17th of May

May 17th is an important day for all Norwegians: It is our independence day. Most Norwegians will struggle to remember whether we won our independence from Sweden or Denmark (or both), but that does not stop us from having one Hell of a party on their account. Last year I celebrated it in the rain home in Norway, but this year I joined forces with all the Norwegians in Beijing.

The festivities started with a nice formal cocktail party at the embassy. I went there with Edvard and Markus and it didn't take us long to find and entrench ourselves next to the open bar. It was great to drink on all the Norwegian tax-payers account, thanks everyone!

In the evening we headed over to the Radisson SAS hotel, where the festivities would take place. We grabbed a seat together with some other young people: Helle, Hedvig and a guy I never remember the name of, so let's call him Gunnar. They were backpackers on the last leg of their respective Asian trips. I was so envious of their travels and really longed to be on the road again.
We secured ourselves some glasses of beer and were just about to kick back and relax, when it was parade time. All Norwegians walk in parades on the 17th of May and it was to be no different down here. I'm sure the Chinese thought we were crazy as we paraded around in the parking lot. The following youtube clip illustrates the atmosphere:

Luckily no one was arrested and we were able to return to our drinks.

Shortly thereafter they opened the buffet line  and we could indulge in Norwegian food. It had been a while since I'd enjoyed goat cheese, vafler, rømmegrøt and a bunch of other things that made me miss home. We stuffed our faces and kept the bar staff busy refilling our drinks. The temperature dropped, so by the time the entertainment started we were all shivering.

Luckily the entertainers were none other than Knuden and Ludvigsen (they have been on top of the ball for 30 years now, specializing in Children's songs). Since everyone knows their songs, the atmosphere was good.
Kanskje kommer Kongen

Grevling i taket

Juba Juba

When they were finished we naturally hurried over to get a picture with our childhood celebrities. It took us about 20 minutes to get to the front of the line, but it was worth it ;-)

After the exhaustive queuing we found an opening at the bar and dove into the beer and wine again. We were so busy drinking and talking that by the time we looked up, everyone else had left and 7 of us were the only ones left.

We headed over to Zuq and later Nanjie to celebrate the day like all Norwegians do: with plenty of drinks. It was a memorable night, even if all of us were hurting the next day.