My First (very) White Christmas!

It's my first white Christmas away from home. It snowed for 2 days 2 nights few days before Christmas and there was so much snow everywhere. But Christmas to the Swedish is like CNY to us. The snow storm didn't stop them from doing their last minute christmas shopping, visiting homes and partying. Last week was probably the first time I saw so many people on the streets.

SH and I invited some friends over to our place for a mini Christmas celebration. The rest of the Singaporean families are away for vacation. Just 4 families and a very cosy affair. It's not part of the plan but we ended up having 2 nights of celebration! One of the couples was expected to reach home in the evening on Christmas eve from their trip. Their train was delayed multiple times and when they finally boarded the train bound for Karlskrona, the train conductor announced that the train will stop at Kristianstad instead due to faulty tracks (heavy snow we guess). That's 1.5 hours drive away from Karlskrona. And because it's Christmas eve, there's no other form of transport available except for extremely expensive taxis. The taxis were already waiting at the train station for people who will pay them the exorbitant fares (around SGD$500) to go home for Christmas. So off we went to save our friends!

And everyone agreed that we should have a round 2 on Christmas day, no dinner, just drinks and snacks the whole night. My friend prepared this interesting Swedish drink which is a simple mix of warm grape drink, almonds and raisins. Quite a weird combination, but it tasted good! Then it was gift exchange. SH received an interesting painting of Karlskrona street in the old days. I got 3 pairs of colourful socks and a new scarf! The whole party ended on a high with a frenzy photo-taking session!

The gift exchange reminded me of the Christmas party last year with my ninja clan aka all my good friends in school. It's a pity that a few of us left school and went on separate ways. They are the best colleagues I can ever ask for! I shall count down to a reunion Christmas gathering with them in 2012!

And so, another Christmas came and went. =D