Conference turris::scandia

	you mean 17-j�ni of course.

	(which do you mean?)

    MAY 17TH IS NORWAY'S BIG DAY, LOOKING FOR EVENTS IN THE AREA!
    
    WHAT IS THE 17TH OF JUNE?  I KNOW ABOUT MIDSUMMERS NIGHT ABOUT JUNE
    21TH.
    
    LOS ANGELES USUALLY HAS A BIG FEST DAY ON THE PALOS VERDES PENISULA.
    THERE WERE SEVERAL THOUSAND PEOPLE THERE WHEN I WENT IN 1982.
    
    DAVE
    
    P.S. Pardon me for the caps. I just noticed the cap lock key.

    FWIW:
    
    May 17th is Norwegian Constitution Day. [1814]
    June 17th is Iceland's National (or Independance) Day [1947]
    
    Also on June 17, 1397, the Union at Kalmar united Scandinavia under
    Queen Margaret I.

    Happy Constitution day and long live Norges Kongen Olav!
    

Though this isn't exactly related to Sacndinavia, the Fed. Rep. of Germany
has there Tag der Deutschen Einheit (day or german unity) on the 17th of
June.  On that day many years ago there was supposedly a bloody rebellion
by workers in E Berlin.

chad

    Yes, it was 1953.
    

    Hurra for Norge!!!!!!!!!!

    Today is May 17, Norway's national holiday, celebrating their 
    independence from Denmark and signing of the constitution in 1814.

    This is a big day of celebration in Norway, with parades of schoolkids
    in every city and town, parties, dancing and heavy drinking.  Actually,
    during my highschool and college years we would start partying on the 
    evening of May 16, carry on all through the night and the next day.

    Especially wild was the graduation years / May 17 celebrations, as
    we had earned the title of "russ" and wore brightly colored hats
    (green when graduating from Junior High "real-skolen", red or blue from
    Senior High "gymnaset").  We felt those hats entitled us to make total
    fools of ourselves, which of course we did.  

    One dear old tradition was to ride a around town at sunup (around 4am) 
    on flatbed trucks stacked tightly with "russ" with hangovers, blowing 
    horns to wake up the general population.  Another tradition was the
    red/blue "russ" trip by ship (tax free liquor) from Oslo to Kopenhagen,
    where we made even bigger fools of ourselves.

    Does the "russ" still exist today?  Lets use this note to share thoughts,
    memories and news about May 17.

This year's celebration of May 17 by the "russ" was
somewhat limited due to the fact that one "russ" died
from meningitis a few days before May 17, and several
others had caught it, too. The disease was suspected of
have spread during a big "russ" gathering outside the
city of Stavanger. 

Hence, the "russ" were asked to avoid large parties,
avoid shouting too loud, avoid partying too hard etc. - 
all in all a series of advice from the health authorities 
that sounded a lot like the yearly nagging from most parents
of "russ".

But although this tragic death and the possibility of others
sobered a number of "russ", you could still see others just
as drunk, as happy, as tired, and with as tasteless jokes as ever.
If not worse... 

    Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
    From: [email protected] (Gunnar Blix)
    Subject: Re: 17.mai
    Sender: [email protected]
    Organization: University of Illinois, Dept. of Comp. Sci., Urbana, IL
    Date: Tue, 17 May 1994 19:16:08 GMT
 
    [email protected] (Annemarie Jameson) writes:
 
   >I had no idea it was such a special occasion.  Congratulations to Norway
   >and all Norwegians out there!  It must be quite an occasion.  Is it a
   >public (bank) holiday there?  What sorts of festivities are going on to
   >mark the occasion.
   
   >Anne
 
    It most certainly is!
 
    The celebration is somewhat unique, with parades in practically every
    town in the country, featuring marching bands and millions of flags.
    For those of you who thought that Norwegian patriotism got to be a bit
    much during the recent Olympics, that was nothing...
 
    I certainly miss it around here.

   --
   ******************************************************************
   * Gunnar Blix      * Good advice is one of those insults that    *
   * [email protected] * ought to be forgiven.              -Unknown *
   ******************************************************************

    From: [email protected] (Tor Rognmo)
    Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
    Subject: May 17th, 1995
    Date: 17 May 1995 08:32:55 GMT
    Organization: Netquest Communications
           
    In case anyone is wondering what all the 'fuss' is about in Norway on
    May 17th I've copied over a short article which is available at Links
    to Scandinavia, a web site in North America with links to all the
    Nordic countries.

    (The URL is http://www.infoserve.net/netquest/nordic/welcome.html)
 
    "Sometimes foreigners will inadvertently walk out of Oslo`s main
    railway station and stumble into the capital city`s May 17 parade.
    Either they then join in, or they run for cover and exit the country
    muttering about `total chauvinistic madness`.

    There may well be an element of madness about Norway's May 17th
    celebrations, everything being relative. The event commemorates the
    Norwegian Constitution, signed at Eidsvoll on May 17th, 1814. For a
    country which has spent more than 500 of the last 600 years under
    foreign domination, most recently by the German occupation during world
    war II, freedom and sovereignity takes on a special significance.

    I learned while living in Norway that May 17 is a day that is bursting
    with highlights. It starts early in life, participating in the early
    morning school parades. The climax is when you get to experience the
    thrill of being a russ - a post secondary graduate who in the days
    leading up to May 17 are allowed if not encouraged to paint the country
    red and blue.  

