Ja, vi elsker dette landet

May 17th 1814: Eidsvoll, Norway:
Norway finally got its own constitution.

May 17th 2005: Anywhere where Norwegians (or descendants of Norwegians) can be found:
The streets have been taken over by thousands of people in national costumes, waving with red, white and blue flags and cheering "Hipp, Hipp, Hurra!" The parades may seem endless and the brassbands may drive anyone to insanity after a while. To a foreigner this must look rather weird. He or she might wonder what strange, nationalistic place he or she has come to.

As a Norwegian, I would say it's about tradition. Norwegians are known to value freedom a lot. (This can for instance be noticed by our urge to walk around on mountains for days where there are no other people.) A hundred years back in time, I can very well understand how parades, music and flags would make people feel more united. After all, Norway had been under Danish and Swedish supermacy for a very long time. Nowadays, the situation is of course very different, but still it's a nice tradition. And we should be very grateful we live in a free country.

A summary of my day: meeting good friends downtown in the morning, getting a good place to stand by the royal palace, observing the children's parade, listening to the brassbands and catching a glimpse of the royal family, having a hotdog and an ice-cream, strolling down the main street to look for celebrities and people dressed in national costumes, reunion with friends for dinner, cake and more ice-cream.