February 28, 2025
Kärlek till Kärlek
Like the swift flight of Cupid’s arrow, February seems to pass in the blink of an eye, yet it never fails to leave behind a lingering reminder of love in all its forms. Here are some of the things I loved about this month in Sweden.
A staple of American schools is without a doubt their school dances. Homecoming, Prom, and all the other variations there are out there, have been something that most shows and movies with teenagers involved will include. It is something that I’ve been asked about quite often here, if they’re real or if they’re like how the media represents them. Although Swedish schools do have their traditions and all, it’s not something that I personally thought about before I got here, but since I loved experiencing halva inne I thought it’d be interesting to introduce to my non-Swedish readers.
Gymnasiet, right? I’ve mentioned before there’s only 3 years of it, and at least for my school, there is some sort of event for every grade every year. Those in their first year have the well-known inspark, students in the second year have what I got to experience, halva inne, and the count down to graduation parties and the famous breakfast champagne and white sailor hats and all the other graduation traditions are for students in the third year.
Inspark: organized by those in the 3rd year, it’s a welcoming initiation to gymmet (casual way to refer to gymnasiet). There’re teambuilding activities, challenges, and gatherings for every class in the first year to participate and get to know their classmates as well as to integrate with the rest of the school. Think of it as a competition between each “line of study” in the first year, as they get points per challenge and at the end of the competition there’s the inspark fest, a party where the winners are announced and where the challenges conclude (often within the first 2 months of school).
Halva inne: roughly translated into half inside, it is a dance for those in the second year to commemorate their halfway through karriär på gymmet (high school career). Apparently whenever the dance occurs it’s around or sometimes exactly halfway through their 3 years of gymnasiet. My experience with this dance was great. Every school dance has a theme and this year’s for halva inne was the Woodstock music festival which made it really fun!
3rd year events: Let’s start with the countdown; for every ‘big number’ that gets closer to graduation day, there’s a party for those in the 3rd year (E.g. 250 dagar/days, 100 dagar/days, and so on).
Now let me explain why graduations in Sweden are simply iconic. Here they usually occur in early June and are often referred to as studenten. They start in the morning with a studentfrukost where more often than not champagne or some sort of bubbeldricka (sparkling drink) is consumed. There is the graduation ceremony where students receive their diploma and their studentmössa (graduation cap, looks like sailor hats. The story I’ve heard is that back in the 1800s it was common to use elements of military and naval uniforms to symbolize honor, achievement, and national pride despite where one completed their education). There is a studentparad (student parade) for the graduates and studentfester (graduation parties) which make of it an unforgettable experience.
This month’s activities were all planned, but nothing I experienced turned out the way I had expected. It doesn’t mean anything negative, but it is a funny feeling to think about. To know what would happen but to not know how to feel while you’re living through it; I’m sure many exchange students out there might have felt this before.
Hello Mello (not the show, just literally Hello to Mello… just keep on reading to know what I’m talking about). Before Eurovision happens, every participant country needs to figure out who would be going to participate, and so in Sweden there is Melodifestivalen! Also known as Mello, it is a televised contest to determine who will represent Sweden as mentioned earlier. Although I didn’t attend any Superbowl party this year (which even in the States I never do, sorry to disappoint, but not everyone goes to one) I did have a Mello night with my hosts!
Besides that, I had the incredible opportunity to travel to Stockholm! I was overjoyed to see my fellow inbounds who are currently staying there and that I haven’t seen since our intro camp six months ago. Yes, I visited some of the most touristic places of the city and it was beautiful, but nothing compares to the feeling of being around the people that you can joke around and laugh as hard as you can, especially after being apart from some time—I have the feeling that I will be experiencing this sensation again, or something similar to it…
I can’t leave without recommending something to listen to. I loved this band from the moment they were introduced to me, so I hope others like them as much as I do. This is Kärlek & uppror by Ebba Grön.
As always, stay cool, stay safe, take care och vi ses snart!