegian population emmigrated to America in the
>1800's. The major part of the population was just a few steps ahead of
>serfdom, if any steps at all. (The Danes, Denmark being a farming country,
>have probably not had it as bad).
>
>So when the middle of winter came, they were getting pretty thin.
>Christmas meant eating that fat that you needed to get you through the
>rest of the winter.
>
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2731.jpg
>
>Those slabs are pig rinds with the underlying fat still attached.
>
>An interesting development stemming from the cultural enrichment due to
>immigration (the US has had this benefit from the very start, Europe more
>recently) is that pig is no longer the only thing you can find in the
>shops. Now we can by lamb all year:
>
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2743.jpg
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2720.jpg
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2738.jpg
>
>or kangaroo:
>
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2739.jpg
>
>or Irish crab, American lobster (alive or cooked), filé of cod or salmon
>
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2730.jpg
>
>We started with the "head-cheese" (I think that's what it would be
>called):
>
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2723.jpg
>
>Then there are all kinds of salami:
>
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2724.jpg
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2735.jpg
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2744.jpg (Polish)
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2750.jpg
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2752.jpg
>
>even in the form of a little pig:
>
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2726.jpg
>
>My favorites are the olives, fruits and nuts (vegan safe):
>
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2740.jpg
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2733.jpg
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2734.jpg
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2748.jpg
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2745.jpg
>(That's my parmesan up there in the middle right)
>
>But there's also:
>
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2737.jpg (smoked shoulder)
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2753.jpg
>(air-dried wild pig and deer steaks)
>
>and your basic ribs:
>
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2756.jpg
>
>Now by this time, she's was starting to wonder why she even bothered to
>bring me along:
>
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2759.jpg
>
>But I insisted that it is impossible to take pictures if you have to carry
>all of those bags around:
>
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2761.jpg
>
>I figured she needed a break, so we drank some coffee:
>
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2766.jpg
>
>In the fish store outside you can order fresh (alive) carp:
>
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2769.jpg
>
>And yes, there is even something for vegetarians:
>
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2774.jpg
>
>but they might have to come back in May.
>
>We really torture out kids. Once they stop believing in Santa, we put the
>presents under the tree days in advance:
>
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2781.jpg
>
>but they can't open them until the evening of "The day" (da'n). So they
>have to go the whole day just looking at them ... and the clock.
>
>Now you might wonder why on earth we would put the tree under the stairs.
>It's Christmas! and we have to create a pleasant atmosphere for the whole
>family, even the cat. This way he can attack it under controlled
>circumstances:
>
>http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2795.jpg
>
>Merry Christmas/Season's greetings to all!
>
>Daniel Ridings
>Lindome Sweden, Oslo Norway
>
>--
>To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html
>
>  
>


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