A 17th of May in Tromsø : The Russ Invasion!
Almost 200 years ago, on may 17th 1814, the Norwegian constitution has been signed granting Norway its independence towards the Swedish crown. Since then, every year Norwegians celebrate this day as the Norway’s national day.
Something very interesting about it is its very non-military nature. Most of the parade is made by children, students and associations. And the result is a really happy and positive day.
As you can expect from me, I was not able to wake up for the first half of the parade, which was mostly dedicated to children. But I was really curious about one thing : the russ parade!
The russ are the participants of the traditional Norwegian high school graduation ceremony called Russfeiring. They are easily recognizable with their overalls and caps that they have to wear, without washing them, during the whole Russfeiring.
The overall and caps can have different colors:
- Red for students having courses geared towards higher education
- Black for engineering students
- Blue for business students
- Green for agriculture students.
The Russfeiring can last up to one month, with the culmination of the celebration on the 17th of may. During this period, they have to perform stupid tasks to earn russeknuter (russ knots). Of course, the more knots you have, the better! ;)
I couldn’t resist to copy paste Wikipedia for some examples:
Here are some excerpts from the list of the russe knots (and the items you receive):
- Answering every question the teacher asks by reading out loud from a porn magazine (pornographic picture)
- Speak a language other than Norwegian for an entire day (a piece of a dictionary)
- Drink a beer while having two tampons in your mouth (a tampon)
- Order a meal from McDonalds or Burger King without using vowels (a letter from the alphabet)
- Have safe sex outdoors (a pinecone)
- Ask for sex tips from the mother of one of your fellow russ (a safety-pin)
And effectively, those last days I have had the chance to see (and hear) a good number of russ in the streets of Tromsø. Some in their van listening to music loudly, some drinking all night long on the beach, some fishing in the sewers … All wearing this iconic overall with the Norwegian flag.
Their parade is also really interesting. All are in a more or less intoxicated state, but all very enthusiastic.
Their vans are slowly moving through the cheerful crowd. We can hear loud music coming from the back of the vans, soon followed by singing and whistling russ. They are giving “business cards” to the crowd. Children are rushing to get the most cards possible to be able to exchange them afterwards. This is a pure moment of happiness shared between all generations. There is almost no police surveillance but yet no incident. I can feel that everybody here wants everything to go well. And everything went well : no provocations, no arguments nor fights, no negativity…
Another interesting aspect was that most of the crowd was wearing ceremony clothes (I was definitely looking like a hobo that day :s). Some of them wore traditional Norwegian suits, others were more classical and a couple of them were definitely original. The most interesting here was the number of different traditional Norwegian and Sami dresses. Blue, Green, Black, … with different embroideries This was a really wonderful mix of traditions and colors and I could not resist asking people to take pictures of them… And that’s the exact moment in my “photography career” I start to take pictures of unknown people and make portraits. And I must admit that I love that!
Of course, it’s a bit frightening at the beginning. I am quite a shy person, so the first step has been a bit difficult. But once you start, you quickly figure out that most people are surprised and really happy to see that you have some interest in them and have their moment of fame. Of course sometimes you might look like some kind of weirdo wanting to take pictures of nice girls … that actually happened to me once :). But most people are really happy to be photographed.
After a couple of portraits and group photographies, another parade is about to start: the military parade! Well, it’s not really military: they don’t wear any weapon and everybody is smiling. It’s more some kind of military teddy bear’s parade … :). It is quickly followed by musicians and associations: from the karate club, to the association of the small cute dogs looking like hair balls (yes, it exists!), every association of Tromsø is showing in this parade.
We can hear “Hurra! Hurra!” among the crowd and the parade. Once again, everybody is cheerful and happy and everything happens without any incident!
I usually don’t like those kind of events and tend to run away from the crowds but I am really happy that for once I found motivation go there. Despite the crowd, we could easily feel a sense of respect and joy among people. And that’s something which simply makes you feel good at the end of the day. If I had the opportunity to see that again, I would definitely take this chance!
