Written by Dena
29 Apr 2015
A few weeks ago, an invitation came into my mailbox. An invitation to the Spring Ball of the Law society in Lund. The Spring Ball is usually a big deal, or so I’ve heard.
A few phone calls later, I had managed to find friends going to the ball with me. Elisabeth and I had the whole thing planned out. We started off by going shopping a few weeks before the ball (well, of course).
On the day of the ball, we met up early to have brunch.
Then we went to the Akademiska Föreningen Borgen (basically, the castle of the Academic Society) for the ball.
There were 500 lawyers wearing their best dresses and suits. It was quite a view. And everyone had these medals from all the balls they’ve been to. I have one too now! Woohoo! 🙂
The dinner started at 18:00, and went on until midnight. It started off with the room singing the Swedish anthem. I only knew a few verses, but I tried my best to fit in. 🙂
The dinner was interrupted by many, many speeches (in Swedish), choir and dance performances, and a few bathroom breaks where you risked being run over by the stampede of people running to make it before the doors close again. It’s quite unusual. I even saw some women take off their shoes to run faster.
Throughout the dinner, there were lots of traditional student songs that everyone knew by heart! I think I was the only one having to read the lyrics from the songbook (sånghäfte).
The ball finished exactly at midnight and then we went on to have a snack and a drink (right after dinner) in another room while the great hall is cleared up to become a dance floor. And well, then there was a concert and a lot of dancing through the night.
It was a lot of fun and it’s definitely something I’d recommend as a part of the experience of studying in Sweden.
