![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2014\/08\/2018783422_2ee3933cf9_z.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo by Nina Svenne at Flickr<\/a>. (Creative Commons Licensed.)<\/p><\/div>\n Gratulerer med f\u00f8dselsdagen! <\/span>(Happy birthday!) Since July is crowded with birthdays in my family, I thought it would be nice ending the month with some facts about f\u00f8dselsdagsfeiring<\/span> (birthday celebration) in Norway.<\/p>\n \u2022 Mange norske barn har barneselskap<\/span>. (Many Norwegian children have children\u2019s birthday parties.) The barneselskap<\/span> is hosted by the child\u2019s parents. Children from the skoleklasse<\/span> (school class) or barnehage<\/span> (kindergarten) of the f\u00f8dselsdagsbarn<\/span> (\u201dbirthday child\u201d) are invited to the consumption of kaker<\/span> (cakes), brus<\/span> (lemonade), gel\u00e9<\/span> [shellEH] (jelly), snop<\/span> (candy)\u2026 Gjestene<\/span> [YESTeneh] (the guests) are expected to bring gaver <\/span>(gifts) or penger<\/span> (money).<\/p>\n \u2022 Adult nordmenn<\/span> (Norwegians) continue celebrating their birthdays, but it\u2019s often more low-key later in life. The exceptions are the runde f\u00f8dselsdager<\/span> (round birthdays) like 25, 30, 40, 50, 75\u2026 These are often pretexts for huge parties.<\/p>\n \u2022 Norwegian actually has two words for \u2019birthday\u2019. The second one is bursdag<\/span> (or gebursdag<\/span>), which comes from the German<\/a> word Geburtstag<\/span>. In some parts of the country the right thing to say is: Gratulerer<\/span> med bursdagen! <\/span>Ask the locals to hear which word they <\/span>use.<\/p>\n \u2022 It quite normal for the guests at a birthday party to sing a f\u00f8dselsdagssang<\/span>\/bursdagssang<\/span> for the celebrant. When people are in a hurry, they sometimes go for the English \u201dHappy Birthday To You\u201d. Otherwise, there is a nice Norwegian song, \u201dHurra for deg som fyller ditt \u00e5r\u201d<\/span>. The song has special moves that follow the text. The first verse runs like this:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hurra for deg som fyller ditt \u00e5r! Gratulere!<\/span><\/p>\n \n Hooray for you who\u2019re completing your year,<\/span><\/p>\n yes, you we will congratulate.<\/span><\/p>\n Everybody is standing around you in a ring,<\/span><\/p>\n and see, now we\u2019ll march,<\/span><\/p>\n bow, nod, curtsy, turn around,<\/span><\/p>\n dance for you with jumps and bounces,<\/span><\/p>\n wish form the heart all good things!<\/span><\/p>\n And say me then, what more do you want?<\/span><\/p>\n
\nJa, deg vil vi gratulere!
\nAlle i ring omkring deg vi st\u00e5r,
\nog se, n\u00e5 vil vi marsjere,
\nbukke, nikke, neie, snu oss omkring,
\ndanse for deg med hopp og sprett og spring,
\n\u00f8nske deg av hjertet alle gode ting!
\nOg si meg s\u00e5, hva vil du mere? <\/span><\/p>\n