Archive for 'Traditions'
Huts of Norway Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jan 10, 2014
A couple of Norwegian friends and I recently shared the fun and excitement of walking to a hytte på fjellet (a hytte in the mountains), and it struck me I hadn’t written anything about hytter… En hytte (or ei hytte) translates as ’a hut’, ’a cottage’ or ’a cabin’. It’s basically a small house that…
Happy Romjul Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Dec 30, 2013
Norwegians just can’t get enough of jula (”the christmas”). When the whole family has received their gaver (gifts) on julekvelden (Christmas Eve, December 24th), there is still første og andre juledag (1st and 2nd day of Christmas, December 25th and 26th), a time for eating and visiting friends. (Hva fikk du i julegave i år?…
What’s Norwegian for Twerking? Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Oct 11, 2013
It’s no secret that people in Norway and other western countries are fascinated by USA [oo es AH] (they might be complaining about American politics but still watch the soaps). Miley Cyrus makes some daring bevegelser (moves), and the next moment people from Oslo to Australia are talking about twerking. Or are they? It depends…
Norwegian Oops! moments Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jul 31, 2013
When I was a kid, I once went with my mother into a public library in Norway to look for cartoons and children’s books. The old lady at the counter seemed really friendly, so I said out aloud, so everyone in the library could hear it: “She looks rar!” In my native language, Danish, that’s…
Land of trolls Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jun 29, 2013
”Where can we see the trolls?” The two turister (tourists) from Asia looked surprised when I explained them that trolls were rather hard to find in the Norwegian natur [naTOOR]. I was working in a museum souvenir shop where the shelves were full of miniature reindeer, elks and … trolls. No wonder that they thought…
Hooray, it’s bunad time! Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on May 17, 2013
Hipp hurra for 17. mai! It’s May 17th, the day when all Norwegians går mann av huse (go to the streets, literally ’go man off house’) to celebrate their beautiful country. In every Norwegian by (town) and bygd (little town, hamlet) there are 17. mai-tog (May 17th parades) with people waving norske flagg (Norwegian flags)…
Eat Chocolate, Learn Norwegian Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Apr 11, 2013
The next time you’re in a Norwegian kiosk shopping snop (sweets, candies), look out for the melkesjokolade (milk chocolate) called ”Et lite eventyr” (a little fairy-tale). There is only a single piece of chocolate inside the little yellow plastic wrapping. But then you don’t buy this product for the sjokolade – on the back side…