Why do swedish people wear sailor hats

Afterward, you head to your school and there is a ceremony. As with the rest of the day, it is usually light-hearted and fun, with teachers being very relaxed and students chatting and laughing the whole way through. It is not too formal and is something every student really enjoys — it is a special part of the day where years of hard work are rewarded.

Each graduate finds the people who are there for them. Graduates are then given flower chains to wear round their necks, small trinkets, and some champagne. This is one of the more odd parts of graduation but one that is very special, as the things you are given are usually things you keep for the rest of your life. It might be a small trophy, a medal, a ring, or a watch — something along those lines.

With flowers in hand and champagne ready to pop, students then head out on a flatbed truck, which is usually replete with banners and signs. These trucks drive around town playing loud music while the students drink, dance, laugh and enjoy themselves. People might honk their horns in support or cheer as the students drive past.

Mid-afternoon usually means returning to smaller parties with family and friends where you eat, reminisce, and listen to your parents telling stories about when you were in diapers.

After having enough of family time, students regroup with a meal at a restaurant before hitting the town and toasting to their success. And you hear it all day, every day, for about a couple of weeks as different school have different graduation dates. This mobile party seems completely dangerous to me, but what do I know? It happens all over Sweden every year.

After the mobile disco ends you may see graduates running through the more populated parts of town in groups singing, dancing, yelling, blowing horns and whistles and chanting through megaphones. Some members of the group carry boomboxes and they lead the group like the Pied Piper keeping the party going.

I was having lunch in a main square the other day and my friend and I could not hear each other over all the noise. Also common are pranks around town — silly things like jumping in public fountains to cool off and sober up?? After the truck ride and run through town, the graduates return home to friends and family waiting to celebrate the student with more festivities well into the night.

During the day I ran into my son who was graduating the following year. I think he is ok with embracing this new tradition though.

Traveler, explorer, photographer, writer, blogger. Raised on promises. She couldn't help thinkin' that there was a little more to life somewhere else. After all it was a great big world with lots of places to run to.

I love the photo tradition! I think I might just start a campaign to begin that tradition here in Australia ready for when my kids graduate high school. I have just the right photos.. Love all your insights into Swedish culture — keep them coming FarawayFiles. Thanks for sharing with FarawayFiles. It seems like great fun. I just read about a boy and his mom in the USA who were detained because he waved during the ceremony. Waving or any displays of joy were strictly forbidden.

His wave resulted in his being escorted off the stage without his diploma. Then his mom went looking for him and it escalated. I think I prefer them enjoying this milestone. Although all the drinking. Non-religious naming ceremonies for […]. In the early s the tradition was to put on the student cap, for the first time since winter, in the morning of 30 April. As the years passed this gathering moved further and further up towards the University Library, Carolina Rediviva.

Some time during the s, then Vice-Chancellor Torgny Segerstedt got the idea to raise his cap as a starting signal, and the tradition was born. Uppsala University uses cookies to make your website experience as good as possible. It is hard for Danes to explain what these traditions really mean to them.

The partying students with their beautiful caps are what younger students look up to. You may be feeling happy for them, but you are mainly imagining your own cap and partying. Unsurprisingly, a global pandemic is not the best environment for celebrations like these. At Grenaa Gymnasium in mainland Denmark, their plans had to change. Mirah Christiansen, whose exams have all been cancelled, talked about how they are keeping Danish tradition alive, at two meters apart.

A great alternative, but not quite what her family expected. The traditional white cap for graduates.