Tuesday, June 13, 2017 Graduation from Polhem Skolan Those of you who followed me along to my bus stop are familiar with the brick building in the background. It is the Polhem School, named after the Swedish 1700's inventor Christofer Polhem. The Polhem School is a gymnasium (similar to high school). The students choose an area of specialization in their gymnasium studies. Well, today was graduation day. Each class is placed at some location in the school. On a given signal, a class storms out of the school (as if to say "good riddance") shouting and screaming. They then board a rented truck for a ride around town, to shouting, singing, loud music, and general mayhem. Traffic in town is totally snarled! I jumped off my bus and ran faster than it could advance, on my way to a 4:50 appointment. My, was I tired after running 2+ kilometers. Had to dodge loads of pedestrians, too. In this photo, the truck has come back to the gas station across from the Polhem school. Here the graduates will disembark to get into a decorated car (parent's, or a rented fancier one). Then it's off to dinner at some nice place, or at home, which would be nicely decorated. The graduates all have a graduation hat - white velvet, with black or dark blue satin band, and black shiny visor. The inside is usually yellow and blue (Sweden's national colors). Seeing a person wearing this is a symbol of his/her graduation from gymnasium. The hats are worn on many different kinds of occasions, not just graduation. The trucks are usually decorated with relevant texts. The text on this truck reads - "After 3 years of law studies we STILL don't know what laws we are breaking!" ENJOY! These young people sure were happy!