Midsummers eve

Midsummers eve, one of the most beloved days of the year in Swedish culture. The youngest ones dance with the oldest ones around a high pole, while wearing flowers in the hair and singing about frogs without ears and tails. The young girls collect seven, or nine, types of flowers to put under their pillow at night - hpoing to dream about the one they are destined to marry (no, I don't know if anyone actually does that anymore).

After the dance around the pole, the people go to eat. There's pickled herring, onion herring, curry herring, mustard herring, chili herring and new potatoes, accompanied by butter, chive, snaps, beer and cream. Some people exchange the herrings for meatballs and chipolitas - how weird are they? Of course this feast is followed by strawberrys with either milk or more cream, often with extra sugar on.

Usually I really enjoy this kind of herring-, snaps- and strawberry-celebration of the summer, but it also depends on the people present. The occasion, of course, needs to be accompanied by merry talk and sometimes by merry but weird songs about the snaps (the whole goes is the most classic one). This year there's only two others where I've been invited, and it's where I always end up doing most of the work - any question to why I'm probably not going?

If I move abroad to a big city, this will probably be the most important celebration to me, since it's typical swedish - something I miss already while still living here, in the politically overcorrected country it has become....

I'm considering going downtown tonight, to Gröningen (the Greening), and see if it could be worth sitting down for some people-watching, while having a cold beer in - hopefully - warm and sunny weather.

Most important of all in the world is education, and therefore I now wish to educate you in the famous frog song:

Små grodorna, små grodorna är lustiga att se.

Små grodorna, små grodorna är lustiga att se.

Ej öron, ej öron, ej svansar hava de.

Ej öron, ej öron, ej svansar hava de.

Kou ack ack ack, kou ack ack ack,

kou ack ack ack ack kaa.

Kou ack ack ack, kou ack ack ack,

kou ack ack ack ack kaa.

A happy midsummer to you, and if you collect seven or nine different kinds of flowers to put under the pillow at night, I hope you have nice dreams ;)