Saturday, 24. January 2009, 15:02:00
food, lutefisk, christmas, ribbe
‘Tis the season to eat far too much, and Christmas food in Norway is very different to what I am used to eating in Australia. Like Britain and North America, Australia’s national Christmas dishes are turkey and ham (though unlike Britain and North America, the heat ensures that we Australians mostly eat salad on the side of it
). However, turkey is instead the New Year’s Eve dish in Norway, so Norwegians have a range of other offerings for Christmas...
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Saturday, 10. January 2009, 18:09:48
christmas eve, twelve days, christmas
‘Twas the night before Christmas,
And all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring,
Except for the Norwegians...
So enthusiastic is the countdown to Christmas that Norwegians, like those in most other European countries, celebrate it on the night of Christmas Eve. From any time after 5 o’clock in the evening, key traditions such as the main feast and exchange of gifts take place. It is also typical on Christmas Eve to light candles at the graves of relatives (see below). A father or neighbour may dress up as Santa Claus, knocking on the front door to ask “Are there any good children here?”; sometimes this visit takes place in the afternoon, much to the delight of kids who are too excited to wait until the evening for presents.
(See my own Christmas Eve visit from Santa, below.)
I’m not sure about other countries in Europe, but the celebration of Christmas on Christmas Eve is so established that Norway also has a Christmas Eve Eve (called
Lille Julaften, literally Little Christmas Eve), which is typically the time for decorating the Christmas tree and the final preparations for the Christmas festivities.
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Thursday, 18. December 2008, 19:38:02
advent, christmas, decorations
It is 7 days until Christmas, and here in Norway everyone is counting down the days left. Advent, the preparation for the celebration of the nativity and Christmas, is very important in Norway (whereas I don’t think I even understood what the word advent meant until I came here).
(All the photos I've included in the post are my own, from this and my previous Christmas in Norway.)Read more...
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