Norway CHRISTMAS traditions | Mon Amie
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- Опубликовано: 3 июл 2024
- First christmassy video of 2020!!! Woohooo!!
More Christmas videos:
• CHRISTMAS | traditions
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Trying Norwegian Christmas food:
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with Jorge: • Trying Norwegian Chris...
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If you should celebrate christmas in Norway some day, you should take a trip past a cemetery at christmas eve. As it is a big tradition to light a candle at the grave of your loved ones. Its really pretty.
I had no idea!
Interesant I am Hungarian and lived in Transilvania in Oradea and we went to the cemetery to visit loved ones on Dec 26th we brought pine tree brunches and candles.
A Norwegians response:
* Many do also eat turcky as Christmas dinner.
* Personally I have never heard of anyone opening their presents on the 25, but some may do.
* We do also have a big or normal Julenisse (Santa Claus).
* Those shiny Christmas strings are very common to have on Christmas trees in Norway.
* I have never seen those advent candles with the dates on them.
* It's also very normal to buy an advent calendar.
I’m American (of Norsk descent). We always go to the mountain and cut down a real tree for Christmas. It is a tradition to take the sleighs and play in the snow while getting a tree. We then have hot chocolate and donuts before going home. We hang the stockings up near the fireplace mantle and Santa fills them on Christmas morning. We open one present Christmas Eve, with the rest of the presents being opened on Christmas Day. We spend the day with family and play games, etc. God Jul!!
We have never done Christmas socks in our family. Also we have always opened gifts on the evening of the 24th. The 25th of desember we usually go and eat dinner with different part of our family.
Since you wondered :-) The Christmas tree is brought indoors on the 23rd of Dec (lille julaften) because you want the tree to be at its best on Christmas eve on the 24th. If you bring it in too early it may be "degraded" even though you normally water the tree through the base foundation. The foundation contains a reservoir that is filled and refilled with water throughout Christmas to keep it fresh.
I'm American, my husband is Norwegian, and we live in the U.S. now. He insists on a real tree, but I always had artificial ones before we were together. We have strings of Norwegian flags for the tree. His family always sends us a marzipan pig. Caramel pudding is their traditional dessert, but he doesn't like it much. I do make it occasionally for parties. He's also not a fan of ribbe (strange man!) so, I make kjottkaker (no complaints there) for Christmas Eve dinner for us. My tradition growing up was opening presents on Christmas morning, and his is opening them on Christmas Eve, so we open the gifts his family sends then, and we open others in the morning.
I guess christmas dessert varies form family to family, but my favorite is cloudberry cream(picked yourself of course)
That is also my friends Maria favourite!! I never tried it but sou da and looks amazing 🤤
That's my favourite too! :) Although we have it for New Years
Yes, the church bells rings at 5 pm, and we open presents after dinner or desert. We decorate everything on little Christmas Eve, and it all goes down on 1 New Years day. Also, we decorate witch advents stake in the windows before or on the 1 advent Sunday. Thats also why we burn one light every Sunday. Or one more every Sunday. We change then when they burn down before too :). Also we (me and my family) have Christmas stockings. We either hang them where we can. Or put them under the Christmas trees with some other gifts that could not be placed in the stockings under the tree. We open them in the morning when we start to watch some of the norwegian Christmas movies or movie traditions. Like Cinderella (A polish dubbed version) and reisen til julestjernen (journey to the Christmas star). There are 2 versions, but we watch the original one. But also before those 2 start we get breakfast ready with eggs, bacon, salmon, some buns (rundstykker) etc. And then we just sit in our pajamas until we are going for dinner. (We dont go to church, we watch it on the tv sometimes).
For dessert I know many and including me swear to Riskrem ... wich basically is ricepourage either leftovers or you make just for the dessert, then you whip up some cream add some sugar for sweetner to the cream, once cream is done... mix cream and the cold ricepourage together and you got Riskrem .. (Ricecream) and with that you have some well we call it red sauce but I think it is raspberry sauce, I know some use strawberry sauce but it can just make the whole thing very very sweet because of the sweetness of ricecream too.
We always get a real tree. The house smells so amazingly of pine!