    As the years roll on you find yourself on the sidewalk watching as your
    own children march down the streets, waving flags and frantically
    proclaiming how happy they are to be Norwegian. (This is the part that
    confuses some visitors to the country, who may inadvertedly associate
    this burst of national pride with other, negative forms of
    nationalism.)

    Later in the day come's the People's Parade, review upon review on
    television of the King's speech of the day from the Palace balcony,
    hotdogs by the score and, for many, just generally walking around town,
    saying hello to everyone, waving their flag and yelling
    "Congratulations with the Day!".  

    The People's Parade is a bit like American July 4, Remembrance Day and
    the Stanley Cup play-offs combined. Grandmothers, young families with
    baby carriages, military bands, trade union orchestras,
    trumpet-bleating recent high school graduates, veteran-car parades and
    `the common Norwegian` all walk side by side or arm in arm, dressed in
    their Sunday best and waving their small or large red, white and blue
    flags.

    In the afternoon people congregate at the local community events,
    usually held in school yards. These feature speeches, entertainment,
    vast amounts of `polse og lompe` (hotdog rolled in a soft bread made
    from potatoes), with or without shrimp salad, amusement park style
    events and contests, and a lot of getting-to-know-your-neighbour-again
    chat. Then they go home, to a dinner, perhaps consisting of more hot
    dogs in lompe quickly prepared by parents  weary from a day that might
    have started at four or five in the morning. Or, adults may go to one
    of the city`s restaurants for a grand May 17 dinner. Other highlights
    include wearing a ribbon-emblazoned rosette in the national colours and
    watching other people who are walking around wearing their
    ribbon-emblazoned rosettes. And then there are those who live in the
    same neighbourhood as a high school teacher. Early in the morning they
    are made acutely aware of an old May 17 student tradition. It's called
    `waking up the teacher`, generally achieved with the help of fire
    crackers, bleaters, trumpets and car horns. 

    Towards the end of the day, as you try to wipe traces of ketchup and
    lompe from your bunad, best suit or long dress, and carefully put your
    rosette away in a drawer reserved for next year`s May 17, you generally
    are left with the feeling that there really is something special about
    living in Norway and being able to experience the 17th of May.

    So, whether you are celebrating this day in Norway itself, are
    participating in a Norwegian community event abroad, or are just
    curious what all the fuss is about, Congratulations with May 17th,
    Norway!

    From: [email protected] (Vegard Engen)
    Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
    Subject: A different may 17th.
    Date: 18 May 1995 09:27:07 GMT
    Organization: Uninett
    Sender: [email protected] (Vegard Engen)
 
    On may 17th, most people dress in their finest clothes, go to town, and
    either participates or looks at may 17th parades. But there are also
    other ways to celebrate.
 
    This year, I went to Sn�hetta, a 2286 m high mountain top. May 16th we
    packed our backpacks, with sleeping bags and tents, took our skis, that
    have not yet for my part been put away for the  season, and left for
    the Dovre mountain area. 
 
    Dovre is the land of the musk deer. We got a glimpse of a lonely musk
    ox when we were almost where we had to park the car, because the road
    was no longer free of snow.
 
    We spent the night in tents at the foot of Sn�hetta, in ~1600 m height.
    We had chicken, mushroom sauce and wine for dinner.  It was around -10
    C, a little windy, but at least I slept well all night. 
 
    Morning came, we had a breakfast consisting of porridge. Around 10, we
    started to climb the top. Then, At 12.30 we reached the top. Coffee,
    cakes and champagne came up from our backpacks. The trip would have
    been significantly easier with a lighter backpack, but it was
    definitely worth the extra load :)
 
    After an hour at the top, we started the skiing down again. The 6-700
    meters down went quite a bit faster than up :) We packed our tents,
    skied down to the cars again. 
 
    On the way home, we saw a lot of people dressed in their finest
    clothes, and we stopped along the road to have a dinner, reindeer
    steak. We felt a bit misplaced, entering a cafeteria with only people
    in dress and national clothes, while we were wearing skiing  outfits.
    But the reindeer steak tasted good :)
 
    This was definitely one of the better may 17th I've had, in a part of
    the country I like very well: the mountains. For me, the nature is the
    best part of the country, and it felt natural to celebrate the national
    day out in the nature. It is definitely something I will do again.
 
    - Vegard
 
    (PS. At Finse/Hardangerj�kulen there is a similar, though MUCH larger
    arrangement may 17th. Usually several hundreds of people have a parade
    from Finse to the top of the glacier. There is a short-film about it
    which will be shown at a festival in Canada in the autumn, I think.
    Norwegian TV showed it the evening may 17th. We didn't make it home to
    see it, but luckily we found a video store along the road, and asked
    nicely if we could borrow the TV to see the film. It is well worth
    seeing, shows a bit of norwegian culture that ought to puzzle many
    foreigners)

Norumbega Lodge #506, Sons of Norway, is celebrating Norwegian Constitution
Day in two ways this year.

On Saturday afternoon, May 17th, there will be a Family Picnic from 12:00
noon to 4:00 PM at the Belmont Day School in Belmont, Mass.  There will
be an informal parade, and free soda and prizes for all children.  All
are welcome.  For more information, please call Vera Gregg at 617-484-5748,
or Peter Vatne at 603-888-9105.

On Saturday evening, May 17th, there will be a Syttende Mai Dinner Dance
from 7:00 PM to 11:30 PM at the Boston Marriott Burlington in Burlington,
Mass.  Entertainment will be by Nils Lundin.  Reservations required.  For
more information, please call Ben Olson at 508-785-0800.