From Oz to Oslo

Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before December 25. A traditional way of marking the start of advent is to light the first of four candles in a candelabrum, often arranged in a row or square, and to light each other candle on each following Sunday before Christmas. Of course the electronics industry wanted to get a piece of that action, and you can now buy a row of electric advent candles. It is most common to place these in your window, so they can be seen from outside, and they are hugely popular! As you walk or drive down the streets here you see them through many house and apartment windows – I even saw in an office building where a row of offices had the candles on their sills. The other popular window decoration for advent is a large hanging star.

Another key way to count down to Christmas in Norway is with advent calendars. These are boxes marked with little with flaps or doors labelled 1 to 24, so on the first of December you open the door labelled 1, and so on each day until the 24th door is opened on Christmas Eve. Behind each door is a little chocolate or toy. I’d read about advent calendars as a child, but I had only seen them for sale once in Australia. Here on the other hand, there is a huge range: you can buy Kinder chocolate advent calendars, Winnie the Pooh and Disney-themed calendars, advent calendars for particular comic books, and so on. There is even an advent calendar associated with the children’s TV program that airs at six o’clock every evening, so children can open that day’s calendar flap when the hosts do so during the program. The prices for advent calendars span from 10kr to 150kr (about $2 to $30 Australian dollars), but the quality of the chocolate resoundingly falls into the ‘meh’ category. At work a couple of my colleagues bought advent calendars for the rest of us... one co-worker (cough, Uliana, cough) ate all the chocolates in the first few days, and only has the one for the 24th left.

Still on advent, purple is the official colour of advent in Western Christianity, so in Norway many Christmas decorations – which I am used to seeing only in the traditional red, green and white, plus gold and silver – feature the colour purple. And the purple with the traditional Christmas colours is not the hideous clash I thought it would be.

Deck the Halls
Norway has other Christmas decorations that I am not accustomed to, and part of that is an emphasis on flowers and nature. Wreathes for the front door are very common, but are more earthy and natural than the ones I’m used to, featuring twigs, berries and pinecones. (On the opposite end of the spectrum, in arts and crafts at school in Australia, I learnt how to make a Christmas wreath from a hacked up garbage bag.) Speaking of things that are more natural, it’s most common here to have a real tree for Christmas, while in Australia plastic Christmas trees are all the rage. And no matter how the Norwegians try to convince me, I am still a plastic devotee: no watering it, no mess, no sharp branches, no smell - just take it out of the box and voila! Something that I found unusual here is that it is very common to decorate the tree with tiny Norwegian flags – I can’t imagine putting the Aussie flag on the tree and feeling Christmassy!
Lastly, in many homes you will find a julestjerne, the Christmas star plant. The julestjerne, from the poinsettia species, has upper leaves that are such a deep, vibrant red that they are often mistaken for a flower. (We bought our julestjerne over the weekend... knowing our luck with plants, it may need a Christmas miracle for it to actually survive until Christmas.)

Gingerbread (known in Norwegian as pepperkake or ‘pepper cake’) is also often used as a decoration. The most common way is to make huge gingerbread hearts (approximately 20cm in height), write messages like Merry Christmas and decorate the edges with frosting, and then hang them with ribbon from windows. Another cool thing some people do in Norway is make gingerbread houses for Christmas. It’s very simple, as you can buy kits at the store that already contain the walls and roof panels – all you have to do is stick them together with frosting!
Figurines and dolls of nisse, the mythical creatures that help take care of farms throughout the year, are also common decorations. (More on nisse in a future post!)
Norwegians use Christmas lights on their houses, but not in the overboard way of the US (who like to express their Christmas spirit through their electricity bill). Norwegians tend to go for simple yellow Christmas lights, usually ones that don’t blink. People living in apartments often string Christmas lights along the railing of their balconies, and those in houses tend to decorate a tree or shrub at the front of the house with lights.

Deck the Streets
The streets of Oslo are also coming alive with the Christmas spirit. The main suburbs of the city are fully decked out, particularly in their shopping precincts. The main street of the city, Karl Johans Gate, is lit up with huge bells stretching above the street. The large fountain between Parliament House and National Theatre has been turned into an ice-skating rink, with Christmas carols as background music. Giant blue snowflakes sparkle high above pedestrians outside many department stores. Down by Aker Brygge harbour, the shopping centre is covered with Christmas lights, and the city’s traditional Christmas markets are also nearby, with their twinkling lights and Santa displays. (The markets are very cute and traditional, with quaint little stands selling gingerbread, handmade chocolates, handicrafts, candles and decorations, and you can also stop at several places for coffee and Christmas snacks.)

I think all the preparations and decorations for Christmas are wonderful... I'm really getting into the Christmas spirit, and enjoying the traditional Christmas I've seen in all the movies!