Gratulerer med dagen Norge!

My friend claire and me in the midst of celebrating.

(Happy birthday Norway!)

Hei hei! It’s time to talk about the most Norwegian day of all the year. Syttende Mai is Norway’s constitution day and it was one of the funnest days I’ve spent here. Today, I’m going to take the time to lead you through my day and give you a little history about Norway along the way. From what I’ve learned, there is a specific way to celebrate the 17th of May, although my Norwegian friend Markus disagreed when I mentioned it. He said, “the whole point of Syttende Mai is to go with the flow and see where the party takes you”. 

10:00 pm the day before:

One of the biggest traditions on the 17th of May is a big breakfast with all your friends and family before the festivities state. As a study abroad student who mainly hangs out with other exchange students, I was told to quickly make some Norwegian friends and invite myself to their frokost (breakfast) for a real Norwegian experience. I latched onto my friend Claire who was already going to one, and the night before we made a massive strata to bring along. It’s traditionally a potluck style and we didn’t want to show up as clueless Americans!

Traditional Syttende Mai kake (found on Google, as our frokost didn’t have one).

7:45 am the day of:

Another important aspect of this holiday is how you dress. Norwegians will wear traditional bunads (which I will talk about later) and/or suits and dresses you might find at a wedding. Everyone is dressed up. All day. All night. For me, this meant waking up early and panicking over what dress was appropriate and primping for a full hour and a half before leaving the house. As a foreigner, you don’t want to stand out or offend anyone with how you dress. Ideally, your outfit will be in Norwegian colors (red, blue, or white) and be fairly modest.

9:30 am

T-bane ride into town. The train was more crowded than I’ve ever seen it, with Norwegians of all ages waving flags and twittering excitedly. The russe students (russefeiring is the month-long high school seniors celebrate. Read more here.) also crowded the train, looking completely exhausted as it was the official last day of their celebration.

10:00 am

Shoved my way into the crowd downtown, strata banging against my leg and strollers attempting to run over my feet. Normally the frokost takes place before the parade but it was being held by other students and everyone thought a brunch would be nicer than waking up at 6 in the morning. The parade goes from 8 am-3 pm and it is organized madness the entire time. All of Oslo shows up to see the performers and wave to the royal family, who sits on their balcony at the palace waving all day. By the end of the day, they look as tired as the russe students.

The parade!

The best part of the parade, as everyone tells you, are the dances put on by the younger kids. Up until age 13, schools around the city have their students walk in the parade and do dances with the nation’s flag. Even preschoolers participate (which is adorable). Have any of you ever walked in a parade? Can you think of any parades for USA holidays that would be similar to this?

The massive crowd.

12:00 pm

After waving farewell to the King and his family, I finally pushed my way through the crowd and onto a tram to go to the frokost in Grunnerlokka. Outside downtown was much less crowded, but there were still tons of people hanging out at street fairs or having barbecues in the parks all over the city.

The strata was a success! I also got to talk to the Norwegians at the frokost about what the 17th of May means to them and what traditions go along with it. They all said that the main point of the day is to show as much love for Norway as humanly possible. I found this interesting, as often in other countries nationalism isn’t seen as a great character trait. Here, people are constantly talking about how amazing their country is. Do you think Americans show nationalism regularly? 

 

Claire (left) and Karin (right) in traditional bunads.

1:00 pm 

After food, my Norwegian friend Karin convinced Claire to put on her bunad from high school and we started talking about the dresses and their history. Here’s what Karin told me about them:

• Every bunad is handmade and the pattern is specific to the region in which it is made. Her new bunad (the black/blue one) is the one made in Oslo. Oslo recently changed the pattern so it is more modern, and each piece of it has patterns from surrounding areas. So, even though it’s a new pattern, the roots of the pattern are very, very old.
• They are very expensive. Hers cost 20,000 NOK (roughly $2,400) and was a present for graduating high school. Different members of her family gave her different pieces of the costume.
• They are supposed to last the rest of your life. Normally, Norwegian girls will get a cheaper one when they are a teenager and then get a real one when they’re an adult. The dresses have enough fabric in them to be altered about three times throughout life. (Side note: she’s never heard of a maternity bunad, which I asked a question about)

A final observation I’ve noticed about bunads is that they aren’t reserved for Syttende Mai. Norwegians wear them whenever there is a special event, such as weddings and graduations. Have you ever seen a traditional costume like this in the US?

At some point, Claire and Markus switched outfits. Because, why not?

3:00 pm

The party moved to the park and we spent a few hours lying around in the sun. According to Norwegians, every single 17th of May in Oslo has been sunny. Based on Oslo’s track record, I’m a bit skeptical but hey, anything can happen on Norway day!

5:00 pm

Claire and I left the Norwegian festivities to go back and join our exchange student friends. There was more food and more flags (you must carry at least one Norwegian flag all day) and a general sense of excitement still buzzing around the city. By this time, the royal family had given up on waving and gone back inside. We followed suit and went back to a friend’s apartment to rest a little bit before heading back into the city for dinner and more festivities later on. Norwegians don’t stop celebrating until the sun comes up (which is 4 am this time of year). 

I hope you enjoyed hearing about my first real Norwegian holiday experience! Do any of you have special traditions for American holidays like the 4th of July? I’d love to hear what you think about the differences in how they celebrate things here versus the USA.

Ha det!

Megan

P.S. For my final post next week I will be interviewing a Norwegian high school student. If you have any questions you would like me to ask them please put them in the comment section!