Studenten, graduation from Gymnasium (roughly the equivalent of high school), is something where the U.S. could learn a lot from the Swedes. U.S. high school graduation is basically sheer torture-- somber march in, somber talks, somber music, listening to all those names be read. I hated mine and I'm dreading my children's. Studenten, however, is actually fun. It feels like a celebration.
In the week or two leading up to graduation, there are a lot of activities for the graduates. These vary from town to town. I can only write about Kristianstad because that is all we've experienced. These are combined activities for all the schools in the area. First was a big scavenger hunt held in the park in the center of town. Graduates could sign up in teams of 3-6 people to compete. The teams dress up in some sort of theme-- costumes seem very big in Sweden.
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Scavenger hunt participants covered in paint ask a stranger
strange questions in the center of town |
I saw super heroes, fairies, cave men, soldiers, belly dancers... all sorts of strangeness running around the town center. They had to try to finish a huge list of random tasks like play with a Barbie car, buy strawberries, kiss an old man or woman, ask strangers weird questions, etc.
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| Batman and Catwoman |
The next big event was the ball. This is the only school dance--they don't do homecoming and prom for all the kids every year. It is a one time deal. Only graduating students can go and traditionally you are assigned a date randomly. You buy your ticket and then a few weeks later they tell you who you will go with--usually someone from a different school. We found that concept really strange. It is a little less strange if you understand that the Swedish version of going to a dance with a date means you arrive together, have some pictures taken, sit at dinner together, dance the first dance, and then you can go your separate ways. I think the idea is to include everyone-- everyone gets a date--which is a nice concept. Since there are usually more girls willing to pay to go to the ball than guys, they often assign two girls to a boy. They've generally had a way you could request a particular date if you really, really wanted them, and this year they decided to make it much easier to "wish" for a particular date. If two students both filled out a form, they would "try" to match them. As far as we heard, everyone who requested got their request although in a number of cases they added a 3rd person to the pairing. I think that would be very uncomfortable to the one stranger.
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| Backaskog Castle |
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| The castle courtyard |
The ball was held at Backaskog Castle, originally built in the 13th century and now used as a hotel and restaraunt. The festivities started fairly early in the day. My daughter and her friends got ready at our house and then their dates picked them up around 2:30 in the afternoon. We took some pictures and sent them off. Then, unbeknownst to our daughter who we weren't sure would like the idea, we packed ourselves up and headed in the same direction. A coworker had asked my husband if he was going up to the ball. He responded with, "Why on earth would I go to the ball?" She explained that "Everyone goes!" Apparently it is traditional for parents, grandparents, siblings, everybody-- to hang out on the castle grounds and watch the ballgoers arrive and walk down the red carpet.
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| The line of cars trying to get to the ball |
Traffic getting into the castle was insane. We parked quite a ways away and then took bikes up along the long line of cars. We moved much faster than the cars even though we often walked our bikes because their wasn't much of a shoulder to ride on. We wound up getting there just as our daughter her date arrived which was really fun and also handy. First I need to explain that most students don't drive themselves to the ball. You can't get a driver's license in Sweden until you are at least 18 and then it is very expensive. Since teens can get around quite well there without a car, many don't get their licenses until after they graduate (even though typical graduation age is 18-19). Plus, Sweden has zero tolerance for any drinking before driving with very strict penalties. So even kids who could drive may choose not to so they can drink (because alcohol is served at the ball). The result is most couples are driven by a parent, friend, or hired driver. The red carpet is set up where the cars can drop the students off to make their big entrance and then the driver continues on to park the car.
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| Some couples make their red carpet appearance |
Since our daughter's date did have his license and wasn't planning to drink, he'd driven them himself-- and they pulled up to the red carpet and started looking around like "Hmm, what do we do now?" My husband ran over and played valet, so they could make their entrance together and I could get some red carpet pictures. It really was like paparazzi-- just crowds and crowds of people gathered around. A lot of families had brought picnic blankets and baskets and were making a day of it.
