Galen Studerande (Crazy Students)

Hejsan!

I know its been awhile since my last post and I apologize. We are about to head off to Italy so I thought I better write something before we left. Last Thursday was graduation day in Uppsala. Not graduation from university but graduation day from high school (a.k.a. gymnasium). Students select the gymnasium they will attend based on the skills they want to learn. If you plan on going to university then you go to a gymnasium that will give you the classes you need, if you plan on doing something more hands-on, ditto. Graduation day started early last Thursday, as I was walking to the train station at 7:20am, the students were already lined up getting their graduation photos taken on the banks of the river. High school students also wear the traditional white student hat that I mentioned in my previous post. The girls typically wear a white dress, and the boys wear a suit. So far, nothing crazy....but....

I got off the train around 2pm that afternoon, met up with my friend Julie, and we headed into town. We had barely left the train station before a cacophony of horns and music met our ears. Apparently the graduation students either rent big trucks or big trailers that are pulled by tractors, or just have their parents drive them around in a convertible or other car, with the music blasting and the drinks a flowin'. Please see pictures for clarification! This continued for pretty much the entire afternoon, so traffic was somewhat chaotic in downtown Uppsala on Thursday.



Well, we are off to Siena and Montalcino this week. The weather forecast does not look great for Italy which is too bad. We have been having amazing weather here. Plus 25-29 all week!
We went for a bike ride on Saturday evening and saw a hedgehog! Pretty cool (we also saw some sheep but that was somewhat less exciting). Last night we watched the Germany-Poland (Tyskland-Polska) match, but it was not as exciting as I had hoped and I found myself doozing off in the pub (no, I had not had too much to drink, only one glass of wine).

Anyways, I'll write once we get back on Sat. and tell you how the trip went!
Ciao
E.