21st June is my Hiversary, and this year I've been on the chain for 7 years, going onto 8. In previous years I always forget the exact date until I get the Hive Buzz reminder. (Just to be clear, I means livinguktaiwan and Snowpea. If you're reading this post from another account, then you're reading a scammer's post. Please let me know.) This year I was at a traditional solstice party in Sweden, and a very unique experience. From now on I'm sure I will remember my Hiversary every year.
Taken at 0038 on the day after the longest day of the year
Midsummer Celebrations
I never knew this before, but apparently midsummer is a very important day for the Swedes, so important that it's actually a public holiday in Sweden. This year my friend in Sweden organised a summer solstice party at their parent's home in the countryside located by the side of the lake. It is the most tranquil place I've been and even the local Swedes attending were blown away by the beautiful surroundings.
Imagine having this at your doorstep, looking out to it from your patio everyday, taking a dip, fishing, canoeing, or a spin in the boat in this massive lake whenever you want. I can tell you, it's a great feeling based in my short stay here.
The hosts went all out to cater for 50 guests. We had a beautiful marquee, traditional Swedish food including herring, salmon, boiled potatoes, meatballs, home made cakes with strawberries and cream, followed by a barbeque at 11pm when it was still light.
Swedish midsummer traditions
Drinks flowed freely and there were lots of traditional singing to go with the drinking. The locals all knew the songs and the non Swedish speakers did our best to mumble along with the lyrics. It was hilarious and fun especially after a few drinks.
Making flower crowns is another tradition. There were plenty of fresh wild flowers on site, we picked lots of them and watched the locals make the crown which they wore on their head during the day. They were beautiful but I forgot to take any photos till the next day when they had started to wilt.
Swedish Maypole
The highlight of the day was the maypole dance. The maypole was made by the host with help from some of the guests. It was quite difficult to picture it first when it was lying on the ground.
In the afternoon it was time to get the maypole up. It was a very heavy maypole that needed four guys to carry and a lot of bodyweight to force it into the ground.
Finally it was in, standing upright by itself, it was quite something. The locals were very impressed, and of course us foreigners loved it. I'm told this is a typical Swedish maypole with two rings on either side and it represents fertility.
In England we also have maypole dancing and its normally performed by a dance group or the local community who has practiced the dance. The Swedish maypole dance is very different and simple. Everyone forms a ring around the maypole and dance according to the topic in each verse of the song. Originally I didn't know what's going on and just copied what everyone else is doing. Then I found out each verse is about a trade, like baker, carpenter, cobbler etc, and different animals like pigs and ducks. We had to dance with movements for the trade like hammering, kneading a dough, and make sounds like the animal. It all sounds very childish but the whole point of the dance is for everyone including children to join in. We all had a lot of fun doing the maypole dance and was totally out of breath afterwards from the dancing and laughing.
What a great way to spend a very special solstice this year, definitely not something I'm going to forget soon.