-julien
A traditional birthday meal : Reindeer stew!
This weekend, for my darling’s birthday, I decided to concoct a typical Norwegian dish: ”A Reindeer stew with a creamy sauce!”
As we explained in the article “Sami’s National Day: Reindeer race!“, and the previous article about the “Sámi people” the reindeer are only raised by them. Production and marketing of the reindeer meat is reserved.
Nevertheless, it is not difficult to find this essential ingredient. Almost all supermarkets sell it.
Let’s check it is the good one:
Obviously, my Norwegian is still very limited. But I know enough to see that the ingredients are made of reindeer meat (Reinkjøtt, kjøtt = meat), water and salt.
It’s OK, I can put this bag in my basket, I have my 400g of reindeer meat, enough to cook a good dish!
After an internet research (thank you Google Translate!), I discover what is written above the ingredients… :
“Reindeer meat into slices.
reindeer meat is cut into thin slices.
Sápmi - Lapland: Here is the reindeer grazing.
The murmur of the plateau, with breathtaking scenery, the smell of fresh and wild vegetation.
Reindeer meat carries the flavor of the trays. ”
Yum, a little introduction that makes me dreaming and makes me hungry …
Back at home, I discover the contents of my bag. Indeed, it is meat cut into thin slices. That’s why the name of this dish is Finnbiff. This comes from the use of cutting thin slices of meat and grill them or eat them raw.
The recipe
It’s a very popular Norwegian recipe and very easy to do. You must cook the meat with mushrooms, cream and eat the meal with potatoes, vegetables and specially not forget the cowberry jam, essential to a number of Norwegian meals!
This jam, rather sour, is better with this dish than bread and butter. Indeed, reindeer meat is rather strong, it tastes like wild game and cowberry jam goes wonderfully with that, this is delicious!
Norwegian name of the jam: ”Tyttebærsyltetøy” (Baer = bay = Tyttebær = cowberry, syltetøy = jam).
Another typically Norwegian ingredient that we must add (but I forgot it, oops …) is the “brunost” (brown cheese). I have not yet had the opportunity to taste some, but on my next Finnbiff I will not forget to add it!
It bears the name of cheese (Ost) but it doest not taste like cheese, it is rather sweet and very soft. Norwegians use it in this kind of dish or on sweet dishes such as waffles.
I gathered all my ingredients, now I’m going to make the recipe…
Reindeer stew with cream sauce:
- 500g of reindeer meat finely cut,
- butter,
- 300g of mushrooms,
- 1 onion,
- 4 or 5 juniper berries (cut into half to bring out the taste).
Sauce:
- 5 spoons of sour cream,
- 2 dl of cream,
- 1 spoon of flour to thicken the sauce.
Preparation:
Cook reindeer meat in a large stove with the mushrooms, onion and butter.
When the meat is cooked, pour the sour cream and liquid cream, salt, pepper, juniper berries and cook for a while.
Add a tablespoon of flour if the sauce is too thin.
Serve with potatoes, broccoli, … and especially don’t forget the cowberry jam!
Here is the result!
Served with a glass of good wine, this dish is delicious! The taste of reindeer meat is hard enough and is pretty similar to game meat. If you do not have reindeer meat available, you can try to do the same with game or beef.
Enjoy your meal ! ;)
-Céline
Sámi people
We already talked a bit about this native ethnic group of Northern Europe on our article about their National Day. Now, in collaboration with our blogging friends from Gluk, here is an illustrated article of the Sámi history!
Who are the Sámis?
Sámis are the native inhabitants of Sápmi. You have probably heard about Lapland (or Lappland, we apparently can write both), but Lapland is the pejorative word for Sápmi as well as Lapp is the pejorative word for Sámi. Sápmi regroups the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.
* This is a ‘Gákti’. It is the Sámi ceremonial dressing. The shapes can inform about where the person comes from, her/his marital status and even sometimes her/his family.
