Being Swedish 1.

Ask a Swede what is the most significant day of the year, they may well answer Xmas day, there may also be one somewhere that will say its "Swedish national day" which does exist in its own right, but is pretty much treated like an insignificant day off work.......no one even goes out and gets pissed, or makes a fuss about cooking lots of food. The one day which you will hear more than any other is midsummers day.

Normally by a lake in a summer house, and all Swedish families have summer houses, is where the celebrations take place. Its really just all about spending a day and all evening (and sometimes all night as the daylight is literally endless) being social, eating barbequed food and drinking beer and schnapps, oh - and I forgot to add the sauna followed by the traditional jump in the lake of course.

Like many other cultures, there is a symbol of fertility here, a large branch, or even a small tree, lopped and covered in leaves. I remember being very young and told to grab a ribbon from the maypole and run (sorry, dance) round it, along with all the other kids in my class, of course we couldn't be told back then that we were skipping around a giant phallic symbol, and of course we didn't give it a thought. In Sweden however, you actually go to the trouble of making some testicles, hanging off another cross piece, made out of more branches shaped into circles and covered in flowers.

Later on in the night, you get to dance round this midsummer pole, the giant cock and balls that were made earlier on when you were almost sober. While performing this ritual which apparently impregnates mother nature, you sing. Most Swedes love to sing, go to any organised party, you'll walk in, be greeted and when you eventually sit down at a table there will be a song book. Anyone can simply stand up and request a song - everyone else will stand up and join you, and of course you finish by downing a shot glass of schnapps. At midsummers though, it wasn't a song about mother nature (or at least I think it wasn't?!), or a song about the continuous daylight, no - that would be too obvious, its actually a song about little frogs?! There I was, happy and pissed, wet fom jumping in a lake and dancing around a Swedish maypole singing (and I attempt a rough translation of the first line) "We are little frogs, we have little tails".....or something very similar to that, anyway it does continue, but with not one brief moment of clarity.

You can't help but like this country and enjoy the people you meet, but I am unsure whether they are aware of how crazy some of the traditions are................maybe I should tell them?!!? The fermented herring (or Surstromming) is also another strange one, maybe another time for that one.