The past couple of days have been an absolute BLAST! It all started in a whirlwind on Friday. Elise landed in Stockholm where I picked her up from the train station. We had to haul it to our next train so that we could make it back in time for Lina's graduation that same day... So there we were: me all dressed up for the graduation and Elise having just landed not even an hour before hand sprinting through Stockholm Central with bags in tow. I'm sure we looked something like Phoebe from F*R*I*E*N*D*S when she runs. Whatever, we made it to our next train and were able to get back to Skövde with nearly an hour to spare before graduation.
The Swedish custom for graduation is SO DIFFERENT than how we celebrate in the States. In the States it's a somber ceremony with a great deal of customary events with a bunch of objects we've never seen before and really have no interest in ( I mean seriously, who knew their college had a scepter and a Presidential collar before graduation? I sure as heck didn't!) Here in Sweden, there are definite customs, but they're so much more practical! Practical in that isn't graduation supposed to be a celebration? Well here in Sweden it's just one big party! On the graduation day, the graduates are given a champagne brunch. No, underage drinking is not encouraged. The drinking age in Sweden is 18. The champagne brunch starts super early at like 545-6 am. I saw several of the graduates walking the streets of town with their shopping bags where a mysterious clanging noise was emerging (still confused as to what that was ;) ) on my way to the train station that morning. I'm not sure at what time this occurs, but there is an event in the local church. From what I could gather, it's similar to our Baccalaureate, but distinct at the same time. After this, the students report to their school where they will run out as a class. Now, note that classes here in Sweden are a little more complex than ours might be. When we think graduating class, we think ODU 2010, for instance. Here, there are programs within the class. Lina, for instance, was a member of the leadership program. There are also programs for students who want to become welders, beauticians, computer programmers, carpenters, and SO MANY others. Each class is announced as a unit and they then run out of the school as a means of recognition. After all of the classes have been announced, each class proceeds to the f
loat they have built. For my Southern followers, think Homecoming meets dance party. These floats are decked out in traditional Swedish style. There is a certain tree that is on each float signifying something... not really sure what, but I KNOW it's tradition :). Also, each float is complete with a SOUND SYSTEM... I'm not talking your 80's style boom box either. These speakers were gigantuan!.. oh and loud too. In fact, it was like a concert on wheels. Most of the younger spectators wore ear muffs, if that gives you any indication as to how loud it was.It was so much fun! Each float was pulled by either a small semi or a tractor (everyone thought it was hilarious how excited I was by this... but seriously, I used to get stuck behind them on my way to school... it was like a little piece of home here :) ) So as they paraded through town, they danced and drank on their floats. Oh, did I mention they did everything I've mentioned above with approximately 20 lbs worth of things hanging from their necks? Everything from bouquets of flowers, champagne bottles, stuff animals, blow up champagne bottles, signs, and in Lina's case a softball :). I'm surprised most of the people didn't face plant from all of the things that were around their necks. It was such a great day that was capped off by going to Lina's house for a small get together with her family and the softball girls. We ate a smörgåstårta which is a sort of traditional dish people have when there are a number of people expected. I think it'
s kind of like our meat/cheese trays... only in this dish, everything's together. It's kind of like a layer cake with meat and veggies between the layers of bread. There is also a sauce that comes on it. It tastes a little like Mayo, to be completely honest. Everything was so good! I'm so glad I got to see Lina graduate... Proud of ya little buddy! :)Fast forward to Monday... Elise, Lina, and I went to a local school to teach the kids about softball. Kids, I make it sound like they're 5-8... no, they were 15/16. To keep things simple, we played slowpitch and gave them basic rules like get to the base before the ball and you're safe, 3 outs, and catch the ball in the air and it's an out. We tried to avoid the confusing rules such as pitch count/walks/strike outs and things like that... Most of the students seemed to really enjoy it, even though even the basic concept of the game was foreign to them. I think that's something that put both Elise and me in awe. In the States, if you hand a kid a bat, a mitt, and a ball, it seems almost instinctual that they'll know what to do with it even if they aren't necessarily the best at it. Here, even the simple rules seemed difficult to understand. It made me realize some of the cultural and athletic preferences that perhaps I had been taking for granted back home. It was so much fun seeing people enjoy a sport that I've been enjoying for 75% of my life for the first time! The competitive spirit between the teams was hilarious to watch. I now can understand some Swedish smack talk! haha! it was great! The second day we were there, Elise, Lina and I challenged one class to play all of them vs us. It was so funny! Some of the kids found out that we were fastpitch players and after Lina had explained the difference to them, they wanted to see what a fastpitch pitcher does. As Elise managed the 7 other fielding positions on her own, Lina caught me as I pitched to some of the kids. It was like softball a la carte for them. "A hard pitch!" "A medium pitch!" "Make it an easy one." were allll phrases that I heard from the kids. They were having a blast! Made me miss my kids back home. Even though I could tell they were having a ton of fun, I saw something that perhaps summed up their attitudes toward the game. I saw some of the kids juggling the softball as though it were a soccer ball. It was an unmistakably clear statement: Soccer First.
No comments:
Post a Comment