17. mai, Step by StepPosted byBjørn A. Bojesenon May 17, 2018 inHolidays,Traditions
Gratulerer med dagen, Norge!(”Congrats with the day”, Norway!) It’ssyttende mai[May 17th] again, and Norwegians all over the world are rejoicing and celebrating theirnasjonaldag[nashoNAALdaag]. A17. maispent in a Norwegianbygd(village/town) orby(town/city) is a great experience, so for those of you who haven’t got that opportunity, here’s a breakdown of the day…
- 17. mai er en fridag(M17 is a holiday). Most peoplestår opp tidlig(rise early) – especiallybarna(the children). Everything has to be ready forden store dagen(the big day) –festklær(party clothes),flagg(flags),mat til festmiddagen(food for the party dinner)…
- Most Norwegian girls and women have abunad[boo-nahd] (national costume), and lots of boys of men have one, too.17. maiis the day to wear yourbunad,所以要确保它是干净的nd presentable!
- The ceremonies often start quite early – at 7 or 8 o’clock in the morning – with akransenedleggelse(laying down of wreaths) at a memorial orkirkegård(cemetery). At theAkershus festning(fort) inOslo,kanoner(canons) are fired as a salute.
- A couple of hours later, it’s time forbarnetoget(the children’s parade – sometimes it’s also calledskoletoget, the school parade). Children – and some adults, such as teachers – gather to march behind thefane(banner) of their localskole(学校),甚至barnehage(kindergarten). Thetog(parade) has a fixed route throughgatene(the streets), so all the proud parents and grandparents get a chance to photograph their marching kids fromfortauet(the pavement). On17. mai, of course, there are no cars on the streets (unless they’re part of a parade).
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Various军团(marching orchestras) are also following along, playing brass music. Everybody knows the melodies, andsings along. People wave smallnorske flagg(Norwegian flags) and shout happy things like呼啦!Please note that there is only good intentions on May 17th– people celebrate Norway without ”dissing” other countries/cultures. Sometimes,Sami peopleand immigrants wave their own flags in addition to the Norwegian ones.
- InOslo, the culmination ofbarnetogetis when all the children (theinternetsays 60.000!) march in front ofSlottsbalkongen(the Castle Balcony) and are greeted bykongen(the king) and the rest ofkongefamilien(the royal family).
- In bigger towns, the children’s parade may be followed by arussetogand afolketog.Therussetogis for theruss, 18-or-so-year-olds who’ve finished their ”high school”. They usually wearrøde drakter(red suits) and make a lot of fun, like driving in their ownrussebuss(russbus) and honking the horn at people.
- Folketoget(the people’s parade) is for just about everybody: policemen, firefighters, hospital employees, sports clubs – every group who wants to ”show its face” to the public.
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The public celebrations continue for several hours, with17. mai-taler(May 17thspeeches), chatting to friends in the street, public concerts, publicleker(outdoor competitions – such as tug of war)… If there’ssol(sun), people eat a lot ofog pøls吗(ice-cream and sausages).
- Many people end the day by gathering in private for a nice17. mai-middag(dinner). If the weather’s nice, there’s a good chance your Norwegian friends will invite you to a celebration aroundhagegrillen(the garden grill).
Hurra for 17. mai!
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