The Norwegian National day

The 17th of May is Norway's national day. This is celebrated each year with parades made up by children from every school in the local communities throughout the whole country.

Music is an important part of this parade too, and together with horns, saxophones, drums etc children in their best outfits shout "Hurray" and wave with Norwegian flags. People dressed in national and traditional outfits make a long row along the roads the parade passes. Everybody are happy and cheerful, and this happening makes a tremendous impression on everyone, especially tourists and immigrants in general.

Last year our school formed a group together with "Kongsberg statlige mottak - Hero", the company in which Henri works. Asylum seekers, refugees and other immigrants dressed in their best outfit met up and joined the parade. We went under the UN-flag plus the Norwegian flag, held by "our own" Henri from Cameroun.

As you can see on the photo, Henri and I participated with them, and we had a great time! It gave me a new dimmension walking this parade with our participants and asylum seekers, and undoubtedly they enjoyed it very much. People along the route chered and commented on the importance of having us in the parade, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. We are looking forward to this again next month!