Greetings
to all you lovely ladies and gentlemen here on the great world wide
web. Today I have to say that this week has just passed by like one
big supersonic missile. I have been so unbelievably busy at work and
on updating pages on my blog that I have hardly noticed that 4 days
have passed me by. Not even joking about this my friend. So I hope
you guys have had an amazing week and that you are ready for the two
days long break from everyday life. This is one break that I for once
wish I could have, but I have no real reason to complain. Life is
good and that is all one can demand, right? At the same time, I do
love living a busy life in general. So that's the life I guess.
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| From a children parade in Snarøya, Bærum ( photo credit:Jan Fredrik Breivik ) |
Today
is one very special day for us Norwegians. 17th of May is the day
when we celebrate our constitution and independence from the forced
union with Sweden. As I see it, a liberation from Swedish occupation,
but this is part of our long history now. The thing is that Norway
isn't like other nations around the world. While most celebrate with
fireworks and huge military parades we don't do it like this.
Instead, we let our kids do the talking on a day like this. With
talking I am thinking about our unique children parade in the early
hours of the day, the graduating students at mid-day and everyone
else around dinner time. This is actually a day that is celebrated by
Norwegians all over the world.
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| The Nowegian royal guard regiment ( photo credit: Kjetilbjornsrud ) |
To
be completely honest, I love this day and for me, this is a day that
even rank days like Christmas and New years eve, not to forget my own
birthday. Not that this has anything to do with any nationalistic
feelings, but more because of the traditions that follow. For me this
day means that the family are gathered, we spend the entire day
together and are focused on having nothing but fun all day. Not to
forget to eat a lot of good food and whatever else that comes to
mind. The first thing that comes to mind when I think of this day is
hotdogs, balloons and happy kids everywhere, but rarely any decent
weather. At least not where I am from back home in Norway.
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| From a children parade in Trondheim ( photo credit: Municipal Archives of Trondheim ) |
The
sad part is that I haven't been able to celebrate this day in the way
it should be this year, this is for many reasons. The most important
one is that I am not in Norway and it's kind of natural right, but I
did make some of the Norwegian dishes that I love so much. One of the
was a typical milk soup and I have to say it was amazing, but I had
to eat it all by myself. My family doesn't like it, but they had
something else instead. At the same time, there isn't any Norwegians
that I know of living in the area, but we have had an amazing day
together and I am hoping that by next year we are spending it
together back home in Norway. It's allowed to hope and dream right?
Anyway,
all I really wanted with this post was to say congrats on this day to
all Norwegians all over the world. For me, it meant as a way to end
the day and mark the tradition in my own way. I do hope that you have
enjoyed reading my post and a little bit about Norwegian traditions.
Not that I went into super details about it, but that wasn't the idea
either. So before I wrap this post up and publish it, I want to
apologize for my silence on all fronts this week. The truth is as I
mentioned earlier that I have been swamped and the week has just
passed me by in supersonic speed. Hopefully, I will be back on track
this Monday, even with a brand new about page as well. So have great
weekend guys and girls.