17. mai og slutten av russefeiring

In USA, Americans have a special day to celebrate the independence from Great Britian on the fourth of July.  In Norway, Norwegians celebrate constitution day on the seventeenth of May.  Both of which are national holidays and come with the same feeling of pride as one celebrates their country and what is has to offer, but are at the same time, very different.  I was very lucky and got to experience the most festive type of 17. mai as a Russ. 

In USA, Independence Day is a federal holiday that celebrates the adoption of the document called "The Declaration of Independence" which was used to gain independence from England.  The actual "separation" of the original thirteen colonies from the Kingdom of Great Britian occured on July 2, 1776, but the document was revised and debated over by Congress and finally adopted on July 4, 1776.  This day has great importance in the United States.  The second sentence of the document serves as an outlook at individual human rights: "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."  On this day, we Americans are reminded of our "unalienable Rights" and celebrate them. 

In Norway, Constitution Day, the National Day, or best known simply as The Seventeenth of May (syttende mai) also celebrates the signing of a document; this one known as "The Constitution of Norway".  This document declared Norway to be an independent nation.  The Constitution of Norway was signed on May 17, 1814.  During this time, Norway was under the ruling of Sweden and consequently, the King of Sweden was reluctant to allow celebrations of the day.  As time has passed, the celebration of this day grew more and more and is now seen as a national celebration.  Before 1814, Norway was known as The Kingdom of Norway and was even more formally part of The Kingdom of Denmark.  Syttende mai is also celebrated in a few parts of the U.S. by Norwegian-Americans. 

On the Fourth of July in the United States, Americans celebrate with fireworks, parades, picnics, concerts, barbeques, baseball games, political speeches, carnivals and many other things.  It is also normal for people to wear clothes with red, white and blue (the colors of the flag).  (When I think of the fourth of July, this is what I think of.)  Where I come from (Killington, Vermont), we celebrate it in a very special way that only a small community like ours can pull off.  Each year people gather in the morning along River Road to watch the community parade with consists of children and adults alike, showing off their decorated bikes or special talents like baton twirling or singing.  We also have the volunteer fire department their for their barbeque of hamburgers and hot dogs and to continuously teach the community about fire safety.  From the parade, everyone goes down to the pool and barbeque and eats, swims, talks, dances or takes a part in some of the contests held by the recreation center and local radio station.  (Contests range from best belly flop and biggest splash to dance offs and races for children.)

On May Seventeenth in Norway, Norwegians celebrate in a different way.  Although the day contains many of the same activities as parades, concerts, speeches, carnivals and barbeques, there are many cultural differences.  At home, we don't have a national dress, but here in Norway it is a big part of the day.  As I mentioned in my Christmas post, the national dress in Norway is called "bunad" (russ pants and hats are also well recognized on this day).  Each region of Norway has a different bunad and as Norway has come to have more days on which the bunad is traditionally worn, I have come to recognize which bunad is from Vestfold.  Also on this day it is normal to eat a lot of ice cream and watch many parades.  Here in Larvik, Russ were in two different parades: Barnetoget and Russetoget.  We walked at the end of the barnetog (children's parade) and had different themes for each section of the Russetog.  This is the only time I have ever seen so many Norwegian flags up around town.  Many marching bands go through town as well as themed parades all containing people holding numerous flags. 

Here are a few similarities and differences between the cultures:

The President and first family wave from the White House while the King and Royal family wave from the balcony of the Castle. 

"Normal" fourth of July clothes in USA in comparison to that of bunads in Norway on May 17th.  

Here's Harald, me, Line, Mari and Charlotte (yesterday) on the seventeenth of May.

 A parade in D.C. and a parade in Oslo.

Declaration signing 1776, USA and Constitution signing 1814, Norway.

My 17th of May was very interesting!  It started on the eve of the 17th with the last night of russefeiring.  The sixteenth to seventeenth of May is always a huge party for Russ all over Norway.  We all met up on lake Farris where the busses and cars were all parked and we cooked hot dogs and ate chips and partied all night.  We "set up camp" near the ledge over looking Farris which was really beautiful.  We danced and took more russeknuter all night.  It didn't get totally dark until 11 PM which was SO WEIRD!  Then, as we were leaving around 3 AM, it started getting light again!  Line and Mari slept over at my house on Rekkevik and we got up and left again a few hours later for the barnetog (children's parade). 

The Russ are at the end of the barnetog every year, so we were expected to be there after a full night out.  As Harald drove us, we got stuck in traffic, so he told us to get out and walk there.  We were going to be late.  Then about two minutes after we got out of the car and started walking, the traffic totally cleared up.  Our luck, right?  So we kept walking and about halfway there with only ten minutes left to get there, a bus stopped on the other side of the road and the guy driving yelled over to us, "You going into town?"  I guess he had been driving Russ around, but anyway, it was still a little sketchy to me because when we got on the giant bus, we were the only ones on it.  He drove us all around town to the parade and blasted ABBA on the way. ^^ When we got to the children's parade, we were hounded, COMPLETELY HOUNDED by kids wanting our Russekort (russ cards) - kids were literally screaming and grabbing at our things trying to get them from us.  I wouldn't be lying if I said I was a little frightened by Norwegian children during that walk down the parade to where are the Russ were waiting for the parade to start. 

The barnetog finished up at Bøkeskogen (a city forest) so Line, Mari and I bought drinks and ice cream and sat down in the shade (it was really warm outside).  I saw Eirik, Solfrid, Else Britt, Harald and Helle up at Bøkeskogen which was so great!  Then we walked down to the Russetog!  That was really cool because we had themed "floats".  I was in a music group in which we played recorders, rain sticks, harmonicas, washboards and other "non-colloquial" instruments.  Many Russ held up signs with either political, funny or random statements.  At the end of the russetog, we did the Glow Dance and our Russ President addressed us.

Afterward, Alice, PH, Håvard and I went and got lunch at a Mexican restaurant in town.  Then Alice, Thea and I watched another parade come through town and then went with some of their friends.  We ended up playing basketball for a few hours and then I came home to a little gathering at my house here in Rekkevik.  Else Britt and I finished the night with kransekake, ice cream and strawberries. 

I won't lie - today felt a little weird to not have my russ pants on.  Where did the feeling of great power go?? ;)