Constitution Day

Hello,

I've just spent the morning and afternoon at the Cosntitution Day celebration in Oslo. It was a really interesting day. I even got to see the Norwegian royal family! We got to stand pretty close to the palace. The only bad thing about the day was that it hasn't stopped raining and it's really cold. We were told that most people dress up for the day, so of course I brought a lovely white outfit-including a nice white skirt and platform sandals. It's spring, so I thought it would be perfect! Well, it wasn't perfect for this event. Everyone else was wearing boots, raincoats, etc. Good thing I brought an umbrella! But anyway, I still got to see the royal family. The Crown Prince and Princess have a daughter who I think is around 2 years old. She looked adorable, even though all I could see was a white speck!

During this time, the Children's parade was moving around the palace. This is a huge parade! Every school kid in the city is in this parade and they carry flags and chant. Meanwhile, the royal family waves continuiously from the balcony. We all were freezing and tired of the rain after awhile, so we walked back to the law school and we had to walk in front of the parade! No one cared though-there were so many people there no one noticed.

The law school campus is unusual compared to any school I've ever seen. It includes 3 large, palace-like buildings. Behind it, there are a few smaller buildings. We attended a party at the building that houses the student organization offices and such. There is also another building that houses a bar just for the law school! Other people can go in there of course, but it is there for the law students! The buildings are square shaped and built around little court yards (where everyone is constantly smoking!) Everyone has been really friendly so far.

There are a few things that go on here that I wish happened in America! For example, since arrived, we have been seeing teenagers walking around in these crazy red or blue coverall-type pants with writing and decals all over them. For the weeks before they graduate from high school, the kids wear the overalls around and basically go on a huge bender (the drinking age here is 18 and they go to high school 1 year longer than us). They play pranks on other schools and drink. It's called the Russ, and although it is kind of extreme, it seems like a lot of fun! I secretly took this picture of these 2-they are in their Russ outfit.

Another cool thing is that they have a national costume. No one wears them on a daily basis-many people wear them for Constitution Day. The women's dresses were so interesting and pretty-they are all differend depending on where someone is from. It would be cool if in America we all had cosumes that were specific to where we were from! I'm not really sure what the outfit would be though...any ideas?

Yesterday someone figured out this system in Oslo where you can pay to use a bicycle! There is a card you buy for around $10 american dollars that you use to check out a bicycle from various racks that are place around the city! You can keep the bike for up to 3 hours and return it to any of the racks! I don't think it's what the cool people do (3 other classmates and I heard a few giggles from people around the rack) but it's fun for us! At least it reduces the walking for us lazy Americans!

I learned my first Norwegian phrase-Nyhut-it means "wet paint". I learned that because I touched wet paint! It was the first time we went to the law student bar-I was the adventurous one who decided to open the door first. It was the wrong door, and it had wet paint on it. Oops-I guess I'm a dork regardless of where I am!