Hello from Minnesota USA! My family came from Norway. We always had, lutefisk. Lefse, sandbakkels, krumkake, spritz. Many do real trees and stockings that Santa fills. Your tree is pretty.
Hi Linda I also live in Minnesota. My family has kept up the Norwegian way of celebrating on Christmas Eve. I have FB friends that live in Norway I love to see how they decorate and what they have to eat for Christmas
@@barbarabates6259 😀
You americans gota do something about your lutefisk - tradition. Ive seen your typical lutefisk dinners, and they look nothing like how we serve it here :P Maby your family does it right though. Here is how its served in Norway: www.google.com/search?q=lutefisk+middag&rlz=1C1CHBD_noNO886NO886&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiQx66i09rtAhWKlYsKHcI3A6kQ_AUoAXoECBcQAw&biw=1280&bih=664
However, I cant figure out why lutefisk became the american/norwegian christmas dinner in the USA? Its the least common christmas dinner in Norway. The most common ones are Ribbe and Pinnekjøtt. Where did your family come from in Norway? :)
@@daginn896 Eksakt, er vel derfor dem er så skeptiske til lutefisk, da dem ikke fikk ordentlig laget lutefisk første gangen. Lutefisk er jo himmelsk 2.juledag! Vet mange er skeptiske til Akevitten også, da kan jeg anbefale Arvesølvet, den river ikke i halsen som dem fleste andre. Arvesølvet:detnorskebrenneri.no/produkt/arvesolvet/
@@daginn896 There are quite a few Norwegians who went there and built up the country. Well, lutefisk is a good number 3 here in Norway. Feels more sorry for those who eat turkey, or cod in the evening.
Glad to see some of the same traditions as where I come from, makes Norway feel more homely!
You have really captured the norwegian Christmas! Although I've never ever heard any norwegians NOT opening the presents on the actual Chistmas Eve 24th.
As you've already said, a real tree gets brown and dies and doesnt last too long. I guess that is one of the reasons why many norwegians keep on decorating the tree on the 23rd.
I remember finding it rather odd when I learned that my latin family in law had their apartment decorated weeks and weeks before Christmas. I thought that took away some of the magic of Christmas. But now I admit our apartment is decorated a couple of weeks before the actual Chistmas Eve.
But the Star in the window (Adventsstjerne) comes up on the first week-end of "Advent" (the last 4 whole weeks before Christmas Eve) - just like the tradition is here. By the way; my mother in law also found the chistmas lights here a bit dull, us using only white og yellow ones... none of the coloured lights she was used to.
Feliz Natal!
LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE this video and it is SO TRUE. As I'm Norwegian myself I can confirm this. I liked this video and MON you're looking very Merry indeed yes!!!!👍😅+💖💕
People should look up nisse! The folklore is fascinating, and the ways in which the Yule goat and the nisse came to merge and diverge is really fascinating. There's a lot more that goes into it.
Here in Wisconsin, USA, about half of the people go to local Christmas tree farms to cut down their own tree. Because of COVID this year, many more people went to cut their own as a safe thing to do. Many local tree farms have run out of trees this year. We actually have an artificial tree. I call it a “Chinese Pine.”
“Chinese Pine”.... haha! Good one!
On 24th we open gifts, eat dinner and hang out with closest family at home and chill watching TV, on 25th and 26th is when we see other family.
Love to watch these videos as a born and rased norwegian.
Originally you would go to church on the 25th which is the holiest of the days, but now it is more common to go on the 24th before the evening. Also yes, we (as in my family) always start the official christmas eve at 5 pm. But I'm not sure if it is super common to practice that. Though it is a thing!
And yes most common is to open the presents the night of christmas eve 😊
Lutefisk is very often "lutet" (don't know the english word) way too much! I recommend trying it when you're ever in nothern norway, where they know their fish haha, then it won't be that wobbely.
Gløgg has become like my go to drink every november/december haha love it!
But I wish you would mention the singing and dancing around the christmas tree! Aren't we the cutest.
Thank you for the video, lovely!
Candles on trees: The tradition of having a tree inb for Christmas seems to have started some centuries ago in the Baltics, the tradition then spread into German areas, and was made popular in England whith Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, brought his traditions into the ‘royal’ familiy around the middle of the 1800s, long before electicity and elecyric lights had been installed. (And to this day, the English royals open their gifts on Christmas Eve, a day earlier than the others).
