Before I attempt to describe a Norwegian Christmas to you, you should know that the word Jul, which is translated to meaning Christmas, doesn't just refer to Christmas day, but also to the Christmas time or the Christmas season. People are still greeting each other with a hearty 'God Jul' even though the day has long since passed!
So Lars and I began our Jul by traveling three hours north to his hometown. We arrived in Tynset (a.k.a Winter Wonderland!) around midday on Tuesday the 23rd. And before I knew it I was launched full throttle into Lars and his family's traditions and my first truly white Christmas!
The night of the 23rd we decorated the Christmas tree. Most Norwegian trees have white candle type lights instead of the flashing rainbow lights that I am accustomed to. In general, the Norwegian tree is a lot simpler than the American counterpart. It is also fairly traditional to have small Norwegian flags draped over the tree, which for families like Lars' was probably hand picked and hand cut by a family member (this year, it was Stine!) And how could I forget?--We decorated wearing Santa cowboy hats that Jan had bought at the grocery store as a surprise! There was a heavy handful of jokes that night about how the American Santa Claus MUST wear that kind of hat...I am not sure that anyone believed me when I vehemently denied it! :)
Later that night, we went over to a friend of the family's house. Randi and Jan
are close with the parents, and Stine and Lars each have one of their best friends in Halvor and Kristin. We had some good traditional Norwegian food (tacos haha) and drank some gløgg which is typically a warm, so-called mulled wine, spiced with cinnamon, cloves etc. and served with raisins and almonds (our hosts were so nice to drop in some vodka as well!). Later on in the evening, we watched a BBC program that they watch every year called Dinner For One. It was pretty funny, and I could see how watching it year after year after year would make it hilarious. You can see it for yourself here:
The 24th is when the most action happens. Around midday Jan's side of the family (huge) meets at the farm where two uncles are currently living. I was desperately trying to keep up with the extended family and the Norwegian, and both presented quite the challenge. It didn't help at all that the Norwegian they are speaking in Tynset is a bit different from what I have been learning in Hamar...but I did my best, and the family was more than gracious to me. We ate some
grøt, also called
risgrøt, which is one of my favorite Christmas foods so far. I think it is made with vanilla rice and cooked with milk. Then you get to add as much butter, cinnamon and sugar as you want! Very tasty. And the lucky person that finds the almond in the batch gets a present! Guess who that person was this year?? LARS! Haha. He got a nice big bar of chocolate. After we all had our share of grøt, lots of good conversation, coffee, cakes, and chocolates were passed around.
The reunion was topped off with a great, good-natured fight with Fredrik (my Norwegian version of Riley) and a great view out the window.
Then we headed home. Randi, Stine, Lars and I headed up to the church in Tynset, while Jan stayed home to prepare Christmas Eve dinner. First we walked around and visited graves of loved ones that have passed. Usually they light candles and leave them on the graves, but they forgot to buy the candles this year. The church was nice inside and the service was short and sweet with lots of singing of hymns to keep me entertained. Besides a strange attack of claustrophobia and a serious case of the yawns, church was alright. I think others were probably a bit irritated with the rambunctious children all over the place, but I was grateful that somebody else wanted to get out of there as much as I did! Haha. I think that if I was to do it again I would stay home and help Jan with the food. ;)
Then it was time for Christmas Eve dinner! This year Lars' uncles came over (every other year it is either them or Randi's parents) and we had some GOOD food.
Ribbe, or pork ribs, are one example of traditional Norwegian Christmas dinner food. I was thinking a lot about my sister Cori (who doesn't eat any form of pig if she can avoid it) when I bit into piece after piece of the
ribbe. The meat is cooked with the skin on, so the skin becomes this crunchy bacon type snack. Yep, I ate a pig's skin Cori. And it was pretty good.
Then we had some more coffee, some more Christmas cakes and foods and of course some
sprit (hard alcohol) to go with it. And then, finally---time for the presents! It was a bit strange opening gifts not in my pajamas, and not with a million little ones running around creating havoc and without my Dad puttering around with his silly Christmas hat on sipping champagne and orange juice. . . but it was still a great Christmas. Stine got some new skis, Lars got a promise from his parents that they would buy the rest of his
bunad (traditional Norwegian formal wear), and I got what might have been the best present possible from Lars--a pair of Christmas pajamas. For those of you that don't know, my family opens new pj's on Christmas eve and has for as long as I can remember. So basically Lars scored big time on that one. I cried, and missed my family and was happy I had someone that was so thoughtful as Lars in my life. Besides the pj's, I also got some hand-knitted Norwegian mittens from the cat and dog, a new scarf from Stine and a nice quality sporty active shirt from Lars' parents. Lars and I also got some nice stuff for the apartment and a gift certificate to the spa pool in Savalen (ski resort near Lars' house). It was a great night!
The next morning we headed to the neighbor's house (Gjertrud and Vidar) for the traditional Christmas day breakfast (which, by the way, is nothing like what we think of as breakfast--but DELICIOUS). We ate merrily, and then guess what? Ate some more...coffee, chocolates, cheesecake etc. etc. After we stuffed ourselves, we got bundled up for a nice, long walk.
I was the lucky one that got to have Raja attached to me, which would make any walk all the more interesting. It felt so good to get out in the fresh air and stretch my legs. We made it all the way up to the top of a great big hill before we decided it was time to head back. It was such a gorgeous day.
That night we went OUT! We met at a friend' house for a
vorspiel first, and had some fun with someone's Christmas present of beer goggles and played some drinking roulette (not th
e best idea ever, haha). Then we went to one of the few bars in Tynset and had a great time reuniting with old friends. Well at least Lars and Stine reunited, haha. I, on the other hand, had a great time
meeting, drinking and dancing with a TON of new people, and enjoyed my buzz enough to speak a lot more Norwegian, a lot better than normal haha.
Then the following day, it was time for more family and more food. Randi's side of the family came over for breakfast. Her side is significantly smaller and easier to keep track of than Jan's side, but just as much fun! I was impressed with the family resemblance between Randi and her brother. All of them were so great to me, and we even went over to their house after breakfast to watch a Manchester United game. I felt really comfortable with them; it was almost like being at home.
So that get-together marked the end of the official family Christmas traditions...although not the end of our adventures during our trip to Tynset! ;) I will have to write more about them later! As for
Jul, above all, I was so happy to be included as part of the gang, ... it really made being away from my family during Christmas for the first time at least bearable. And while we ate a lot of different foods and celebrated a bit differently, it was obvious to me that the underlying themes of Christmas and what that means to me and my American comrades seems to be the same in Norway as well.
GOD JUL ALLE SAMMEN!
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