In Norwegian language, Sámis are also sometimes called ‘Finn’, from which comes the name of Finnmark (northernmost area of Norway), Finnmark being the only place in Norway where you will find more Sámis than Norwegians. Their language is also called Sámi, but it is actually not one language, but many. Everything becomes really complicated when it comes to languages in this part of Europe! ^^
When everything begins
11000 BC: Ice age is ending. Therefore, new possibilities of settlement opens up for humans on the Arctic coast. Tribes of hunters, fishers and gatherers start to appear in this previously virgin area. They will be the first ancestors of those who are going to be called ‘Sámis’. As a consequence, Sámis are considered as an indigenous population of this area.
Time passing, we see this ensemble of different tribes sharing the same culture being more or less split : The sea Sámis, mainly fishers, and the mountain Sámis, living by reindeer hunting.
The middle ages
1349 is a major date in Norwegian history. It’s the year during which black death decimates over 60% of the Norwegian population. During this time, Norwegian’s diet is rye and wheat based and part of this food is imported through European trade routes.
Plague then comes from the rest of Europe to Norway in the wooden barrels containing this food and other supplies. Sámis at this time are still fishers and hunters and thus are not as much concerned about the plague as the Norwegians do.
After the plague, income revenues of the monarchy drastically diminish, as you can imagine. Sea Sámis are then encouraged to take over abandoned farms (they continued to take over those farms until the 18th century! ). This way, population of sea Sámis grows bigger: nowadays, mountain Sámis population does not represent much than 10% of the Sámi population.
On the other side, mountain Sámis , due to their nomadic way of life, have to pay taxes for each nation they are crossing, which does not really help them to grow actually!
The dark ages
During the beginning of the 17th century, colonization of northern Scandinavia starts. Settlers are mainly practicing farming, which is in contradiction with the nomadic way of life of northern Sámis. Some settlers adapt to their way of life, and some Sámis adapt to the Norwegian way of life, interested in the products farmers can provide (houses, butter, milk, wool, …). But at the end, farming and other activities of the settlers lead to the extinction of species and to the destruction of Sámi hunting culture, which imply starvation for their people. Meanwhile in Sweden, the Nasafjäll mine opens up and Sámis are coerced to work here or be severely punished. Many Sámis run away from this area, but the Swedish government sends troops to prevent that …
At the end of the century, colonization of northern Scandinavia becomes more violent. Sámi polytheist religious practices are punished and holy sites and traditional religious objects as Sámi drums are destroyed.
During the 19th century, Norway becomes an independent country. Norwegian government starts reforms willing to make Norwegian culture and language universal. Sámi is restricted in schools and it is now forbidden to sell or lease lands to non Norwegians. Moreover, christianization still makes it’s way through Sámi communities. In 1852 in Kautokeino, the only Sámi revolt against Norwegian policy involving human deaths takes place. An excellent movie has been made about those riots, and I strongly recommend you to see it: The Kautokeino Rebellion.
This process of “Norwegianization” becomes more and more aggressive until WWII, therefore strengthening independent thoughts and links as a community.
Fight for the future
After WWII, pressure on Sámis is relaxed, but changes take a moment before having any effect. In 1960, the right for Sámis to preserve and develop their own culture is officially acknowledged. Sámi is taught again in schools and institutions are created.
But in 1979 in Alta, the construction of an hydro-electric power station rises up old daemons. A long fight takes place between Sámis and Norwegian authorities that lead in the end to a “compromise”. In 1986, Sámi flag and national anthem are created and in 1989, the first Sámi parliament is elected in Norway.
During the previous decades, Sámis gained more and more rights. Although theory seems to be on the good way, reality is not always that beautiful. Most of the Sámis are now living a “modern” way of life and are no more considered as “under-Norwegians”.