When it gets dark at 3 pm (or earlier), ‘at night’ is a flexible term.
There's very little if any pepper in "pepperkaker"; its name is from a time when "pepper" was used as a broader term for "spices".
Decoration the tree on the 23rd is the latest, a lot of people do it earlier.
A hytte can be anywhere, not necesserally in forests.
lol "and then the tree dies, and it is just so sad.."
The Christmas socks are a tradition here by the way, its something children get when they wake up in the Christmas morning and they shall traditionally hang beside their bed when they wake up. :)
In Italy we use fake tree but the Christmas in Norway seems so magical and cozy!
It must be so magical with the snow! Maybe one year I'll spend Christmas here 😍❄️🌨️
Norway is such a beautiful country. I like the Christmas season in Norway. The cold weather no it doesn't bother me. If I would have to put up with the cold in Norway to live there yes hands down just bundle up. 😇
Hi, just a correction ;) We do have the same "Colasanta" as moust of the world. But from the old days, we also have the evil "fjøsnisse" as in stablesanta ;) If you not gave those small santa something to eat, and drink in christmastime, they gave sickness to cows, sheep and in general animals. NB: Our Santa is based on ST. Nicolas, a munck from Eiter Turkey, or Netherland ;) I will soon have facts of Norway myself, just because i have been looking at so many people talk about Norway ;)
The 4 candles are fore the 4 sundays before christmas eve. The first week 1 candle burn, the second week 2 candle burn, going on to the 4 week where all burn. Fore me in the advent the candles are violett and on christmas eve i change them to red ones.
The christmas three on 23 ( because you want it to look healty over christmas ) on the 13 days of christmas it is thrown out ( just happen to be on the 6/1, LOL ).
In the old days, it was common in Norway to have a buck made of straw that would symbolize the ghosts that drifted around in the winter night. Before, it was also common to slaughter a goat to ensure good crops on the farms.
Christmas has always been used to visit friends and family, of course after the church holidays on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were completed in a mandatory way.
Going for Christmas can therefore also be seen in connection with the visiting tradition. Where people used to dress up as a buck, many people wear Santa masks and go in droves from door to door to beg for sweets - poems are often performed or songs are sung.
Christmas goat traditions around the country are very different, but in most areas today there are children walking around asking for candy
We did indeed have Christmas socks in my childhood. The story however was that the Christmas goat (!!) filled up the socks with candy during the night. Would love to hear if this story was used in other homes as well or if it was just something my mom made up xD
I agree about the texture of lutefisk! It has never been my favourite. Some norwegian eat freshly caught cod, and others eat pinnekjøtt, that is steamed, salted lamb's rib with a stew of cabbage root, and potatoes.
Monica, Christmas trees are grown as a crop, like coffee. Love your clips!
D, Wisconsin, USA
Not neseccarily, if you cut it from your own land 😊
I'm a Norwegian, and on December 24, me and my family opens gift after dinner in the evening. When I was a little kid, I hated waiting all day for the gifts, I wanted them as soon as possible. And it was always Lego. I loved Lego :-) My mother is from Finland, so we have both Norwegian food (pinnekjøtt) and Finnish food. And we eat a lot of good stuff. Included home made cookies. No expense is spared. And we also give proper gifts. Now when I am old, I usually want hand and electric tools :-P
Så bra! mao en norsk jul! Kult at du er halvt finsk da :) Er halvt svensk selv .. Uansett tror jeg Scandinavia har ganske så lik tradisjon hva angår julen. Skulle såååååå likt og reist til Finland en dag !!
@@gunnarsandberg8132 Takker. Om du drar til Finland, så må du besøke Helsinki. Veldig fin by, kjent for sin arkitektur. Er en sightseeing buss man kan ta som kjører igjennom byen.
@@gunnarsandberg8132 Nja, man skulle jo tru det, men etter at jeg har sett det svenskene har på bordet, så må jeg si at jeg er ganske skeptisk. SILD, er det første jeg tenker på, når jeg hører om Sverige og jul. Rett meg gjerne hvis jeg tar feil, men det virker som om det går i mye sild der.
You are blessed to live in Norway. It just a likable country. 😯😇
God Jul Mon Amie.... loved the video!
