Norwegian Fairytale

The theme of my past weekend was Norway. Saturday night was Eurovision (http://www.eurovision.tv/page/home), a contest between European countries for the best song. I had never heard of Eurovison before, not surprisingly, but apparently it is a big tradition here. Everyone has different opinions of it, but most agree that the songs are ususally bad and voting is much more political (everyone votes for either their country or their neighbors/friends) or based on show. Hillhead Center had it playing in the pub and cafeteria, and I was amongst the many international students watching it 8pm that night. Most Europeans said it was much more fun to watch here where the audience was made up of people from so many different countries than at home with their parents. Norway won, and since three of the friends I was with that night are Norwegian, we went downtown to celebrate and the people we met were quite enamored with their Norwegian flags and pride, which made for an entertaining night.

Yesterday was The 17th of May, Norway's national holiday, which, contrary to popular belief, is not about being nationalistic, but it is about democracy. So said my friend Ingvild who gave a long speech on the history of the day at the brunch the Norwegians hosted. It is a big day for them and they were quite enthusiastic about sharing it with everyone else. I don't know too much about European politics, but it is really fun to pick up on the banter between friends from different countries.

Now my sleep schedule is very different from what it was two weeks ago. Then I was waking up around 7am and now it is more like 11am . . . luckily the days are long here; the sun rose at 4:45 this morning and it sets at 21:26.

I suggest you youtube the Eurovision performances. Just type in "Eurovision 2009" and then the country. Obviously Norway is a must see, you'll be in love with the fairytale, and Greece got quite a bit of support from the audience; otherwise the final standings are listed on the website.