Peace, Love, and Lutefisk: Adventures i Norge

Yesterday was everyone's favorite holiday: Labor Day! Many nations celebrate May 1st as Labor Day, the anniversary of the Haymarket Riots in Chicago, and I was almost going to say that the US was one of the few that doesn't (apparently because of a strong anti-communist history), but I guess I can't say that after reading about the demonstrations held yesterday in the US.

Well, in Norway, Labor Day is celebrated in two ways. People who are on the left go the city center and join in a demonstration for a wide variety of causes. It's interesting because it is like a parade, except instead of watching, people join in the march behind whatever banner they support. Not one to miss a cultural event or demonstration, I headed downtown and joined the ATTAC banner, which protests against tax havens the power of financial institutions under the slogan "The World is Not For Sale." Yesterday we were specifically protesting an EU law that allows EU nations to employ workers with the same pay and benefits as in their home country. This thus allows businesses in Denmark, for example, to hire foreigners and pay them significantly less and avoid giving them the health benefits that are supposed to be guarenteed by Danish and EU law. So, we marched with flags to the rhythm of a small marching band, and it was great to see so many people out to demonstrate. There were a lot of pro Palestinean and anti-Iraq war demonstrators as well as demonstrators marching for gay rights in the church, the rights of unions in Norway, and against the privatization of electricity. It was a very colorful affair that ended with speeches and nice sense of democratic power.

People on the right side of the political spectrum celebrate Labor Day a little differently, usually doing yard and house work as kind of a spring cleaning day. Well, not to show favoritism, I also did some spontaneous spring cleaning. I was moving a mattress from Berit's old room upstairs when I realized: wow, this room is so much better than mine! With a big window towards the mountains, a little more space, and a lot quieter place in the house, I was suddenly struck with an idea. I should switch rooms. So that's what I did! Stian and I started moving furniture, taking it out to the deck and around the house to the shed. And of course when I got to the shed it was a bit messy, so I cleaned that and in the process realized I needed to clean our inside storage room. So, three hours later and three trash bags later, the shed, storage room, and my new room were all clean. I moved my bedding and clothes upstairs and already slept there last night. It should be a great spot next year because Stian is moving across the hall and Marijaana is down the hall, so the three stalwarts can hold court on the top floor. I'm not sure how Marjaana feels about having her bathroom change into a boys room, but we'll do our best to be clean!

Another beautiful day today. We're going to celebrate with an evening of grilling and eating root beer floats made from my home-made root beer. It turned out edible...not 1919 quality, but good when you need a fix.