God jul!! 🎅
Yes Mon Amie. All the churcebells in the contry rings at 17:00 (5pm), and thats the offishal start of cristmas eve, and thereby christmas. In my christian-conservative uppringing the family always sat down for dinner at 17:00 on x-mas eve, and i think many still holds this tradision. (Also ofc, the kids are also eager to get started sinde the gifts are right after dinner normaly) Marry X-mas 🎁🎄❄
A lot of people in Norway put up the Chrismas tree way before the 23th of December. Some folks put it up in the beginning of the month. :)
I'm Norwegian and we always have glitter(those fluffy strings). I've had a fake tree in my room since the 1.desember. in the living room we got a real one today(6.desember) we spend Christmas home. Our and every other family we know unpacks their presents on the 24.th.
Love your videos, keep up the good work!
Flott video, Monica! Du kunne også nevnt den norske tradisjonen med å se "Grevinnen og hovmesteren", "Dinner for one" på engelsk, på lillejulaften. Alle andre land som viser den, viser den på nyttårsaften. Og som en av dine landsmenn nevner, er den tsjekkiske/tyske filmen "Tre nøtter til askepott" en særdeles populær tradisjon på julaften.
Takk! ☺️🎄 Jeg visste ikke om dinner for one! Jeg googlet det nå. 😯 Og så sant om filmen! Det glemte jeg helt 😅
Trodde ikke det var så store forskjeller. Kan også legge til at veldig mange har norske flagg på juletreet. Håper du har spist nydelig pinnekjøtt, og lutefisk (ribbe kan jeg ta ett lite stykke av i romjulen, spiser man seg så mett, som jeg gjør i julen, så blir jeg kvalm av ribba). Man åpner gavene etter maten, akevitten og juleølen, aldri hørt om noen nordmenn som åpner gavene dagen etter julaften.
@@hypphypp Godt poeng med de norske flaggene på juletreet. Tenkte selv på å nevne det, men fant ut at jeg skulle begrense meg til TV-tradisjoner.
@@pumagutten Ja "grevinnen og hovmesteren" må man jo se, i hvert fall hvis man ikke har sett det 30 ganger før ;) Ikke at jeg mener at det er kjedelig, eller kjipt, men om jeg misser 1 min, så ligger alt lagret en plass oppe i hue, ja du vet. Kan jo legge den til her, hvis det skulle være noen som ikke har sett den: ruclips.net/video/kY3ynOBHI88/видео.html Måtte se den igjen, holder seg meget bra til å være såpass gammel, haha!
I know me being part German the German tradition to open their presents at night on the 24th of December
Det meste stemmer 😊 Kanskje noen få ting jeg ikke kjenner igjen, men!
Elsker det nye håret ditt, det var nydelig!
My family (the kids) hangs they’re stockings on the door handle, on the outside of the bedrooms and in the morning i go to my door open it and take my stocking to my bed🥰
And I don’t get presents in the stocking i get candy🍬 and I don’t think It’s very normal to hang the stocking on the fireplace in Norway.
I use to have real Christmas tree in my house ....in January, 6 I use to plant it in my garden!!! I have lots of Christmas trees around!! (Eu tenho um jardim grande) Feliz Natal para você e família.... Happy Christmas!!🎄
Oh uau! That is so nice!!! 🎄🎄🎄 Feliz natal!
We open presents on the 24th after dinner, yes :)
Then on the 25th we open the presents we get in the christmas stockings. Yes, it's still very popular, but a little more popular amongst the youngest :)
Oohh interesting! 😍🎅
Adventstid med kalender, handling, vasking og baking gir en helt spesiell stemning. ... For oss er julen en kristen høytid for å feire at Jesus kom til verden, men før den tid var det vanlig å feire at sola snudde !! 👨👩👧👦 🎅 ☃️
In Austria we also put our tree up on the 24th because the Kids think the christmas Angel ( Christkind) brings it. We have real trees and Open the gifts on the 24th in the evening.
Aaawww that's cute! 🎄👼
Mushroom tree decorations?! Lived in Norway for 30 years, and never seen that! :) And I have NEVER heard of anyone eating Christmas Eve dinner at a restaurant! And all Norwegians open Christmas presents on the 24th in the evening after Christmas dinner!
