The 17th of May is Norway's national day. People walk in parades holding the Norwegian flag high, they dress up in their beautiful national "costume" bunad and they eat ice cream until their stomachs turns. At least this has been the traditional way to celebrate. But the times are changing. I love to observe people and notice little oddities that most people don't bother seeing or find amusing at all. To me these observations are what makes a day fun, and the 17 of May is a great way to observe my fellow Norwegians.
One of the things that has changed, is that the Norwegian flag seems to have been replaced by the much more popular gas-balloons in various shapes, colours and forms - all ugly and all in miss-match to the bunad most people wear. My favourite from yesterdays parade was a motorcycle-shaped gas-balloon. The little fella holding the balloon seemed quite happy though. Bless his confused heart. Another little fella was fighting his way through a buss packed with people with a horse hanging in a leash behind him. It was quite funny watching this little person marching out of the buss totally unaware of the chaos he created behind him with the balloon getting caught up in peoples purses, clothes and flags. He made it though, both he and his brown gas filled horse got out safely.
It's no secret, gas-balloons and public transportation (or any transportation really) does not go well together. A couple of years ago my sister and I observed one of the guys selling gas-balloons trying to get home. He had not managed to sell all of his balloons, and watching him trying to get himself and his 12 gas-balloons into a cab was quite amusing.
I realize MY celebration of our national day has changed to. Stuffing myself with ice cream isn't the main-goal anymore. This year i watched the parade (looking for good-looking men in their best clothing - this has become a tradition ever since I became single... ) I had a nice meal at a Mongolian restaurant (!) and ended the evening at a masc-ball. I lost my jacket and had a bit to much to drink, but it was still a great evening. And who's to say there's only ONE way to celebrate the national day??
Of all the good looking up-dressed people I saw yesterday I choose to dedicate this column to the guy I observed at the buss -stop. He had a perfectly fitted, grey suit on, a bow on his jacket and a grey bicyle helmet on his head...! He had me laughing for several minutes.
Love,
E
One of the things that has changed, is that the Norwegian flag seems to have been replaced by the much more popular gas-balloons in various shapes, colours and forms - all ugly and all in miss-match to the bunad most people wear. My favourite from yesterdays parade was a motorcycle-shaped gas-balloon. The little fella holding the balloon seemed quite happy though. Bless his confused heart. Another little fella was fighting his way through a buss packed with people with a horse hanging in a leash behind him. It was quite funny watching this little person marching out of the buss totally unaware of the chaos he created behind him with the balloon getting caught up in peoples purses, clothes and flags. He made it though, both he and his brown gas filled horse got out safely.It's no secret, gas-balloons and public transportation (or any transportation really) does not go well together. A couple of years ago my sister and I observed one of the guys selling gas-balloons trying to get home. He had not managed to sell all of his balloons, and watching him trying to get himself and his 12 gas-balloons into a cab was quite amusing.
I realize MY celebration of our national day has changed to. Stuffing myself with ice cream isn't the main-goal anymore. This year i watched the parade (looking for good-looking men in their best clothing - this has become a tradition ever since I became single... ) I had a nice meal at a Mongolian restaurant (!) and ended the evening at a masc-ball. I lost my jacket and had a bit to much to drink, but it was still a great evening. And who's to say there's only ONE way to celebrate the national day??
Of all the good looking up-dressed people I saw yesterday I choose to dedicate this column to the guy I observed at the buss -stop. He had a perfectly fitted, grey suit on, a bow on his jacket and a grey bicyle helmet on his head...! He had me laughing for several minutes.
Love,
E
1 comment:
Hahaha. Those gas balloons sure can make one's day. It always makes me laugh watching those lost ones, high up in the air, thinking about the poor fella/girl who is crying somewhere over their loss. It sounds like you had a great national day. Hope you recover your jacket!
Post a Comment