Bring on the Midsommar

This Friday we'll be taking M's boat out to the island of Stora Tornö for the traditional midsommar celebration.  Midsommar is the most anticipated time of year in Sweden, celebrated in late June on the weekend closest to the summer solstice.  From what I've heard, the main elements of this party will include eating, drinking, wearing flowers in your hair, more eating, more drinking, singing songs about small frogs, more eating, more drinking, and dancing around the maypole (which some claim is a huge phallic fertility symbol meant to impregnate the earth).

  What's not to love about this?

Needless to say, I'm pretty excited to experience a proper Swedish midsommar in the outer archipelago.  I'm a little nervous to see how well I can hold up with all the snaps-drinking, but it sounds like there will be plenty of herring, salmon, potatoes, wild pig, and strawberries to balance everything out.  Here's a German Ikea commercial that was banned for poking fun at the Swedish midsommar traditions:

Looks like a good time if you ask me!