Hipp Hipp Hurra!
May 17th is Norway's Constitutional Day, marking it's declaration as a country and as an independent kingdom. It's usually referred to as Syttende mai (May 17) or Nasjonaldagen (The National Day) in Norwegian. On this day, Norwegians come out to celebrate by having parades, celebrating in their homes (in which a lot of eating is involved), eating ice cream, etc.
The Constitution of Norway was signed at Eidsvoll on May 17, 1814. The constitution declared Norway to be an independent kingdom in an attempt to avoid being handed to Sweden after Denmark & Norway's defeat in the Napoleonic Wars.
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Why am I aware of this and why am I taking semi-partly on the tradition, you ask? I have a very good friend in Norway. He and I speak everyday, and I'm quite fond of his parents as well, they are such lovely people. My friend's mum is a Filipina and his father is Norwegian. We met in Cebu a couple of years back through ice skating, he's a hockey player and I'm a figure skater. We became very good friends over time and he's been teaching me to speak the language.
Through him and his family, I get to have a glimpse of what life is like in Norway. Their traditions, culture, food, behavior, and the likes. I often asks questions about laws and regulations as well. His hockey team, most of them have befriended me, as well. But through it all, this is what I wanted to share and people to know about how Norwegians celebrate the 17th of May.
1. Learn to say "Gratulerer med dagen!"
This translates to "Congratulations on your special day", but it's a bit confusing since it's also used to say "Happy Birthday" but it makes sense to Norwegians, so worry not. I guess, it's to say it was Norway's "Birthday" on the day of its freedom.
2. Dress the Norsk way and strut in your "Bunad"
The bunad is a traditional Norwegian costume worn by both men and women. Traditionally, Bunads represented the family home and the area people came from, but now in the modern world, where moving from place to place is a necessity, Norwegians wear the Bunad tradition from the place to which they have the strongest attachment.
3. Eat a lot!
Many Norwegians will grab a pølse i brød (hot dog) or an ice-cream while out and about on the day (it has become a bit of a tradition for many). A lot also stay in and prepare a feast for their family. There is indeed an influx of the need for Ice Cream, Aftenposten notes that 7-Eleven can sell up to five to six times more ice cream than usual.
4. Join the Parade
With the the Buekorps (boys and girls brigades) enthusiastically banging their drums through the streets, the Norwegian flag flying in the hands of everyone participating. It's a truly unique experience. But did you know that for the first decades, only boys were allowed to join the children's parade? But time's change, and now everyone can proudly walk in the streets of their cities on their bunad and enthusiasm hand-in-hand. It is indeed a big celebration, filled with pride and happiness to commemorate the day Norway was free.
I'd like to thank everyone who allowed me to share their clips and photos of Norway's National Day. My friends did give me a sneak peek by sending not just videos, but also video chatting me and showing their own food preparations and the likes. It was very interesting to have a this experience. Wanting to learn about the Scandinavian culture, particularly Norwegian, is not very common and I count myself truly lucky to have friends that are more than willing to share their culture with me.
With my move to Canada next year, my goal is to be able to visit Norway in 2020! I would love to experience the traditions for myself and I would love to see the fjords with my own eyes. I want to experience the cold weather and eat the food. To finally indulge in another's culture, since I've been living in my country my whole life, haven't gone out even once. Once again to the readers Norwegian or any nationality, Gratulerer med dagen og tusen hjertlig takk for lesing! (Congratulations on your day and thank you very much for reading!)
And that's my 2nd #Ulog entry! It has been such fun trying to be as simple and straightforward as possible, but I hope you guys truly see how unique and exciting their tradition is. Norway has now become my dream country. I had fun learning about this tradition and researching and asking my friends all sorts of questions. I hope you had fun reading it and please don't hesitate to share your thoughts and comment down below! All the love! xx