Bon-fires, Bunads and Balkan Beats

When the Sun is shining out there, it’s hard to find time to sit down and blog when there is so much you want to do - boat rides, long walks, and just bask in the Sun by the pier with a soda, hotdog and lots of laughter with friends. So when the Sun decided to take a break, here I sit looking back at all the things that happened in just two months.

Valborg in Stockholm
Valborgsmässoafton or Valborg has been celebrated in Sweden since the Middle Ages, and is today one of the main holidays in Sweden. According to the local newspaper, Valborg was originally to celebrate the growth season, where the festival was attempted to ward off evil, ensure fertility and cleanse the land of the dried and dead winter. The essence of Valborg is still celebrated today where the Swedes welcome the coming of the summer days. Valborg is celebrated on the last day of April, traditionally with a bon-fire and singing of Swedish folk songs. Right after work on April-30th, my colleague Ronny and I took a boat from Slussen, where the office is to the island of Djurgården. We were going to Skansen, an open-air musuem which doubles up as a park to see the bon-fire. It was raining that night, but not heavy enough to put out the bon-fire nor the spirits of the locals who were there to invite the warmer and longer days.

May-17th in Oslo
I celebrated my first May-17th, Norway’s Constitution Day with Mala, Mariann, OJ and István. Despite the cold winds and continuous rain, the Norwegians didn’t fail to turn up at Karl Johans Gate and Slottsparken to continue the tradition. Oslo and Norwegians were dressed in their best – the city in red, blue and white flags while the people in their beautiful bunad, the traditional Norwegian costume . And among the colors you can easily spot visitors who travelled all the way to Oslo to be a part of this big celebration. I have never seen THAT many Norwegians out there in Oslo in my life!

The Scalpel and The Glove
As you may have read from the other trainee’s blog, we gathered together again for the third time in Oslo for our seminar. Most of us spent the days before the seminar squeezing every ounce of inspiration (and often, desperation) to finish up our project for the presentation on Monday. Working together with the other trainees has added a whole new meaning to the words patience, encouragement and trust than I knew before.

The following days were what I’d call “horrifying-ly interesting”. To me, those days felt like I was in a cultural lab. Holding a scalpel in a gloved hand (and grabbing a railing in the other) I carefully dissected myself slowly, part by part. I then lay out the pieces and poked them, like how you would with your food when you were a kid (or maybe even now). All with intensed curiosity to find out what I am made of - personality and culture. It was amusing to discover about myself through a “psychological” magnifying glass - there really IS a scientific explanation to my odd behaviours!

And what other perfect way to end my culturally-infested week than a Balkan Party! István has kindly invited us for a fun night out at Grünerløkka after the seminar. It was an awesome but queer party with laundry hanging on lines and music that made us move like snakes. If I were to throw a party anytime soon it will definitely be Balkan style!

C’est la vie!
Nicole