One of our first afternoons in Denmark, Kyle and I took Will out for a stroll. All of a sudden I started to hear a loud Beyonce song. I turned around and found that it was coming from the large truck that was driving down the street. The back of the truck was filled with dancing young people, all wearing similar hats. As the truck passed us, the students waved at Will and Will danced in his stroller to the music.
A few minutes later, another one passed us. It was the same: loud pop music, dancing young people, hats. We probably saw four of these on our hour long stroll. Will thought they were awesome, and they put a smile on our faces as well.
When we returned to the house I asked my sister-in-law Sarah what these trucks were about. She explained that it is a Danish graduation tradition. The truck is the transportation for a day-long graduation party. Students in Denmark stay with the same class of students for most of their classes in high school. When they graduate together the students go to the houses of each their classmates, where parents offer food and drinks. The festivities start in the afternoon and last late into the night.
When she told us this Kyle turned to me and said, “This sounds like a great graduation tradition. I would do that, it looks like fun.” I agreed.
Well, I agreed at the time. In the middle of the night…not so much. At 3pm, it was fun to see the students dancing and enjoying themselves. At 3am when I was still tired from the international flight I thought grumpily to myself, “I wish those students had flunked their exams so that I could get some sleep tonight!”
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