MIDSUMMER EVE
Another lesson in Swedish culture and tradition is coming your way! Tomorrow is a big day. Midsummer has arrived and I keep thinking of home. This is a very beautiful time of the year. Swedish summer means it stays light most of the time. Here it gets dark in the evening. I remember going swimming in the lake late at night. I remember being outside very late and playing badminton. It looks like daytime. This is something I grew up with (and I am used to it). Swedes are fairly well attuned to the rhythms of nature. Here is some information that I found on www.sweden.se (a very good website). I am kind of lazy today so instead of writing myself I copied the text and pasted it on my blog.
At Midsummer, the Swedish summer is lush green and bursting with chlorophyll. The nights are almost not dark at all. In the north, the sun never sets. Midsummer is an occasion of large gatherings and many Swedes celebrate big. In many cases, whole families gather to celebrate this traditional high-point of the summer. Swedes like the world to be well-ordered, so Midsummer Eve is always on a Friday. People often begin the day by picking flowers and making wreaths to place on the maypole, which is a key component in the celebrations. The maypole is raised in an open spot and traditional ring-dances ensue. This is popular bith among children and adults. A typical Midsummer menu features different kinds of pickled herring, boiled new potatoes with fresh dill, sour cream and raw red onion. This is often followed by a grilled dish of some kind, such as spare rib or salmon. Strawberries often follow. The traditional accompaniment is a cold beer and schnapps. Every time the glasses are refilled, singing breaks out anew. Swedes like drinking-songs, and the racier the better. Midsummer is an occasion invested with a certain nostalgia. Deep inside, Swedes all agree on what it should look like and how it should proceed. So after dinner, many people still want to go out dancing, just like in the old days. Preferably on an outdoor dance floor beside a lake as the evening mist settles and the sound of the orchestra echoes back from the rocky hills on the opposite shore.