Informant:

Elliot Danielsson is a 21 year old man from Gothenburg, Sweden.

Original Script:

Elliot: “So there would be two teams on each side of a field, or…like…a grass area, and there would be 5 sticks or poles on each side with the two teams. Then there would be two throwing sticks per team, and each team would have to try to knock down the other team’s five sticks with their throwing sticks. And then after you, like, knock down all of the other team’s sticks, then you would have to knock down the big stick in the middle, and that stick’s name was the king. And once you knocked down that stick, you killed the king and won the game.

Context: 

This childhood game is, as Elliot states, “an extremely popular game for when you’re bored as a kid.”

My thoughts about the piece:

It is extremely interesting to me just how different childhoods can be from different cultures around the world. Sure, my friends and I used to play with sticks when were younger, but I don’t know of anyone who created a sophisticated game with rules revolving throwing sticks. The only organized games that everyone really knew when I was growing up were actual sports like soccer and baseball. This shows that the games that we all know and love in the U.S. do not necessarily translate to every culture outside America.