But for those who chose to live the traditional way, cohabitation and environment related problems remains and make their life harder if not impossible… but this might be explained in another article! :)
Big thanks to Céline for the killer drawings! ;)
-julien
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_people
http://boreale.konto.itv.se/history.htm
http://www.reisenett.no/norway/facts/culture_science/sami.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alta_controversy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A1pmi_%28area%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_revolt_in_Guovdageaidnu
Blackjazz
Today, let’s speak a bit about music. If you did not read the articles about black metal in Norway and about its evolution through years, I would suggest you to read them now. Because it is technically about another evolution of this genre that we will talk about here. But even if you are not into black metal or even metal in general, this band might actually interest you, as long as you are a bit open minded when we speak about music! :)
Shining (the Norwegian one, not the Swedish one) is a band formed in Oslo in 1999 by Jørgen Munkeby and his fellows from the music school. They started as an acoustic instrumental jazz band, but their style evolved through years to become a very weird mix of jazz, rock, metal and electronica.
In 2005, after 2 albums of acoustic jazz, Shining adds elements of rock, metal and experimental jazz. The result is … pretty weird, as it’s name: In the Kingdom of Kitsch You Will Be a Monster. This album is well acclaimed by worldwide critics. In 2007, Grindstone, their 4th album, is released. Shining continue to develop their own experimental music, but this time they remove the metal elements. The result is softer but tighter than the previous album.
Still in 2007, Shining goes on tour with the progressive black metal band Enslaved. This is probably the first time (at my knowledge) that a jazz band and a black metal band go touring together. They begin to make their name in the milieu, and release in 2010 their most accomplished and most “metalified” album to date: Blackjazz. The name describes well what you can hear in this album: an explosive mix of black metal and jazz, but always with this weird experimental style.
The album is a great success, and one year later, on 11.11.11, they release a live DVD of one of their performance in Norway: Live Blackjazz.
To be totally honest, I like the Blackjazz album, but I am not really a big fan of it. For me, it’s just one of those pretty interesting albums that lack something to make them great. Though I was not especially enthusiastic to see them live. Anyway, I tried. And I don’t regret it. At all! This was among the most exciting music DVD I have ever seen. Those guys are so much into their music that you feel taken away by it. You feel totally immersed into the whole concert. And this is probably the first time that happens to me while watching music on a screen! Every time Munkeby takes his saxophone, this becomes the icing on the cake. This extra stuff I was missing on their Blackjazz album was probably that: the living side of the music!
Unfortunately, they did not share any of their songs from the DVD with a jazzy feeling (my favourites), though here is one of their songs recorded for Norwegian TV NRK (go to 3:00 for the saxophone solo):
-julien
Norway relationships to alcohol
A Friday night like any other. We are going to meet colleagues at 21:00 for the pre-party. So we go to the supermarket to buy some drinks. Advertising curtains are hiding beers … Never mind, we move them and take a few packs of our dear Mack! Once at the checkout, people are staring at us … weirdly. The cashier is staring at us the same way and says: “… it is Hummmmmm 20:30, you no longer have the right to buy alcohol”. Shit! We did not know that: supermarkets do not have the right to sell alcohol after 20:00 on weekdays and 18:00 on Saturdays. Too bad, we’ll borrow other’s booze! :)
Approximately 2-3 hours later, everyone is drunk. Pre-party is over, let’s go to the pub! Everyone is speaking to each other, everyone loves everybody. Seems like the renowned coldness of Norwegians has disappeared: a few drinks and everything is love and fun! After a few dance steps of Scottish dance with a metal background and many other weird things that I no longer remember, the evening goes to an end. It is about 4:00. The last people remaining are leaving the pub. The main street is crowded … of happy people, social and in a good mood. Apparently we are not the only one to succumb to the sweet freshness of the pints of Mack! And every Friday night, the same show is happening, which leads me to talk about the relationship between Norway and alcohol.
The facts
The history of Norway is not unaware of alcohol. Thousand years ago already, Vikings were fond of. References to mead, their favorite liquor, are very common in the literature relating the Norse mythology. Valhalla, the paradise of dead warriors, is also described as the place where they can indulge in their favorite pastimes: fighting and drinking!
