Hipp hipp Hurray

Hipp hipp Hurray, it's Norway's national day today. We are celebrating the day when we got our constitution., 17.may, 1814. The historic situation is that after the Napoleon wars, Norway was independent for a short while. But Sweden claimed Norway as a reward for being on the winning side. We tried to fight the Swedes to keep our indepenence, but in vain. We lost and had to accept a union with Sweden. But the union was based upon a common king and a common foreign policy. We were accepted to have our own constitution and our own domestic laws. The first time we actually celebrated our national day as a national holiday was in 1836, but in the years before it had been more and more common to celebrate it around the country in many muncipalities.

These days it's a very joyful celbration with parades in most places and happy people walking around talking and cheering. The parades are, in the morning, parades for the children and it's common that they are centered around different schools around the country. Many places there are also parades for all the people of the place. In Norway, we do not celebrate our national day with military parades, it's a day for the people.

Here's a short clip from the 17 may celebration in the city of Skien, the neighbour town to Porsgrunn, where I come from


There are many songs that are a tradition to be sung on the 17th of may. among them are "Ja, vi elsker" ( Yes, we love ) ( here I must say that in Norway we don't use the word elsker as easy as they use "love" in english )


Our national anthem, "Ja, vi elsker dette landet".

My celebration will this year be almost not excisting. I'll be coming off work in the morning and will go back to work in the afternoon. The time in between, I needl to sleep and rest. Most times I celebrate with my friends, but if I'm in my hometown I celebrate with my family. And all over the country it's mostly a family or children celebration. The youth of Norway start celebrating the day mainly on the 16th of may, with going out, meeting friends and drinking. On the 17th of may this group is often more quiet and not dominant in any way.