Peace, Love, and Lutefisk: Adventures i Norge

Yesterday was one of my favorite days I've had here in Norway: May 17th, the Norwegian Constitution Day known as Syttende Mai! It was great, a full day of fun with great friends, Norwegian traditions, lots of laughter, food, and parades a plenty.

The day started early. The night before the 17th is one of the biggest party days in Norway. We didn't put up a very good showing, but we did have fun watching drunk people walk by Rachel's Apartment late at night, getting caught in the courtyard outside her apartment building we aptly named the "Drunk Trap." We had a slumber party the night of the 16th and the next morning at 7am, the marching band started. Horns and drums woke everyone in the center up for the next two hours. We finally got up for good and walked over to a house near the center where a peace student from the second year class lives. There we had a great, traditional Norwegian 17th of May party! We started with coffee and rolls and all the Norwegians came in their traditional costumes called bunads. Almost all the Norwegians dress in their traditional clothing and everyone looks so regal and beautiful. We talked a lot and at about 10.30am made our way to the parade route. This was the barnetog which is the children's parade with kids marching along with their classmates, teachers, and some of the local politicians who lead the parade. There are also bands, baton twirlers, and other random groups. There is a sea of red Norwegian flags and everyone shout "Hip, Hip, Hurra!" It was very cute to see the little kids in their traditional costumes and see them so excited. The thing that stod out most to me was how many people are in the parade compared to the US. It seemed more like a protest march with a constant stream of people instead of floats. High on participation and energy.

After the first of many parades, we headed back to the house for a great meal of chicken soup (it warmed us up nicely from standing in the half snow, half sun weather), potatoes, salmon, eggs, and salad. The first round of desserts started after the meal and after digesting and chatting some more, we enjoyed a rousing round of national anthems! We had a very international crowd, so after singing all the verses of the Norwegian national anthem, we heard the anthems from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and the US. We couldn't convince Armenia to sing and Spain had the excuse that their anthem didn't have words. But, the score will be settled Saturday in the Eurovision song competition which is like Idol for all of Europe, except each country writes its own song and it is supposedly even cheesier than Idol and over 30 years old. ABBA even won it years ago with "Waterloo!" Well, after the singing we headed to Storgate for the Russtog, which is the parade of the 18 year old high schoolers. This one is much more vulgar with water guns. The kids like it because the Russ hand out personal cards with their photos to little kids. It was funny to see the 18-year old craziness. It's kind of like their coming out party, their transition from childhood to adulthood and it is the ending point of 17 days in May in which they dress in matching clothes and basically drink, do pranks, and are "rebellious." So, I was glad to see the end of parade and Russ craziness.

Rachel and I took a break after the Russ parade to watch a TV show that she was in! Two years ago at Luther a Norwegian film director made a movie about Norwegianism in the US and a lot of it took place in Decorah and at Luther. It was very funny to see the US version of 17th of May and how Norway portrayed Decorah. Lots of Vikings and trolls which we don't see here!

After the show, we headed back to the house for more cake and some fun games. We did the Potato Race where you have a potato on a spoon and have to run to the finish line without dropping it. I did the supersized version with an egg and won my heat! We had an added level of difficulty because we had been enjoying wine intermittenly throughout the day with all the cake we ate. It was great though to be outside once the sun came out for good and to see these Norwegians in these fancy clothes running with a potato on a spoon. The whole day was funny in a way. It really seemed like I could have been living in 1950 or maybe even 1850. The clothes were so traditional, the food, parade, and games were all like something out of Laura Ingels Wilder. Even the house we were in was an old tiny house with old furniture, old decorations, and traditional food. There is something very omforting and amazing to see traditions like this that are simple and powerful. Even though I'm not Norwegian, I felt a surge of Norwegian pride!

After the potato racing, I headed to Tove and Curt's house who are professors at the University and friends of Rachel and I. They made us a nice light dinner which was much appreciated after hours of eating cake and drinking glasses of coffee and wine. We had a great conversation, played some monopoly, and finally at 11pm Rachel and I walked home from the Southern tip of the island, almost a 50 min walk home. It was great though. It was as light as it had been all day and the mountains were covered in snow and people were still out walking around in their bunads enjoying the light and Norway. A great day and a great country. I will be sad to leave this summer and happy to return to great friends and a great location. Happy Syttende Mai! Heia Norge!