Christmas time is here..

Since Halloween isn't a popular holiday here, and Thanksgiving doesn't exist, Christmas is the first holiday I've seen preparations being made for. It has been made pretty obvious that Christmas is a BIG deal in Norway. Twoards the end of October, "Jule" (Christmas) editions of MANY different things have hit the shelfs in the supermarkets. Christmas soda, Christmas bread, Christmas coffee, Christmas beer, Christmas EVERYTHING... I haven't tried any of the Christmas things yet, but now since it is December, I now give myself the "okay" to start trying all of the Jule things. I'm hoping that eating and drinking these Christmas items will be like taking a huge mouth full of Christmas cheer.

The start of December also was the start of my Julekalender (Christmas calender... there's an easy Norwegian word for you!) Every day I get to open a new window in the calendar and I get a peice of chocolate. I thought that it would be something different everyday, so I started taking photos of me with what came out of it everyday, but after the third day I realized that it was the same chocolate everyday, just in a different shape. I am still taking photos of me with my surprise chocolate everyday. I mean, who doesn't want a collection of 24 photos of themself with 24 different shapes of chocolate?

(me and my Julekalander)

(CHOCOLATE)

Also, as Christmas approaches, risgrøt (rice porridge??) is being served more and more. I had it twice last weekend. Risgrøt is to Norwegian Christmas as milk and cookies is to American Christmas, meaning, this is what they set out for Santa. It's definitely better than milk and cookies. If I were Santa, the houses in Norway would be my favorite stops. When risgrøt is served to a group of people, a shaved almond is hidden in one of the bowls, and whoever finds the almond wins a prize. I haven't found one yet.

One thing that I've noticed so far is that no one really decorates the outside of their houses here. This is a HUGE chage from the "Christmas Explotion" on my street at home:

Winter has turned Norway into a totally different place..

(Lifaret street on August 13, 2010)

(Lifaret street on December 5, 2010)

The last snowfall we had here, stuck to all the trees, making them all white. After seeing this one day one a walk, I have come to one conclusion:

You do not need a magical wardrobe to get to Norway, all you need is a plane ticket to Norway during the winter. Norway is DEFINITELY Narnia.

In the time it took me to write this blog, I went out and bought a julebrus. Contrary to what I thought, julebrus does not taste like Christmas came and punched me in the tastebuds. I didn't taste any Christmas trees, gingerbread men, or sugar cookies. It tasted more like oranges, bubble gum, and cream soda... it was good though.