Sittning facts for kids

A sittning (pronounced "sit-ning") is a special kind of seated meal or dinner party, mostly held in Sweden and Finland. The word "sittning" means "sitting" in Swedish. It's a fun event where people sit down together to eat, sing, and enjoy themselves. While any meal can be called a sittning, it most often refers to a student party at universities.

Student Parties: The Sittning Experience

Student sittnings are popular events for university students in Sweden and Finland. They usually happen at a student union building or a special student club called a "nation." These places often have big dining rooms or halls perfect for a party. Even after students finish their studies, they sometimes keep these traditions alive!

What to Wear: Dress Codes and Themes

The clothes people wear to a sittning can be very different. Sometimes it's a very fancy event, like a white tie party where everyone dresses up. Other times, it might be super casual, like wearing a student boilersuit (a special overall worn by students). Many sittnings have fun themes, and guests are encouraged to dress up to match the theme! This makes the party even more exciting.

Food and Drinks at a Sittning

Students often prepare and serve the meals themselves. They might volunteer their time to help out at their student union or nation. A typical sittning meal usually has three courses, like a starter, a main dish, and dessert. Sometimes, drinks like beer, cider, or traditional Swedish drinks like snaps and punsch are included in the price. If not, you can usually buy tickets for them.

Singing Together: A Key Part of the Fun

One of the most important parts of a sittning is singing! Guests usually get a small booklet with all the songs. Everyone sings together when a song is chosen. The songs often fit what's happening during the sittning. For example, there's usually a special song to start the evening and another to end it. There are also songs sung before drinking snaps, and songs to thank the students who cooked and served the meal.

The songs can be traditional or even popular music, depending on how formal the sittning is. If there's a theme, people might even write new, funny lyrics to old songs to match the theme! In some places, like Uppsala, a sittning often ends with the song "O gamla klang och jubeltid." During the last part of this song, everyone stands on their chairs! After the song, you're not supposed to sit down again.

In Finland, many classic Swedish drinking songs are sung, sometimes in Swedish or in Finnish translations. For more formal Finnish sittnings, students might sing academic or patriotic songs, like De Brevitate Vitae or the Finlandia Hymn.

Toasting Etiquette: Cheers!

After a song is sung, it's common to raise your glass for a skål (pronounced "skol"), which means "cheers" or "toast" in English. There are often special rules for how to toast. For example, in Uppsala, people usually raise their glass and nod to the person next to them, then to another person, and finally to the person across the table. After drinking, they nod to the same people in reverse order. Then, they carefully place their glass back on the table. This can start very formally but often becomes more relaxed as the evening goes on.

Seating Arrangements: Long Tables and Partners

Sittnings often involve sitting at long tables, sometimes called långbord (long tables). Guests might have assigned seats. Often, they try to seat a lady and a gentleman next to each other, alternating around the table. This way, everyone has a partner to chat with!

Extra Entertainment: Shows and Speeches

Besides eating and singing, sittnings can have other fun performances. These might include short plays called spex (theatre), choir performances, speeches, or anything else that entertains the guests. It adds to the festive atmosphere!

Who Guides the Party: The Toastmaster

A sittning is usually led by a toastmaster. Sometimes there's also a sånganförare (song master). The toastmaster makes sure everything runs smoothly. They introduce anyone who wants to perform, talk to the serving staff, and keep the party organized. The song master chooses which songs to sing and starts everyone off.

Different Traditions: Unique Rules and Fun

Students have different ideas about how strictly to follow sittning traditions. Some prefer to be relaxed and just have a good time. Others believe that following the traditions makes the party even more special and fun. It's interesting because when students from different universities meet, they often find each other's sittning traditions quite surprising or even funny!

In Finland, if someone breaks the rules of the evening, they might get a small "punishment." This is usually decided by the toastmaster or song master. For example, the person might have to sing a song in front of everyone. While some places still do this, others have stopped the custom.

Gask and Ball: The Party Continues

A gask or a ball (like a fancy dance party) often starts with a sittning. After the seated meal is over, the party continues with dancing, either to live music or a DJ. There might also be a pub area. At a formal ball, there's a tradition for gentlemen to dance the first two dances with their table partner, then two dances with the lady on their left, and finally two dances with the lady across from them.