{"id":2154,"date":"2015-12-18T10:03:56","date_gmt":"2015-12-18T10:03:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/?p=2154"},"modified":"2015-12-18T10:03:56","modified_gmt":"2015-12-18T10:03:56","slug":"christmas-preparations-in-norway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/christmas-preparations-in-norway\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Preparations in Norway"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"This<\/a>

This photo is from Sweden, but Norwegian decorations are quite similar. Notice the electric candlestick with the seven candles making a \u201dbridge\u201d \u2013 you\u2019ll see it everywhere in Norway! (Photo courtesy of Blondinrikard Fr\u00f6berg at Flickr<\/a>, Creative Commons License.)<\/p><\/div>\n

F\u00f8rjulstida er travel!<\/b> (The time before Christmas is busy!) In Norway, most people have lots of forberedelser<\/b> (preparations) to make before jul<\/b> (Christmas). All of a sudden, it\u2019s 24. desember<\/b> and julaften<\/b> (Christmas Eve) is there! Har du kj\u00f8pt gavene dine alt?<\/b> (Have you bought your presents already?)<\/p>\n

Traditionally, a Norwegian housewife had to bake syv sorter <\/b>(seven kinds) of Christmas sm\u00e5kaker<\/b> (cookies, literally \u201dlittle cakes\u201d). It was a kind of friendly competition between neighbouring families, and this do-it-yourself spirit is still very much alive in Norway! The syv sorter<\/b> vary from region to region, but may include pepperkaker <\/b>(\u201dpeppery cakes\u201d), fattigmenn<\/b> (\u201dpoor fellows\u201d), krumkaker, sirupssnipper, bordstabel, kokosmakroner <\/b>(\u201dcoco macaroons\u201d) and smultringer<\/b>! I don\u2019t know a lot about cookie traditions in the English-speaking world, but at least smultringer<\/b> are a kind of Norwegian donuts.<\/p>\n

Then of course there is julerengj\u00f8ringa <\/b>(the Christmas cleaning). Since most houses in Norge<\/b> are quite big, this may be an exhausting task! If you haven\u2019t washed gardinene<\/b> (the curtains) earlier this year, now is the time! Gulvet <\/b>(the floor), vinduene<\/b> (the windows) and maybe even veggene<\/b> (the walls) and taket<\/b> (the ceiling) need a lot of love.<\/p>\n

If you visit Norway during f\u00f8rjulstida<\/b>, you\u2019ll also see that people everywhere have spent some time on the activity called \u201d\u00e5 pynte til jul<\/b>\u201d (to decorate for Christmas). Streets, shops, houses are adorned with stjerner<\/b> (stars), hjerter<\/b> (hearts), lys<\/b> (candles), engler<\/b> (angels), nisser<\/b> (pixies with red caps), grangrener<\/b> (spruce twigs)\u2026 On really many windowsills you\u2019ll find an adventsstake<\/b> (Advent Candlestick) with seven electric candles shining throughout the dark winter nights\u2026<\/p>\n

Julaften<\/b> itself also requires a lot of preparation. First and foremost \u2013 juletreet skal i hus<\/b> (the Christmas tree \u201dmust in house\u201d). Most people buy a Christmas gran <\/b>(spruce) in town, but some grab an \u00f8ks<\/b> (axe) and do-it-themselves i skogen <\/b>(in the woods \u2013 remember, many places in Norway are a bit like Canada!) P\u00e5<\/a><\/b> Vestlandet<\/b> (in Western Norway), some families prefer to have a Christmas furu<\/b> (pine).<\/p>\n

The final headache for busy families is julemiddagen<\/b> (Christmas Eve dinner). Again, the ingredients change from place to place. In some regions pinnekj\u00f8tt<\/b> is traditional, while people in other regions opt for ribbe<\/b> or lutefisk<\/b>. Nonetheless, all these preparations take a lot of tid<\/b> (time)!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

F\u00f8rjulstida er travel! (The time before Christmas is busy!) In Norway, most people have lots of forberedelser (preparations) to make before jul (Christmas). All of a sudden, it\u2019s 24. desember and julaften (Christmas Eve) is there! Har du kj\u00f8pt gavene dine alt? (Have you bought your presents already?) Traditionally, a Norwegian housewife had to bake…<\/p>\n

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