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Halloween i Norge

Posted by Kari

Oct

2009

Halloween in Norway. Do nordmenn celebrate Halloween? The answer is yes, but not to the extent that Americans do, and they do it slightly differently. It was not until very recently that the trend caught on in Norway to celebrate Halloween. Actually, there is an interesting chart in an article in Aftenposten online that shows the increase of coverage of Halloween in Norwegian newspapers. In 1997 there were 15 comments or discussions about Halloween and in 2008 there were 433. It was only a matter of time before the spooky day became popular.

This year the most popular kostymer (costumes) are edderkoppdrakt (spider wear) and djeveldrakt (devil wear). There are definitely barn (children) who dress as non-scary things, such as prinsesser or other Disney karakterer. The following site provides a guide to kostymeutleie (costume rental) places in Oslo: http://oslopuls.aftenposten.no/shopping/article88457.ece

So what do barn say when they ring a doorbell in hopes of godteri (candy)? They don’t say “trick or treat,” they say “knask eller knep?” I have never experienced Hallowen in Norway, but apparently it is not uncommon for barn to actually play a knep or even vandalize something if they don’t get a knask. In the U.S., “trick or treat” is just what you say when you ring a doorbell and someone answers. Most people will simply smile and give you a treat. I actually don’t remember ever not getting candy or being asked to do a trick. The only thing I ever got mad about was getting an eple (apple) or something else healthy for a treat. Halloween is all about sugar!

So if you are going out for Halloween in Oslo tonight, it sounds like there are plenty of fester (parties) and feiringer (celebrations). There is even an event up at the lake that I lived by in Oslo-Sognsvann. There is a huge bål (bonfire) up by the lake where you can roast pølser after you walk through the dark forest to get there. You can take a trip to the Historisk Museum to decorate a skull. You can go to Akershusfestning and hunt for ghosts or listen to live musikk inspired by spooky things. There is plenty to choose from in Oslo to feire Halloween tonight.�

Posted under Culture, Holidays

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Ferie

Posted by Kari

Aug

2009

Norwegians are good at going på ferie (on vacation). Like most Europeans, Norwegians enjoy friluftsliv, outdoor life, such as å gå på tur, å gå på ski, å ta fly til Syden, o.s.v. (and so on). For eksempel, many Norwegians go up to hytter (cabins) in the mountains til påske (for Easter) and they spend a lot of time reading Påskekrim (Easter crime, books about crime that Norwegians read during Easter).

Norwegian workers get 11 paid public holidays off per year and a generous number of vacation days (5 weeks for most people). Now, this is a touchy subject because obviously you need some sort of money to go på ferie. However, it seems as though Norwegians enjoy going to their hytter in the mountains to be with familie (family) and venner (friends) just as much as anything else.

Taking all kinds of ferier (vacations) into consideration, let’s learn some words and phrases that will come in handy. First, what are some of the things you need to pack?

en koffert is a suitcase

å pakke is to pack

klær are clothes

noen få par sko are a few pair of shoes

en tannbørste is a toothbrush

tannpasta is toothpaste

et kamera is a camera

noe å lese something to read

What are some things you might need to do to prepare?

kjøpe billetter (buy tickets, i.e. for a plane, train, bus…)

bestille plass make reservations

lese turistlitteratur read tourist literature

planlegge aktiviteter plan activities

And what are some things that you hope will not happen på ferie, but often do?

Noen blir syk someone gets sick

Noen mister noe someone loses something

Folk blir lei av hverandre people get sick of each other

Noen blir skadet someone gets hurt

and last, but definitely not least,

Du bruker mye penger You spend a lot of money!!

Har du alt? Do you have everything?

Er du sikker på at du ikke har glemt noe? Are you sure that you have not forgotten something?

�

Posted under Holidays, Leisure

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Sankthansaften

Posted by Kari

Jun

2009

This is the stavkirke (stave church) in Røldal where people would make pilgrames to the crucifix for it’s healing powers.

Norwegians, Swedes, Finns, other northern European countries and even some eastern and southern countries celebrate midsummer, also known in Norway (and Denmark) as Sankthansaften or Jonsok. Sankt Hans is another way of saying St. Johannes or St. John, referring to John the Baptist (Jonsok means John’s wake), who was thought to have been born 6 months before Jesus, on June 24th. This holiday has roots both in pre-Christian/pagan and Catholic traditions. It’s funny how that often is the case. Traditions often start out meaning one thing and then evolve when other knowledge is gained.

Midsummer is usually celebrated between June 21st and June 24th. The date that midsummer is celebrated varies between cultures, but since John the Baptist was thought to have been born on the 24th, this day has special meaning. So before John the Baptist, the 24th held no real significance. In Norway, in particular, Sankthansaften is celebrated on June 23. Historically, the idea was to celebrate the longest day of the year, the summer solstice, by gathering with friends and family to eat, drink, make a bonfire, and pick flowers. No, really. The bonfire was lit to protect the people from evil spirits that were thought to be lurking around when the sun turned southwards. Flowers were picked, marigolds to be specific, for their alleged healing powers. It was not uncommon to get married on this celebration, which would symbolize new life.

