The 17th of May (Norwegian National Day) has now come and gone. I’ve lived through the biggest holiday on the Norwegian holiday and come out the other side with a greater love for this country than I thought would have ever been possible.
So what did I do on the 17th of May?
The day started very early. As a part of Strommen og Skjetten Skolekorps I played at a ‘Raising of the Flag Ceremony’ at 8am. We played the Norwegian National Anthem (Ja Vi Elsker Dette Landet) while scouts from a local troup raised three Norwegian flags. It was very cold (around 4 degrees) and we were all very grateful when we were able to go inside and enjoy a typical 17th of May breakfast. All the korps families ate together in a hall and enjoyed a typical buffet of bread rolls and various toppings.
We participated in two different parades on the day. The first was around Strommen. We marched to Strommen Barneskole where all the children were being organised in to different groups for the parade. Their principal gave a short speech and one of the classes sang some traditional Norwegian songs. It was amazing to see so many young children dressed to the nines. Some were in traditional bunads whilst others were in suits and fancy dresses. The parade was lead by 6 adults marching with large Norwegian flags. We were next in the parade and were followed by the children from the local schools, all organised into class groups. I have no idea where we actually marched, one can only see so much when reading music at the same time. I do know, however, that everywhere we marched there were people lining the streets, most in bunads and very fancy clothing, waving flags and saying ‘Hurrah, hurrah’. We ended up marching to a care facility for the aged and disabled. Residents came out onto the balcony to admire the spectacle. A once empty courtyard was now full of children and korps. We marched back to the school and then took a bus to Skjetten Skole in Skjetten. We all had lunch together before embarking on the second march of the day. This time we were lead by a policewoman in full uniform. The scenes were fairly similar to Strommen with people lining the streets everywhere that we went. This parade went for a little longer and we even marched around a round-a-bout (note: this is a lot harder than it sounds, keeping the lines straight whilst playing is hard enough let alone when marching in a circle). Eventually we got back to Skjetten Skole where we played the National Anthem again. The temperature had gotten up to a perfect 15 degrees and it was a gorgeous day.
It was exhausting, there’s no doubt about that. We ended up marching for around 6km in total and played through all our songs a countless number of times. Still, I wouldn’t have done anything differently. I was incredibly proud to be able to don my uniform and wear my medallion from the district championship on my jacket.
When we were finished with the marching my host parents picked me up and I was able to rest for 2 hours before we went down the road to their daughter’s family’s house for dinner. With 17th of May badges pinned to our clothes we enjoyed eating a BBQ dinner outside on their deck. The table had been decorated with Norwegian flags and table runners and by that stage the temperature was around 28 degrees. Following the dinner came one of the most important parts of the day- cake and ice cream. For the first time I tried ‘Verdens Beste’ (it literally translates to the world’s best), a sort o almondy, meringue, cream and cake combination. It was incredible. I also tried a sort of custard tart cake that I don’t remember the name of. One of the fundamental ideas of the 17th of May is that it is a day to celebrate the children. As part of this it is customary to eat as much ice cream as possible. At this dinner there were four other kids, my host parents grandkids. Between us I think we had around 20 ice creams/icy poles. I had 3, as did the eldest grand daughter. The two other grand daughters had 4 and the grandson had 6. It was an incredibly fun evening and the perfect way to cap off what had been a pretty extraordinary day.
I think everyone should experience a Norwegian 17th of May at some point in their life. It is such a beautiful celebration of Norway and what it is to be a Norwegian.
Until next time,
Alicia
