Happy 17th of May, all!

[missymaya]

Happy Constitution Day from across the globe and by the way cute kid and cute cat! Great Pics!

[uk elephant]

Belated happy constitution day! Felt a bit homesick yesterday I must admit. No parades or celebrations over here and no big bbq with all the neighbours. But I did have brunost on my sandwich for lunch which helped a little... might have to plan some holiday time in norway this time next year...

[lph]

Leit å lengte hjem, uk! Mai er vakker i Norge, som vanlig.
Men det høres ut som om du har en god brunostleverandør ihvertfall

[uk elephant]

Jeg får brunost levert direkte fra Trondheim. Pappa kom på besøk tidligere i vår med 3.5 kilo brunost. Det holdt en stund! Men nå er jeg snart tom igjen. Mulig vi må organisere overlevering av ny forsyning når hele familien er i California i Juni.

(and for those of you wondering what this gibberish actually means....it's something about supplying brown cheese from Norway which is essential for the survival of a Norwegian abroad! Mmmm....caramelized whey....how any Norwegain can survive being lactose intolerant I do not know)

[Mr. Bloom]

I've learned something from this thread that may help me in Trivial Pursuit!

After Denmark–Norway was attacked by Britain, it entered into an alliance with Napoleon , and in 1814 found itself on the losing side in the Napoleonic Wars and in dire conditions and mass starvation in 1812. The Dano-Norwegian Oldenburg king was forced to cede Norway to the king of Sweden. Norway took this opportunity to declare independence, adopted a constitution based on American and French models , and elected the Danish crown prince Christian Fredrik as king on May 17, 1814. However, Sweden militarily forced Norway into a personal union with Sweden , establishing the Bernadotte dynasty as rulers of Norway. Under this arrangement, Norway kept its liberal constitution and independent institutions, except for the foreign service.

A Personal Union is something akin to Canada's recognition of the british monarchy (I think...)

[Duck on Wheels]

Yep, Wikipedia has it right. Of course, leading up to that is the "400-year night" of Danish rule, thanks to another "personal union" Norway entered into when the population was decimated by the Plague. Nowadays we're on good terms with Danes and Swedes. We all speak pretty much the same language, all have liberal welfare democracies, and all like brown cheese.