This weekend is a Swedish holiday called "Midsummer", a two day celebration which consist of Midsummer Eve and Midsummer Day. Kind of like Christmas but without the snow and Jesus crap.
On this holiday, all the swedes leave town and go far out in the woods, mainly because all the pubs and shops are closed. In Sweden we can only buy alcohol at a particular shop, so the week before midsummer is chaotic at the alcohol stores. People stand in line for days to buy way to much beer and vodka.
When we arrive in the woods, we crack open a beer and take a shot, and chop down trees to decorate our rooftops. We also make hats out of dead animals found in ditches.
After that we eat raw fish out of glass jars and sing dirty songs. Between each bite, we take a shot, which results in people being more drunk than the average weekday.
After "dinner" it comes naturally for us to dance exotic interpretive dances around a giant stripperpole that looks like an upside down penis made out of trees and flowers.
As we do that, we also sing a song called: "Little frogs, little frogs, so funny to watch". To be a "frog" in Sweden is equivalent to being a whore. This particular holiday is the most common weekend to make babies with friends, strangers and/or siblings. That's why most swedes are born in March.
But why do we celebrate Midsummer really, you might ask.
It's a celebration in honor of the liquor companies and making babies. That's what the giant upside down penis symbolizes. Penetrating the earth to create new life.
Beautiful, isn't it?
Now take a shot, dance naked, make babies and have yourself a traditional Swedish week!
Fika & Dalahäst,
/Fab Life Sweden
