Hit Your Parents With A Stick And Get A Tasty Bun
Now that the holidays are over, it feels like a long stretch until we get a free day off work, or get to dress funny with other people. But take heart. Bolludagur is only two months away (March 7th.) It's sort of like Mardi Gras, where you overindulge before Lent. But instead of booze and beads, it's all about eating messy chocolate cream puffs.
The ritual goes something like this:
Kids invade their parents' bedrooms and spank Mom and Dad with a feather duster (actually a tissue paper enhanced stick) shouting "Bolla, bolla!" ("Bun, bun!") Then, instead of getting spanked themselves for such naughty behavior, they are actually rewarded with chocolate-covered cream-filled buns. One for every spank they administered to their parents.
"This not only preserves a treasured nordic tradition for future generations," said Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir at the opening of a state funded day care center, "but also ensures a prosperous future for Iceland's Freudian trained psychiatrists."
Critics of the tradition claim it contributes to Iceland's skyrocketing ADD epidemic. But Sigurðardóttir reassured parents. "Spank a bun, get a bun. We're teaching children about fair trade. It doesn't get more Icelandic than that."
Kids invade their parents' bedrooms and spank Mom and Dad with a feather duster (actually a tissue paper enhanced stick) shouting "Bolla, bolla!" ("Bun, bun!") Then, instead of getting spanked themselves for such naughty behavior, they are actually rewarded with chocolate-covered cream-filled buns. One for every spank they administered to their parents.
"This not only preserves a treasured nordic tradition for future generations," said Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir at the opening of a state funded day care center, "but also ensures a prosperous future for Iceland's Freudian trained psychiatrists."
Critics of the tradition claim it contributes to Iceland's skyrocketing ADD epidemic. But Sigurðardóttir reassured parents. "Spank a bun, get a bun. We're teaching children about fair trade. It doesn't get more Icelandic than that."