Once Catholicism made it’s way into the tradition, it became popular to make pilgrimages to churches and holy springs. In Norway, up until 1840, there was a pilgrimage to the stave church in Røldal (southwestern Norway), which had a crucifix that was thought to have special healing powers. I’m not quite sure why at this particular time of the year people were concerned with healing. But there are some traditions that I am afraid we are not necessarily meant to understand completely.

The best part about this night, this celebration, is that no matter where you are in Norway, the sun is up in the sky until at least midnight, even in southern Norway. Up north, it shines all night long. Easy to party, hard to sleep. If I didn’t understand why some days were lighter longer than others, I would probably adopt unscietific ways to explain the phenomenon, and then celebrate that in strange ways as well, wouldn’t you?

Posted under Culture, History, Holidays, Traditions

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Gratulerer med dagen!

Posted by Kari

May

2009

In Norwegian, “gratulerer med dagen” can either mean “happy birthday” or it can be said on a day like syttende mai to mean something like “congratulations on this day!” It’s almost a happy birthday to Norway-to celebrate the day that the country adopted it’s own constitution. So at midnight tonight, you should all show off your Norwegian and tell everyone you see “gratulerer med dagen!” You might be wondering how to pronounce this so you really get it down and can feel good about it. It’s kind of tricky to describe in writing, but I’ll try to spell it out phonetically to the best of my ability: grah (like “ah” when the doctor tells you to open your mouth to check the back of your throat…)-too-lair-er may (kind of “may” mixed with “meh”) dog (like your pet) -en. Try that. The “r”s in “gratulerer” are of course supposed to be flipped, so give that a whirl. I attempted to explain how to flip ‘r’s in one of the previous posts, so reference that if you need to.

So what do Norwegians do on this glorious day? Well, most of them are hungover to start the day, which seems odd. The night to party is tonight, the night before syttende mai (pronounced soot (like root but remember not to use the ooo like ooolala pronunciation) -en-eh my). Today is the 16th of May-sekstene mai (pronounced sigh (like you are exasperated)-sten-eh my. I remember this day 3 years ago when I was living in Oslo, we went out and partied hard. And woke up much too early for my comfort.

The day begins early with a great big breakfast usually with friends and/or family. I went with some friends to one of their friend’s houses and was amazed at the spread of food before me. There was a variety of breads, cheeses, meats, olives, and pastries. There were hard-boiled eggs, an array of fruit, and of course, champagne. Drink it as is or mix it with orange juice, also known as a mimosa to us. You hang around and eat and talk about the night before and then head down to the parade! Because I was in Oslo, the parade would be the biggest in the country and it takes place on Karl Johans Gate, the main drag of Oslo. Everyone stands around and watches for the royal family to come onto a balcony of the palace and waive. School kids march on by in the parade. The Russ, who I have mentioned in the past, also partake in the parade, all dressed in their russ colors. The most fascinating part of the day for me was to be able to look at all of the different traditional attire that men and women wore. Bunads galore. I saw so many different beautiful bunader (bunads) from all over the country. Some people know bunads so well that they can tell you where this bunad is from and where that bunad is from. Bunads are specific to regions of the country. While female bunads are dresses, men’s traditional costumes are also referred to as bunads, but they are not dresses.

If you go to Norway for syttende mai, you will see ornate costumes, milions of Norwegian flags, many little children walking in the parade, and Russ that are so partied out they probably don’t look too good. You will hear lots of music and see lots of smiling faces. It is a great time. I think just about every community in Norway has it’s own celebration. Oh, and I forgot an important part of the day-is- ice cream. You must eat is!

Gratulerer med dagen tomorrow! I will be at a wedding reception tonight, no doubt partying, so I’ll keep Norway in mind and party for her too!!

Posted under Culture, Holidays, Leisure, Traditions

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Syttende Mai

Posted by Kari

May

2009

Syttende mai is the 17th (syttende) of May (mai-notice months are not capitalized, unless of course they come at the beginning of a sentence). Norwegians celebrate syttende mai because it is the anniversary of their Constitution day or Grunnlovsdagen. In 1814, a small group of Norwegian men, the Constituent Assembly, signed the constitution on May 17 in Eidsvoll, Norge, a small town north of the capital (which was called Christiania at the time).

Norway was in a union with Denmark from 1536-1814. In 1814, Crown Prince Christian Frederik of Danmark initiated the Norwegian independence movement. During the winter and spring of that year, the Norwegian constitution was drafted; on May 16 it was ratified and the following day it was signed. This constitution was one of the most radically democratic constitutions in the world at the time. It was inspired by the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the French revolution in 1789.

The feature of the Norwegian constitution that sets it apart from the American and the French is that of the king. Norway opted for a constitutional monarchy and the Crown Prince of Denmark, Christian Frederik was the obvious choice for the job (since he was the one that initiated the indepenence movement in the first place). While most countries in Europe at this time were absolute monarchies, meaning that the king essentially had absolute power, Norway chose to implement a constitutional monarchy, which put a system of checks and balances on the king.

Unfortunately for Norway, the rest of the world was not ready to support the country as a sovereign entity and Norway lost in battle to Sweden in the late summer of 1814. Norway was then in a union with Sweden until 1905, when Norway finally became a completely sovereign nation. And thus, the importance of celebrating syttende mai! This year, syttende mai falls on a søndag and it happens to be this coming Sunday, so I will write all about what happens on this day in Norway-and actually several blocks away from my house here in Northfield, MN!