Written by Agnieszka
30 Apr 2017
Brace yourself, spring is coming! There is a few Swedish things you can’t miss in May:
Credits: Aline Lessner/imagebank.sweden.se
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VALBORG
Valborg, also called Walpurgis Eve, is the event of the forthcoming spring! At the last day of April Swedes leave the safe quiet harbour of their homes to greet and celebrate Spring in the most Swedish way possible – through bonfires and choirs. It shouldn’t come as a shock: Sweden actually has a highest number of choirs per capita in the world. As for the bonfires… well let’s just face the fact that it is not the warmest country ever. Valborg is an especially popular celebration amongst students (fire, music, booze and free next day – anyone surprised?) and if only you are in Sweden you should definitely make plans. I know I would – after all you should gratefully cherish the rare opportunity to mingle with Swedes in their natural environment.
Credits: wikipedia commons, David Urdingio
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EUROVISION
Soon after the bonfires evening’s excitement wears off Swedes have another event to get all worked up about. EUROVISION. This year’s European song contests will broadcast the grand final on 13 of May. While in most European countries this event tends to pass unnoticed (or at least without a big fuss), this couldn’t be further from the truth in Sweden. It is an event of a national importance and a typical Sven already knows all the performers and their songs. First talks about group viewings appeared in my group of friends a month before. It would be hard to beat the famous performance from 1974 (winning ABBA’s Waterloo) but Swedes still try! Here you can check out this year’s Swedish contestant but if you are only listening to pop ironically (duh!) better see this song about how to make an Eurovision song.
Credits: Magnus Liam Karlsson/imagebank.sweden.se
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THESIS
Thesis. Thesis everywhere. As you may have noticed, recently some posts about thesis writing appeared on our blog. That’s because it’s THIS TIME OF THE YEAR. Every conversation starts with excessive whining on your thesis work. Students around are negotiating on who has less work done. And sun becomes just an abstract thing with the only purpose of reflecting on your screen. Many two-year degrees at my university have also a one-year degree option which results in the obligation of writing a thesis paper at the end of each year. So… everybody is writing!
Credits: NRK TV
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SKAM
However, distractions are an inevitable part of studying. I’m pretty sure that your interest in TV series is depending proportionally on the length of the paper you are supposed to write. And SKAM is not just any other TV series. It is THE Scandinavian TV series. The Norwegian teen drama became a huge hit not only in Scandinavia but also entire world. Apart from having a uncanny ability to bring you back to your teenage years it has a very distinctive timeline. During entire week you can follow the characters through their social media accounts and a website in real time. That means you can read Eva’s texts with her friends on Tuesday evening, see what her boyfriend posts on Instagram on Thursday and then see the summary of entire week in one TV episode on Sunday. Every season follows different character and since the begging of April season 4 started. Everyone in Scandinavia seems to be discovering Sana’s life this spring… are you in?
Featured photo credits: Ola Ericson/imagebank.sweden.se
