Love it or hate it, as an international student, Mikaela Sasi has never experienced Siste april and tries to figure out what all the fuss is about–is all the fomo really justified?
For the second year in a row, Siste april is going to be celebrated in Covid19-style and Lund’s municipality is shutting down all larger outside celebrations. To those of us who have not yet had the opportunity to experience the infamous celebration, Siste april comes with a confused mix of feelings, including a weird sense of fomo about an event that is not even taking place–but also not really understanding why people are so upset about the closing of Stadsparken.
As more and more events get rescheduled to the unknown future, the pandemic is starting to numb many of us, me included. It is also hard to be upset about missing something that you’ve never experienced. However, I cannot help but wonder what is the hype that I’m missing out on.
Although I’ve heard many stories about the legendary student celebrations in Lund, I wanted to go full on masochist by asking more experienced lundastudents to share their most cherished and not so-cherished Siste april stories.
My friend Vivian describes her first Valborg weekend as “unlike anything else she’s ever experienced in her student life”. However, she also recalls some not so glorious parts of Valborg: “I guess one of the less fun memories is queuing for the tickets to Kvalborg, we started at 3 am but in the end I guess it was worth it” Never did I think that the thought of queuing for a nation would make me feel a longing surge of nostalgia instead of the feeling of instant regret about not leaving after the pre party (I’m really fun to go out with).
My other dear Skåne friend Emilia tells me how “the atmosphere in Stadsparken is truly one of a kind on Siste april!” She misses the energy of the large crowds and spontaneity of running into new people–without the fear of spreading a possibly deadly disease. She doesn’t miss, however, the smell of overcrowded bajamajor or throwing up in a flower bush while a cute family with children walks past.
Over a year into the pandemic, seeing pictures and hearing stories of past Valborgies does feel like a parallel universe. There are of course far more pressing issues in the world than not being able blackout at 3 pm on a specific day or attending after parties at Parentesen.
However, student celebrations are about more than singing Stad i ljus at 4 am. Good or bad, they create a sense of togetherness that many of us could use now more than ever. That is exactly the reason why we all have to be extra careful this year to avoid a surge of infections, so we can once again experience that feeling of unity at Siste april 2022.
