God Syttende Mai!!!

Had a wonderful Sunday celebrating Norway's constitution day. Woke up early (way too early) and headed to the dental school for breakfast. After, we walked to town following hundreds of people in their bunads (national costume) to find a spot to watch the parade. The parade was filled with bands, schools, organizations, and clubs. I have never seen so many bunads or Bergen so busy with people! We watched the parade for a few hours and then decided to head back home and change before lunch. There were 2 official parades happening, but it seemed like every street was crowded with a parade, we ended up crossing over 5 streets of parades and running through them to cross! It was so packed!

We walked back to Alrek to change and then walked to Elise's apartment where she made us the traditional lunch of Runegrot (sour cream porridge) and flat bread with meat. We enjoyed the cheesecake we had made previously and relaxed for a few hours since we were all so tired from staying up late and waking up early. We made the trek back to Alrek and then met up with Hilde to go to Gunhild's house. Gunhild invited us over in the evening to continue the celebration! We drank wine and chatted with her guests and then enjoyed another traditional dinner of salmon, potatoes, spinach, and tomatoes. We had an ice cream dessert as well with raisans and nuts. It was a wonderful meal and we had great conversation! Her guests kept asking us tons and tons of questions about the United States! After dinner, we headed out to the terrace to watch fireworks. What a great evening!

This morning, Karin & I gave 2 presentations at an International School. The first presentation was to a group of 4th and 5th graders. They were so smart and asked really good questions! Our second presentation was to a kindergarten class of 5 year olds. They were adorable! We had a great time sharing our knowledge with them!