Quote:
Originally posted by CC1GC
Sverige ,
Perhaps you can enlighten us about the process of becoming 'greek' in sweden.
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If I may be so bold as to chime in, they have "fraternities" in Germany (hey, Swedish is a "Germanic language", so I am not totally off base here with drawing a connection between the 2 countries and cultures), only they're called "Student Corporations". Some of them even have a "duelling side" (it's considered prestigious to have a scar on your face from duelling). I visited a "fraternity house" in Heidelberg, Germany, called "Vineta".
They also had Student Corporations in Latvia, where my grandparents came from. They're not like North American Greeks (i.e. the names are not Greek lettered), but I am sure that they do their male-bonding thing (think of like Order of Elks or Eagles, or Lions Club or Knights of Columbus or whatever). My grandfather's fraternity was called "Ventonia" (he even had a poster on his wall that proudly proclaimed "Fraternitas Ventonia" so they did think of themselves as a "fraternity", although not in the Animal House sense, though I am sure they got up to some "revelry" in their time). They have Latvian sororities as well (my aunt was a black sheep and she was kicked out of her sorority Dzintra!)
There used to be a GC'er on here...I think
matthewg was his name- he lived in Germany and always wanted to have deep philisophical discussions, etc. LOL
Here is a nifty website:
http://www.balticorp.de/bphv/links/en/?linkside=riga
It's all about Baltic Fraternities in Germany as well as fraternities in Dorpat, Reval and Riga (which is Latvia)
"Today these countries have many student fraternities with thousands of members who do not only participate in academic life, but also in the political, economical, and scientific sectors."
They even had a "Baltic Fraternities Convention" last year in Munich:
http://www.balticorp.de/bk2002/pdf/flyer.en.pdf