Celebrating Syttende Mai in Wisconsin

Lars: Growing up in small town Wisconsin, on- on May 17 you can actually see a lot of people celebrating Syttende Mai, which is the Norwegian Constitution Day.

Lars: Um, there’s a lot of people up there with Norwegian ancestry, and so on- on this day they cele- celebrate their heritage.

Lars: There’s parades and music. Uh, I saw people playing fiddles, accordions, dancing, uh, traditional, uh, polkas.

Lars: Um, the last time I went I saw a strong man competition, where all of the contestants dressed up like Vikings, and that was followed by a canoe race. It was very cool.

Lars: Of course, there’s beer everywhere, craft beer. That’s something that, uh, both of those cultures enjoy very much. And, there’s also, uh, a traditional Norwegian food called lutefisk, that you see everywhere.

Lars: It’s a, uh, I think it’s a kind of whitefish that’s been pickled for a long time in lye. It’s supposed to taste good, but I’ve never tried it because it smells awful and you can smell it all over town for the weekend.

Vocabulary:

constitution – the official set of laws, rules, and political principles that a country or state is governed by, “The United States constitution protects freedom of speech.”

ancestry – a person’s family line, background, or the country your family came from in the past, “She has Italian ancestry, so her grandparents originally came from Rome.”

heritage – the traditional beliefs, values, customs, and history shared by a specific country, culture, or family, “Learning folk dances is a wonderful way to celebrate your cultural heritage.”

parades – public celebrations where groups of people, musical bands, and decorated vehicles march down a street together, “Thousands of people lined the streets to watch the holiday parades.”

fiddles – another word for violins, especially when they are played in traditional folk, country, or old-fashioned music styles, “The musicians played fast, lively songs on their fiddles during the festival.”

accordions – portable, box-shaped musical instruments with a small keyboard and bellows that you squeeze to make sound, “He learned to play happy folk music on his grandfather’s old accordions.”

traditional – following customs, ideas, beliefs, or methods that have existed for a very long time without changing, “We always eat traditional foods together on New Year’s Day.”

polkas – fast, lively traditional dances and music styles that originally came from Central Europe, “The band played several polkas, and everyone began dancing around the room.”

competition – an organized event, game, or contest where people try to win against each other, “She won first prize in the school swimming competition.”

contestants – the individual people or teams who take part in a competition, race, or game show, “All of the contestants stood on the stage waiting to hear the final results.”

craft beer – beer that is made in small, independent, and traditional breweries rather than large global factories, “The new restaurant serves a wide variety of local craft beer.”

pickled – preserved or soaked in vinegar, salt water, or a sour liquid so it stays good for a long time and has a sharp flavor, “My grandmother loves to eat pickled cucumbers with her lunch.”

lye – a very strong, powerful chemical substance used for making soap or cleaning, which is sometimes used in specific traditional methods to treat food, “The old recipe required treating the fish with a tiny amount of lye before cooking it.”

awful – extremely bad, unpleasant, terrible, or disgusting, “The weather on our holiday was completely awful, as it rained every single day.”