Saturday, June 23, 2012

Midsommer!

Midsommer in Sweden…
To put it simply: it.was.fantastic.

Holsby hosted a midsummer celebration for the community. We think around 500 people showed up for the event. It was so amazing to see Holsby filled with so many people! The morning started with all the staff and interns preparing for the event. Making sure everything was perfect and ready to roll. We did some last minute cleaning chores, set up games, started preparing the midsommer pole, cut flowers, etc etc… Then around 2:00 guests started coming.

There were pretty dresses, lots of braided hair, and lots of flower headbands. It was beautiful. The celebration included raising the midsommer pole, children coming up and singing some traditional Swedish songs (so cute), dancing around the pole, and a staff member shared the gospel. Even though the morning might have seemed a little chaotic, everything worked out perfectly in the end and everyone was happy!

After the pole rising, the ropes course was open and there were games for the children to play. I was in charge of walking around and filming stuff. I loved that job! I got to see everything that was going on! Later that night there was a BBQ and then clean up! The hospitality team had to clean the pots and pans. There were a lot of pots and pans, and we were all exhausted… but not too exhausted to have a dance party. It was fabulous! My day basically started at 8am and ended at 9pm… so it was a long day!

When we were done cleaning up, some of us girls decided to perform a midsommer Swedish tradition. As the story goes, girls go out and have to pick 7 wildflowers from behind 7 different fences… all without talking. Then that night they put the flowers they picked under their pillow and whoever they dream of during the night is who they will marry.
So, 7 of us got all dressed up and started walking towards some fields near the school. We silently hopped 7 different fences and collected our 7 different flowers… all silently… and it was raining. So please imagine girls silently walking around in the rain trying to step over fences in dresses… yes it was hilarious, but so.much.fun.
NOTE: Sweden has this law where you’re allowed to just hop into stranger’s yards. Cool, right?!
J

After collecting our flowers, we started walking back to our rooms when we realized that the midsommer pole was still up… so we all went and started dancing around in a circle (while it was still raining). Bliss.

Then we watched the second half of the German v. Greece soccer game. I love watching German games with a bunch of Germans. It’s similar to watching a whole bunch of Americans watching their favorite football team… except for a whole lot more serious. Don’t get between the Germans and their soccer!

…. Wow…. So all of that to say. Yesterday was a great great great great great great day!
And a mini report on the fact that I pretty much have 3 months left here… I HAVE 3 MONTHS LEFT HERE. I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about that. The end of this month will mark the half-way point for me. It’s so weird. I feel like I’ve been here for longer than 3 months… but at the same time, each month just fly’s by. I’m not totally sure what to think about it all! But every day I’m loving life up here more and more. The job is great. The people are great. The location is great. I love the fact that each night I go to bed exhausted. It just proves to me that there’s so much to do up here… and I love doing it all!
(One more thing: this past Monday a small group of us went up to Kosta Boda. Kosta Boda is a famous glass blowing factory. It was pretty neat to see them make the glasses and to walk around the factory!)
making a vase
the factory




happiness
she's a beaut!

making the flower headbands
a Holsby community
FIKA!
the Midsommer pole




games in the field





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