Monday 10 April 2006

Pic of the day: View from my living room window. Even two weeks ago it seemed entirely possible that the climate suddenly had shifted and the snow would lie till midsummer. As you saw from the pictures back then, roofs were heavy with snow and cars left outside were just bumps in the ocean of snow. Today, a long winter seems as real as the sun and moon changing places.

Fast forward

The Easter week has begun. Actually the Norwegian name for the holiday, "påske", is not derived from a competing deity, but from the Hebrew word "pesach". Not that this seems to help much, as less than a third of the Norwegian population consider themselves Christians now.

On the other hand, the values that Norwegians praise and prize are for the most part Christian: Humility, giving, caring, honest work and honest speech, making and keeping peace. Perhaps Norwegians have internalized the Christian values and no longer feel the need for ritual and "holy" places. Or perhaps that's just me.

In any case, as an officially Christian country, Norway sees most shops and other non-essential workplaces close on Thursday, Good Friday, Easter day and the day after. Most people no longer use the opportunity to visit the churches on these days, but they still appreciate some time off from work. Some spend the time in the mountains, which seems kinda crazy when the winter is FINALLY about to loosen its grip on the land. Then again, Norwegians are not afraid to be a little crazy as long as there are many enough of them being crazy in the same way at the same time.