A very Swedish day

It feels like a traditional Swedish day today, even if my everyday life doesn't look like that normally. I helped Jonas to cut down a birch tree in the garden, or I'd better say half of a birch tree, because the other part is still waiting to be cut down tomorrow. I really like to climb up on high stepladders and cut wood into small pieces. It isn't actually a normal hobby to Swedish girls to cut trees at weekend, but it feels quite Scandinavic anyway, because there's so much wood here. Karin and Ylva prepared pancake with bacon for lunch and we ate them with selfmade Lingonsylt (eng. lingonberry jam) over the top and drunk milk. (I never used to drink milk for lunch before I came to Sweden, but here it is absolutely normal.) The Swedish traditions continue with Fika. This means a small coffeebreak with some chocolate and/or cookies between lunch and dinner. Today we had Pepparkakor (thin, crunchy ginger bread) and Glögg (a warm punch that you drink with almonds and raisins in it), which are both typically Swedish and very delicious. One thing that is also different from what I know from Switzerland is the daylight. It gets dark here around 3 or 4 p.m. so that I can't see the sun at all, when I have a long schoolday. On one hand it's kind of annoying and irritating, because I feel like I soon have to go to bed when it's just time for dinner. On the other hand I like the early darkness, because it's something new to me and belongs to the nordic winter.
There's just one week left until december starts and I'm looking so much forward to St. Lucia's day, Christmas and of course the New Year's Eve. But most of all: I'm still waiting for snow...

The remaining wood saves a warm and cusy livingroom during the long and cold winter.

It contained a lot of work

 Heart shaped Pepparkakor. Ylva, Karin and Jonas told me that if you lay one in your open hand and manage to knock it into exactly three parts with the other hand, you can make a wish. I've succeeded!

Alcoholfree Glögg. You heat it up and serve it in small coffee cups with almonds and raisins. A perfect drink for cold days.