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Ball guests socializing in the gardens. This photo is from
the local newspaper. |
At 5 p.m., the ball attendees entered the castle courtyard for pre-dinner drinks and the spectators went home. They had a nice dinner in the restaraunt followed by dancing for the rest of the evening. There were around 700 graduates there..
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| Another newspaper shot. Couples entering the courtyard. |
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| Dinner |
They lucked out and had beautiful weather so the dancing could spill out of the buildings and into the courtyard and gardens. And since Sweden is so far north, it was still light outside until about 11. It was a beautiful setting for a formal dance and a lot of fun.
Later in the week came Karneval-- the Swedish graduation version of a Mardis Gras parade. The students dress up in costumes-- each class choses a theme for themselves-- and then they parade very noisily all around the town center a few times before going to the city park for music and socializing the rest of the afternoon. Since my daughter's class was International Baccalaureate, they decided to dress up as different countries. I went down to watch and wow, it was loud. Chanting and yelling really echoes off the cobblestone roads and stone buildings.
Graduation day itself is the one thing the school's do a little separately from each other. At my daughter's school, they gathered in the morning for class pictures, short closing assemblies with their class and then the whole school and then a luncheon. All of this was just the students--no parents. Then it was time to "Spring ut" which literally translates "run out." And that is what they do. Family and friends gather outside the school. It was a huge crowd.
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| The crowd outside Soderport Gymnasium |
It is traditional for parents to have big posters printed with a picture of their graduate as a baby or young child and mount them on sticks and wave them around. This is a very useful tradition because those signs are your only chance of finding people in the crowd.
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| You can see many of the Studenten placards in this shot. |
One class at a time they came out on the steps, played 30 seconds of music they'd chosen and then ran out into the crowd. That was it-- that is all of graduation that parents watch. You greet your graduate with bouquets of flowers and other gifts which you hang around their necks.
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| A class running out |
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| Other graduates awaiting their turn |
Then after some time for greetings and congratulations, the graduates climb onto wagons and trailers. Each class hires or borrows their own and decorates it. They decorate them with banners, yellow and blue balloons (Swedish national colors) and birch branches. No one has been able to explain the birch tree thing to me. It's just tradition. Then they parade around town playing music, dancing, waving, jumping around to make their trailers sway for several hours. They stagger the run out times so that people can make it to more than one school's event. And all the schools drive in to the town center to parade. That means there are new trailers coming in all afternoon as others get tired and call it a day. They don't block traffic off. Normal cars can still drive through as well, but the streets are lined with spectators and there are all these crazy trucks, tractors, etc. circling around.
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A student trailer-- the initials are the name of the program
they finished. Sinced Swedish gymnasium programs are quite specialized,
students identify more with their program than with their school. |
I should also mention the traditional clothes for graduation-- no cap and gown. The girls wear white dresses and the guys wear suits. They all wear the studenten hat. It functions a lot like an American class ring. You can order it with a lot of different options-- different materials, different linings-- and you choose what you want embroidered on it-- your name, your school, your program, the year, etc. Then on graduation day classmates autograph each other's on the inside. It's a fun souvenir from graduation.
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| Inside of a Studenten hat (Studentmossa) |
In the evening, people usually have their family over for a party to congratulate the graduate. If weather permits, this is often done under big party tents in your yard. Since we had no extended family in Sweden and had no idea what would be expected at a party, we combined ours with a friend from our church. We were inviting most of the same people anyway, so it made it easier on everyone. We prepared a big buffet and people came by and brought presents for the graduates and visited for a while. Our daughter went home with so many bouquets of beautiful flowers and lots of other fun gifts from generous friends. Apparently it is also traditional for the graduates to ditch their party fairly early in the evening to go to a big club party in town, but since we are conservative Mormons-- our grads stayed put. It was a really fun day and we were really glad we were able to experience it.
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| Party-- a mix of American and Swedish foods |
