I had a wonderful Christmas holiday in Norway getting to share it with several different families and with this it gave me the opportunity to really dive into the Norwegian traditions. Christmas was a very relaxing time with friends playing lots of games and eating a lot of food. The main Christmas meal is served on Christmas Eve and the whole family dresses up for this. The main dish is a huge delicacy called pinnekjott. This is lamb ribs that are dried, preserved with salted, then steamed for many hours. With this is boiled potatoes, a side of something that looked like mash potatoes but taste like broccoli and then always a rich tasting dessert. Opening Christmas presents took place in the evening. This is traditionally always done on Christmas Eve, and afterwards we read the Christmas story followed by a discussion on why we celebrate Christmas. On Christmas day Gretchen and I were with another family eating more food and playing games. We also got out to enjoy the crisp air. For breakfast, toppings on your bread is one of the more popular meals, and for Christmas they have special toppings. I wanted in on this so I dove right in and tried the special topping as several people looked at me a little surprised that I wanted to try it. It was pretty good until some one told me what I was eating then very quickly the good taste in my mouth went from yum to yuck and my mind would no longer allow me to enjoy raw fish. I can’t say I’m glad I tried it.
Christmas was wonderful giving gifts to our neighbors, spending time in fellowship, singing Christmas songs, baking cookies, reading the Christmas story, and not worrying about going any where for a week as most everything was closed down anyway. Christmas didn’t seam to really end until New Years Day but I tell ya it was one Christmas I will never forget and to put the icing on top, God gave me a wonderful gift of getting to talk with my whole family over the internet and web cam so I got to be with them on Christmas morning.