It is not common for Norwegians to have their Christmas dinner in a restaurant. Some younger people go out to bars for drinks between the holidays, as they do in other countries. And it is not common for Norwegians to open their presents on the 25th. Every native Norwegian families open their presents on the evening of Christmas eve, which is the 24th. Then Santa Claus (Julenissen) will come in the evening to the house and give presents to the children. Opening the gifts can be a ritual that lasts for many hours in the evening of Christmas eve. As for Christmas stockings, they are common in Norway and are filled with candy, but not that common to hang them on the fireplace... More common that they are put on the childrens pillow by Julenissen during the night, so when the kids wake up on Christmas eve morning, they know that julenissen is around and will come back in the evening to bring them presents. That starts a day of anticipation for the kids, for what is to come in the evening after Christmas dinner. Also, on the 23rd, it is common to make a large pot of rice porridge for dinner, and use the leftovers for the rice cream dessert, which is the most traditional Norwegian Christmas dessert. Some also hide an almond in the rice cream dessert on Christmas eve, and the one that finds it gets a treat of some kind, not necessarily a marzipan pig... The good thing about decorating the tree on the 23rd is that the tree is new and fresh on Christmas eve, and the anticipation for Christmas and the joy to have the tree is new. If it is put up too early, it not will bring the same joy on that special Christmas day. Also the Christmas soda (julebrus), which is kind of a raspberry/vanilla soda pop and it is only sold around Christmas time. Another huge Norwegian tradition is walking around the Christmas tree... some do it at home on Christmas eve, but especially at Christmas parties for kids and families which are commonly held on the 27th. Then everyone hold hands and sing Christmas carols while walking around the Christmas tree :-)
One thing I have observed is that all, or almost all, of the lights on the Christmas tree and outside decorations in Norway are white or clear, whereas here in the US at least half the families decorate with mult-colored lights. Interesting.
What a nice and interesting video! Thanks Mon! When you told about Gløgg it remind me about gluhwein - it can be very nice if you make it at home. And it can be made alcoholfree as well - if you use hot cherry juice instead of wine, add some oranges, star anise, cinnamon and a bit of honey, you'll get a perfect warming drink 😉
And a great idea to spend December 25th, watching cozy movies, photos, playing games🥰 Do you have any favourite Christmas movies?
Hei Anastasia! That sounds delicious! ☺️ My favourite Christmas films are Home Alone and Elf. Although Harry Potter is also a fave during the holidays 😍 what about you?
@@MonAmieDesserts I don't know why but the Greatest showman gives me the magical Christmas mood, which I do love.
And besides recently I watched two nice cartoons - Bigfoot Family and Everest, that inspired me and were good ideas to relax with a cup of hot chocolate after a long remote-working day in the evening🥰
Merry Christmas!!
Merry Christmas! 🎄
In my family we opened the Christmas presants after dinner on the 24th december. We also had pinnekjøtt for dinner and ribbe the 25th or 26th december. Not sure of the names for pinnekjøtt or ribbe in english
i’m in the US, but my dad used to be pretty serious about keeping our Christmas tree alive. his grandparents, and by extension his father, were all Norwegian so perhaps that’s something cultural he inadvertently carried over into my life. his bestefar and bestemor immigrated to America with his father, so he wouldn’t have been able to pick it up from the country itself. the tree didn’t live for that long since we’re in a very hot southern state, but he was pretty upset about that. we have a fake tree now, and used that for a few years, but my family stopped putting it up before i even turned 13 😅
i should’ve waited to watch more before making a long comment about what kind of tree we had. the mushroom, bird, and fruit ornaments look fantastic! this video is really inspiring me to try and bring back some of the traditions my ancestors would’ve had ❤️
we have a real christmas tree! 🇬🇧
We own a forrest, so we and our grandparents all have real trees !!
Christmas = Christ-mass
Jul = yule
Norwegians do not call this celebration krist-messe, but jul, which is an ancient Germanic festival probably dedicated to Odin, marking the Winter Solstice, before it was later christianized.
While some parts of the Nordic yule celebrations are Christian, and that's important for many people, other parts aren't related to Jesus or anything like that at all. The feasting and the ale and dragging a tree indoors and hanging colourful things on it are pretty heathen if you think about it.
