Congratulations today go to Norway, celebrating not only providing the winning entry last night in the Eurovision Song Contest, but also because today is the nation's national day. I am thinking of my friends in Norway today, and imagine they are getting ready for their own local celebrations and town processions, such as the one I took part in Kaupanger (Sognefjord) in 2002. The good thing that struck me about being part of these celebrations was that there was a beautiful, almost naiive, simplicity about it all. The parading with national flags is not viewed as expressing some extreme nationalistic desire to exert dominance and control, but rather a simple joy and love of ones' own nation and its freedoms.In 1814, the Kingdom of Norway broke away from Denmark after 400 years of being under Danish control. On May 17 of this year, a constitution was established by the Kingdom of Norway at the Constituent Assembly at Eidsvold, and, although Norway was part of a kingdom with Sweden until 1905, Norway has chosen the Seventeenth of May (Syttende Mai) as its day of liberation and celebration. This day is celebrated in Norway with parades of dressed-up children and adults carrying flags and singing.
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