Introducing the 17th of May

"Love it, love it and think on our father and mother and the saga night that sends dreams to earth." This is a lovely line from our beautiful Norwegian national anthem - kinda ruined by google translate though :)

Me and my fantastic boyfriend Dan celebrating, as you do, the 17th of may.

The 17th of May is the day Norway stops. To celebrate itself, of course. Shops and schools are closed, everyone gathers in town for the festivities of the day. The schools and local orchestras always organize a huge parade that marches through the town streets, the kids wave their Norwegian flags and shout "hurraaaaa!" (hooray), and the onlooking crowd answers them cheerfully "hurraaaaaaa!" Most women are wearing their "bunads" (Norwegian national costumes) - and also a few men are wearing theirs.

If my dad had been Norwegian, I probably would have been given one of these in my late teens, they're worth around $5000

Note: these costumes are IN. Every year. Fascinating :) I love them, I have to say. You would too if you saw them being worn every 17th of may, every christmas, every wedding....

On the 17th of May, a couple of things are compulsory. Buying an ice cream, for example. Imagine you've been stuck in a dark dark country for months on end. (Norway in winter, in case you didn't guess.) Winter depression is a commonality here. Finally, the sun starts to stay up longer. It even starts to warm your face again... Now, every time you're out, you lift your face towards the sun and just soak it in. You have to, you've missed it so much. Soon you can take of your jacket and scarf - ahhh - your jumper even! And oh how good that ice cream does taste in the warm spring air.

Another must for the 17th of may, is to barbecue. Not the Aussie way, I'm afraid. We use these:

"Engangsgriller" - or "disposable grills" if you like. Handy.

And the parks here in Oslo are filled to the brim with topless guys and nearly topless girls, sunbathing, barbecuing, playing soccer... It's the winter depression counterpoise. We love it.

But I have to finish now, cause I have only 5 minutes before the 17th May is over, and since I've lived here for twelve years now and have realised we have a lot to be thankful for in this country which sadly most take for granted, I have to say something. That something is a big thank you to those who've gone before us and made this a peaceful country, with social systems built on honesty and generosity. I pray with God's help, in the midst of the confusion easy wealth, globalization and commercialization has brought us, that our generation will manage to see, and stand up for, the Christian values this country was built on.

Kjære Norge, gratulerer med dagen!