From: anders.carlsson@sfks.se   
      
   "Sam Gillett"  writes:   
      
   >>> Merry Christmas everyone!!    ;-)   
   >> Still two weeks early (OCT 30 = DEC 24)   
   > Actually, Christmas is Dec. 25th.  Which makes me 10 weeks early.    ;-)   
      
   Oh well, it works just as well with OCT 31 = DEC 25.   
      
   > I don't know what kind of Halloween customs you have there,   
      
   In Sweden, we have no natural Halloween customs at all, but in the   
   last 5-10 years, a subset of what supposedly are US traditions have   
   been imported. Mainly the shopkeepers are pushing this in order to   
   get one more season to sell stuff for.   
      
   However, the following All Saints' Day is recognized and people   
   honour their relatives with candles on the grave and so on. If I   
   understand correctly, these are the "exact dates":   
      
   Halloween: the night of October 31st   
   All Saints' Day: November 1st   
   All Souls' Day: November 2nd   
      
   Over here though, almost all eves except for Christmas eve and perhaps   
   some more, are relocated to the weekend closest to the "real date";   
   e.g. All Saints' Day on November 4th this year.   
      
   Here comes a problem. Should both Halloween and All Saints' Day be   
   celebrated simultaneously, or on two consecutive weekends? Shopkeepers   
   tend to push Halloween into the first weekend of November, and sell   
   candles for your family grave next to the horror masks. In particular   
   older people strongly dislike this; not only are we trying to borrow   
   a foreign tradition as a whole, it risks to overtake an existing   
   celebration. Also, the trick or treat element of Halloween takes   
   place in the Easter celebration over here, so kids already got their   
   share of candy for the year. Yes, I'm mean and believe kids should   
   only beg strangers for candy once a year.   
      
   Before you ask: no, there is no Thanksgiving tradition neither. There   
   are a bit of turkeys in the freezers and a few stores try to stock up   
   with likely attributes (cranberry jam etc). Until now only immigrants   
   and Swedes with a strong sense of internationalism would take up that   
   tradition. This year however, several big food stores have recognized   
   the Ramadan and the following party and sell imported and domestic   
   food and candy suitable for the Muslims. I suspect mostly it is due   
   to they're a large group of potential customers noone up to now has   
   catered for. With more US and British immigrants over here, maybe   
   your particular traditions would get even more in focus as well. :)   
      
   --   
   Anders Carlsson   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)