Christmas with Mamma, Pappa, and my Uncles

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Dec 21, 2001

Christmas in Norway begins the 4th Sunday before Christmas (advent) and ends Jan 13. An advent wreath or candle holder with four candles is put up or there is an advent calendar for the children.

When I was a child, the preparations for Christmas were really fun and as Christmas neared, our anticipation and excitement mounted. Our apartment was cleaned from top to bottom. Several kinds of cookies were made. My friends and I started making Christmas presents early in the fall. I learned to knit when I was five, so I usually made knitted gifts for Mamma and Pappa. In home economics in school, they let us work on our Christmas if we had extra time.

The week of Christmas we bought a tree, always an evergreen, although spruce was also popular. At the same time we bought a sheaf of oats (julenek) which Pappa fastened on a hook outside my bedroom window. I watched for hours all the birds chirping happily and eating the seeds.

In our family, Pappa and I decorated the tree and Mamma would direct, saying "A little to the right," "Up more," "Straighten the tree," "Fix the star." The tree always had rows of Norwegian flags, strung from top to bottom and homemade Christmas decorations, especially the woven heart-shaped baskets. These were filled with candy, nuts, and raisins and supposedly eaten by the children on the last day, January 13th. But I always grabbed a piece of the goodies each time I walked by the tree so by the 13th, there was usually nothing left.

Christmas Eve was our day of celebration. In addition to Mamma, Pappa, and me, two of my unmarried uncles usually spent the evening with us. The Christmas tree was lit with electric candles. Everything smelled good - the tree, the food, the newly cleaned rooms. The table was set with the best Christmas table cloth, china, and centerpiece and there were candles everywhere. The menu was almost always ribbe (that's a pork roast), Norwegian meatballs, boiled potatoes, surkål (a Norwegian sauerkraut made with red cabbage and caraway seeds), rørte tittebaer (lingonberries), and lefse. Sometimes kålrotstappe (mashed rutabaga and carrots). Always Aquavit for the adults. For dessert, riskrem med rødsaus (rice cream with a rasberry or lingonberry sauce).

I never ate much and thought the adults took too much time eating and skåling (toasting). Sometimes they did it to tease me. Pappa would say to his brothers, "You want another glass of aquavit? More potatoes?" They would pretend to be still hungry or thirsty and I would sigh deeply. Finally the meal was over. But then, the table had to be cleared. Food put away, dishes stacked. I got more and more impatient. When Mamma finally came back from the kitchen, the uncles and Pappa said we had to sing Christmas songs since julenissen was running a little behind. Everybody held hands, forming a circle around the tree and walked around, singing all the Christmas songs. If there are a lot of people, more than one circle is formed and each circle goes in opposite directions.