Norwegian Christmas!!!

Christmas is the most awaited time during the winter, when the sun is turning around & it would be brighter. This was also the reason for celebration, before Norway became a Christian country. This tradition is followed up to this day.

Christmas is the theme during December. From the first day of the month, everyone gets on to his or her toes to make the preparations & get into the “Julestemning” (Christmas mood).
I had received a Christmas calendar as a gift from my roommate’s mom. It had 24 chocolates & I had to eat only one each day. It was exciting to wake-up quickly in the morning just to eat chocolate. During these days, the ambiance at the folk school was very cosy & wonderful, with the Christmas tree & its splendid decorations, making cards & presents for family & friends, eating a lot of candies, drinking Julebrus & gløgg (special drinks for Christmas), baking cakes, reading folktales, choir concerts & the most lively Juleball (Christmas Party).

Celebrating Christmas with my Norwegian family at Fredrikstad remains a memorable experience for me. I was enormously overjoyed with all the surprising moments & family get-together. I felt very special to get an almond in the ‘Risgrott’ (rice porridge), which is the special dinner on ‘lille juleaften’, Small Christmas Eve that falls on 23rd December.

To wake-up in the morning & get a Julestrømpe (Christmas socks) from the Julenisse (Norwegian Santa Claus) filled with sweets, since I had been a nice girl last year, was beyond my imagination. Christmas Eve is the most exceptional day, when we, the children watched Christmas Calendar TV programmes & movies like Cinderella & the 3 nuts, travel to the Christmas Star, which are screened every year & the children never miss to watch them & the parents did all the cleaning & cooking.
Before the dinner my friend, her father & me attended the mass at church. This is the only day when many Norwegians go to the church. Then, I had a grand dinner, which lasted for almost 2 hours with all the family members, pets; which included a special Christmas wine, home made beer & a variety of traditional food & deserts. Following this, the Julenisse visited us & gave presents to each member of the family. All this was very exciting & I almost felt like being a part of a fairy tale. Simultaneously, I was slightly embarrassed to receive so many gifts, even from the pets of the family.

The Christmas day was much more calm & stress-free as we ‘bare spist, sovet, vært på tur og sett på TV’ (only ate, slept, went for walks & watched TV). Thus, the Christmas ended & I looked forward for New Year’s Eve to have another grand celebration.