![Image](http://www.gimpchat.com/files/2116_advent%20sunday.png)
it's advent sunday today, or more precisely, it's the first of the four sundays in advent tide. advent tide lasts up until christmas and here in sweden the first sunday in advent is kind of a big thing. it brings more people to church than any other sunday in the year and many stores open their special christmas displays this weekend. in my family we could listen to the first christmas music for the season on the friday before advent sunday and also taste the first swedish gingerbread for the season and have the first of our traditional saffron buns. it was also the day when we could first light the star lantern in the window and light the first of the four advent candles. of course, for us christians all these things are full of special meanings, reminding us of a king we're waiting for, but i think advent tide means something special to nearly everyone. i know people who hate christmas but can't help putting up their star lanterns for advent... in any case, for all you people here on gc, whether you celebrate it or not - happy advent tide
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
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