My 2nd 17th of May in Norway.

So, I was technically in Norway for a 17th of May two years ago, but Me and A kinda slept through the whole day as we had been up most of the night prior because I had just got there, there were large breaks between ferries and we talked quite a bit. Lovely.

This 17th of May was good but mostly bad as I could not seem to get any joy. Just felt pain all the time.

So, got up at 6.30, showered and dressed. I wore a blue and white dress with blue tights. Trying to keep in with the theme of Norway colours as ofcourse I do not have a Bunad to wear. Bad times! :P I headed up stairs for breakfast with the boys. It was super nice. I tried to eat as much as I could but eating just made me feel more sick. I acted as if I was happy on the outside, not sure how good I was at it. I then headed down stairs to finish getting ready to leave, and the rest of the family headed up stairs to do the same. The boys were in their school parade thing but I sadly did not go because I wanted to be in Oslo, especially as I think this is my last 17th of May in Norway. I took the Tbane in. I got to the station just after one had left so I sat there for a while. There was a Russ bus right by the station and it was pumping loud music out. The boys were on top of their bus dancing. It was a funny sight. I would very much like a similar thing in the UK but it probably would not be any where near as practical as it is in Norway, and kids just do not have that much money. It is insane how much money they must put into their 'russ' activities. The buses alone must cost a lot. I know that in Oslo and Bærum there are a LOT of spoilt rich kids so I guess there are a LOT more buses here than other places in Norway. I wish I had taken a picture of some of them :( I also never saw the same one twice over the last month, which is a little crazy. Enough about Russ. Here is a picture I took in Oslo of some people in Russ outfits as I thought it was the last day so I better! :P

I got on the train and was surrounded by people all dressed in Bunads or suits or dressed all posh. It was awesome to be able to see all different types of Bunader.
Met D at National Theatre. We popped into a shop so D could buy a flag. I noticed that the freezers were full of icecreams and I thought about what I had heard about the amount of ice cream that kids consume on the 17th of May. We then headed up towards to Palace to watch the parade. As we were walking up the road I told D about my dreams I had had the previous night, which had led to me being so unhappy that day. I had a dream about texting A, I can not remember what I said but it was something along the lines that I wanted to talk to him. I then received a text message back from his phone but the message was not from him. It was from a girl saying that A was not very well, he was staying at hers, he was sleeping in her bed and that he could perhaps talk to me later. Then it ended with a girls name who I have never met/do not connect her to any girl. The text was also written with REALLY bad english and spelling. The next dream was a happy dream involving A, sadly I forgot what it contained but I knew that it was not real when I woke up and so added to the depression. End of dreams.
We met some of D's housemates and some other randoms, and stood waiting for the king etc to come out and for the kids etc to start walking past. It took a while..... but it finally started. I got quite a lot of pictures of random stuff and of the king etc!

I was not able to get a good picture of one but there were a lot of school bands that marched with dolls on sticks, it amused me some what.

I was getting a little restless so I suggested to D to go for a walk. And things seemed to go down hill from there. I felt part of nothing. There I was in the middle of Norway and why....... Like before I felt connected to the norwegian culture, to a norwegian, like a belonged. Now, I just felt like I was faking everything in my life. I was surrounded by men and women dressed in beautiful Bunads and just wished to be one of those happy norwegian couples. I am glad I am welsh and would never think of changing or hiding that but I also LOVE the norwegian life. I saw myself staying here for a very long time and then I just felt apart from anyone on the world.

I still kept an eye out for my fav bunad and I think I found it. Obviously it had to have purple in it! :P The one on the right hand side. I think it is from somewhere in Telemark, but I did not ask. Apparently girls in Oslo (maybe Norway) are 'chosing' their bunad rather than getting the one from where they were born etc.


I tried and tried and tried to make it through the day but I had to head home at 12 as it all got a bit too much for me. We popped in the shop again just before I got the tbane and my god the ice creams were all gone. There was a guy standing there filling it with boxes and boxes of ice cream but he did not seem to be getting very far as people were just coming along and taking them from it. I got home and just lay in bed with my music in my ears and fell asleep, hoping the music would keep away the bad dreams. I think it did, or atleast I do not remember them. The rest of the day included crying, sleeping and Fringe. So was not a great day. Even forgot that N was coming the next day!

BryonyRuth xx