Midsummer

Hey all (I really should write, "Hej!")

Yesterday was the celebration of midsummer.   The longest day of the year.   The sun is shining brightly in Malmo by ~0400 and it isn't truly dark until close to 2300. 

I saw a funny set of three posters.  The first illustrated how foreigners imagine Swedish midsummer:  a racy movie billboard.  The second poster illustrated how Swede's imagine midsummer: Swede's happily dancing around the maypole under the sunshine.   The last poster was true Swedish midsummer: a group of people in jackets and hoods putting up a maypole in the rain.  

Yes, in fact, it did rain in the morning - but then it cleared up to be a bright wonderful evening.

We had a wonderful day celebrating at our church.

 We arrived early to help.

electric potato washer/peeler - very handy

The traditional meal of herring (which we enjoyed enough to have second helpings), boiled new potatoes, sour creme and chives.  We also had salad (Swede's, at least in Malmo, often put canned corn in their salads), and meatballs, for those who didn't want the herring. 

Thus nourished, the Maypole was assembled and we danced around it. - Yes, inside.  It was still pouring.  The dancing is basically silly children's songs with motions. If you think of songs like "Here we go round the mulberry bush, and you will get the idea.  

 It was followed, of course, by white cake and strawberries and coffee. 

Our church has a cultural exchange program/ Christian encouragement program with a group in China.  A group from China were in town and we were excited to hear and watch them perform.  They were wonderful. 

On the way home, I took a picture of the sun setting over Copenhagen.   Lovely.