...is admittedly already a while back and I'm actually currently taking care of school stuff, organizing some things at home and enjoying this. Nevertheless I wanted to quickly share the events of the day that seems to be so very special to the nowegian people.

At first I thought this søttende mai - which marks the Norwegian Constitutional Day, akin to the 4th of July in the United States - would turn out somewhat similar to the Koniginnendag back in Holland. But unlike the Dutch, who have a more or less humorous approach to the whole event by covering everything in orange color and wearing trashy fake crowns as a reference to the queen, the Norwegians take their day a bit more serious.

Yes, there was also lots of drinking and partying the night before (which I did) and yes, the streets are also crowded with lots of cheerful people, but everything seemed to have sort of a posh touch to it. Everybody, kids and adults alike, was either wearing traditional clothing or their finest Sunday-suits and dresses, as if they were out for a peachy weekend stroll in the park. There was lots of flag-waving and several parades - one for the kids, one for the Russ, for who it marked the last day of their celebrations, and one featuring the King and Queen themselves, waving to the people and all that jazz - after which the mob flocked to the local parks, the harbour or any other public space for fancy lunches. And oh yeah, they all said 'Happy Birthday!' to everyone they met. You know, 'cause it's Norway's birthday...

Apart from feeling slightly awkward in a celebration that I have absolutely no relation to and - being the German that I am - having suspicions towards everything that involves overly patriotic gestures, it was particularily bizarre to walk through these masses of excessively dressed-up people in jeans and a t-shirt. Especially since I'm not the type of guy for this kind of appareal anyways. Being hungover and uncomfortable, I only took a couple of pictures, had a quick chillout session with Magnus and Niklas down by the fjord and crawled back to bed. Should've listened to that half of the people who told me to get away as far as possible from Oslo on this specific date.