During the mid-sixteenth century, the fight against alcohol begins. It is now forbidden to serve alcohol on Sundays (which is also still supposed to be the case nowadays) and during religious holidays. Nevermind, Norwegians created home distilleries. That lead in 1848 to a law that puts an end to home distilleries. Between 1916 and 1927, several laws prohibit alcohol. First spirits and wines and then strong beers. However, some countries like France and Portugal, which were important wine exporters and important buyers of Norwegian fish, are able to negotiate. Alcohol is allowed again in Norway, but under the strict control of the state. We are in 1922, this is the birth of the Vinmonopolet.
So, what about now?
Nowadays, we can see that the Norwegian policy on alcohol is still very strict:
- Prohibited advertising
- For all beverages containing more than 4.5% alcohol, a single store: the Vinmonopolet, open until 18h on weekdays and until 15h on Saturdays
- Prison for drunk drivers
- Price extremely discouraging: 10 € minimum for a bottle of low-end wine, around 10 € also for a pint of beer in a bar / pub …
These measures seem to be successful: Norwegians are now among the smallest drinkers in Europe! Then why so many people drunk in the streets on Saturday and Sunday nights?
Probably because Norwegians have a different type of alcohol consumption. Generally in Norway you do not drink alcohol during meals, especially during working days. So instead of a constant and low alcohol consumption type, it is rather an intense but sporadic type: we usually drink alcohol to get drunk! :)
And thus, to avoid emptying our bank account too fast, we go buy alcohol in advance for pre-parties, drink it all … and then go and finish the party in a bar. Guaranteed results!
-julien
Mack or PC? …
First, I’d like to apology for this pathetic joke … but I could not resist. I’m really sorry. Let’s forget it and start the post.
During those rainy days (yes, it’s raining in Tromsø …) and snowy days (whew! Snow is finally here!), it’s hard to find the envy to get out. Fortunately, here in Tromsø, cafes, bars and pubs are very warm and welcoming. So let’s have a drink this afternoon! This is an opportunity to practice a bit and get our order in Norwegian: “Hmm … well… En Mack Haakon” (which is supposed to mean “A Mack Haakon please”, we usually don’t use the word ‘please’ in Norwegian). Despite the obvious simplicity of my sentence, the eyes of the waitress made me quickly realize she did not understand a word about what I was saying … T_T
Finally, after a few more trials, we successfully got our order: a Mack and my strawberry milk (just kiddin’! :P). But now you’re probably wondering “What is a Mack Haakon?” ……
…
…
… Don’t you? … I’ll tell you anyway, I did not typed this whole introdution for nothing!
In Tromsø, Mack is an institution. More than that, the entire population dedicates a cult to Mack. Morning, noon and night we bow and pray before it’s image by quoting its name. It is even part of the culinary specialty of Tromsø: seagull eggs & Mack (We will write a post about it once we have tasted!). This is of course, and you probably guessed, the local beer!
Let’s go back a few decades ago. Ludwig Markus Mack, born in 1842, is the son of a German immigrant. He is trained as a baker, just as his father before him. But numerous visits to his uncle, Bavarian brewer, gives him the envy to start his own brewery. And that’s how, after a very consistent investment for the time, in 1877, the Mack brewery was born in Tromsø. It then became the northernmost brewery in the world!
135 years later, Mack brewery is still there and work not only for the well being of the population of Tromsø, but for all northern Norway. And to be honest, once you have tasted a Mack you understand why so many people here speak about it! This beer, in my humble opinion, has its own character. I like to describe it as a taste between a German beer (logical, given its origin) and an English local ale (my favorite beers). A real treat!
Anyway, if you ever come over here one day, do not miss to taste a Mack! A brewery tour is even possible if you feel interested to see how thay make it (weekdays only, I think).
-julien
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