Last night was the happiest I’ve been in a while. Though my dress did not arrive in time, I had a wonderful time singing with Tornakoren at the beginning of the ball last night at the AF building. None of us fell off the steep set of stairs we were crowded onto by the entrance and I thought we sounded pretty good (I will boast for the Swedish singers, as they are modest). I initially felt under-dressed, as most of the other girls had long fancy prom dresses on, but after we finished singing and had to walk somewhere, I realized that I was lucky (eg. no heels to get caught in the cobblestones, no hem to worry about stepping on).
We made our way to Lund Nation for a ’sittning,’ a traditional Swedish (student??) dinner. Before I heard that people drink a lot and sing traditional Swedish (drinking) songs at these, so when we arrived to find long, banquet-style tables with white coverings, large silver candelabras, multiple cutlery sets, etc., I was pleasantly surprised. Tornakoren (named after the street, Torna, where our nation building is located) took up two long tables and it was nice to be part of a group. I was also happy that we placed ourselves next to the kitchen, as we were quite hungry. The three-course menu was delicious: grilled asparagus with parmesan cheese and roasted pine nuts; what I think was ox fillet in a creamy sauce with arugula and potatoes and stewed tomatoes, and AMAZING white chocolate mousse with some berry compote and garnished with very flavorful mint + coffee. I love food. The servings were a bit scanty, especially considering that many people were drinking a lot of wine as a beginning to a night of partying. So it turns out my flatmate Mellon* was right when he warned me beforehand to, ”Never go to a sittning hungry!” But considering that all the nation events are organized and run by student volunteers, I thought the overall quality was great! and during the dinner our table only knocked over two lit candles onto the table during one of the more vigorous songs that demanded some banging on the table, AND we replaced them before they set fire to everything.
After the dinner, we danced and hung out as the DJ proceeded to bang out some horrendously monotonous house music. We left just as the music started getting a little better and people arrived, but that was good because I think I would’ve fallen asleep if we had stayed, as there are some comfy couches there. After a short stop at someone’s flat, we made it back to the AF building for the ball, where there was a live big band. It could have been some ambassador’s party, as everyone was dressed to the nines- many of the guys were wearing tuxes- you just had to ignore that everyone was drinking Grolsch. and people were dancing quite well to the music, and I was impressed that many of the guys looked like they knew what they were doing on the dance floor!! One of the great things about live big bands is that they create the opposite of a creepy sleazy club atmosphere where people are only out on the prowl. Anyhow, when the big band retired they brought on a rock cover band, which was nice to break up all the dancing couples.
So, in conclusion, it was a fabulous night. BUT I did not really talk about why it was so good- THE PEOPLE! It was really nice to get to know more people in the choir- I am seriously thinking of wearing our circular nickel-sized silver pin (with a ”T” in the middle) all the time. Or at least put it on my messenger bag.
*not his real name (it actually means ”friend” in Elvish)