That's because they are pagan traditions being "taken in" by Christianity.
Oh, a typically Scandinavian Christmas thing is Luciadagen 14th of December. It is a procession of white-clad children singing a song while holding candles. It has gone out of fashion a bit in Norway but is still a central part of Swedish Advent time.
Santa Lucia is on the 13. of december
@@wrtyioo Ah yes my bad
Glad to see someone calling out the christianization of pagan traditions!
@@ikkirr pagans stole even more from christians
So sweet 💗💕💕
When growing up we had a real Christmas yree. Now we have a fake tree. My ancestors came from Norway. I have FB friends that live in Norway. Most of them have their tree up the first part of Dec. They have shared with me what they have for their Christmas meal. While every one else celebrates on Christmas Day I found why my family celebrates on Christmas Eve it is because of the Norwegian tradition
Tx 4 sharing.
As a norwegian I approve haha
God jul! My family set up the tree on December 1st, me and my sister got stockings with candy every morning during Romjul and we start to eat dinner at 5pm and open gifts around 8pm on Christmas Eve/Julaften
That sounds lovely! 😍🎄🎅
Mónica, as 4 velas também temos essa tradição cá em Portugal, já vi mesmo em missas 😘❤ Boas festas 🤗
A sério?! Não fazia ideia! A minha família nunca teve essa tradição 😍😯
You look soooo pretty, I loved this video! I am Portuguese, mixed blood (macanese: portuguese chinese). I spent childhood in Macau and lived about 16 years in Portugal, and I developed a crush on certain Scandinavian things such as views, places, winter - I happen to love cold, cozy winter clothes - and yeah, I can fathom the winter-y scents, the real pine trees....... I kinda wished to move somewhere around there, I considered Norway, Sweden, Finland, or maybe a little bit down to Denmark or Netherlands, oh but this 2019+1 year kinda spoiled these dreams and plans... but who knows, someday. Taking the time to learn more and make a decision...
Aww thank you 🥰 don't get your hopes down! Anything is possible if it is something we really desire. If your dream is to experience a more Scandinavian lifestyle then I am sure you will be able to some day 🤗
Walking around the christmas three holding hands and singing christmas songs. Risengrøt on 24 at 12 o’clock.
I see Norwegian flags on my friend’s tree. They are garlands, hung from the top vertically towards the bottom. I think that’s strange, but I know a lot of Norwegians do this.
Most people I know have Norwegian flags on the tree, no one who is hurt by a little nationalism.
@@hypphypp I wonder if other countries do this? Canada and the US don’t.
@@marciaricksgers2018 I have no idea.
@@marciaricksgers2018 americans put their flag everywhere
Many do put up the tree earlier, in my family it was tradition to put up the tree and decorate it at 23rd, so we just continued with it... we don't throw it out before out in january tough. When it comes to real of fake tree, many have switched and it could be out of nessesary because some are allergic to real christmastrees and other it might be that because with real trees there might come some .. insects in with them :-P that wakes up in the warm cozy livingroom.
Many goes to the church even that they are not religious because they just want the tradition, and the christmasfeeling the service gives.
Gifts are mostly opened after christmasdinner in Norway, some might ofcourse open on 25th but ... that could be a cultural thing.
Christmas socks/stockings we put them under the tree and they are just filles with candy
God Jul! :)
God Jul!
👍❤️
Merry Christmas Mon :) Fabrice.
Merry Christmas! ☺️
And the “fluffy belts” are called tinsel
O, I would love to celebrate Christmas in Norway. We were in Oslo many times but not yet at Christmas time. My biggest wish is to eat “juleribbe”, have you tasted it already ? It looks so delicious 👌. Kind regards from Stefan
Love from india ♥️♥️♥️
Which Tree is this one? We have one from Balsam Hill
6:00 those are garlands in the USA 😊 (sorry for the flood of comments!)
we got halibut on 24th ribbe 25th and new years eve pinnekjøtt
Gifts are on Christmas Eve. After desert. And one at a time to see what people get. Takes forever 😄 But it's cozy and makes for a long and fun evening. And remember, we in Scandinavia celebrates Jul (Yule), not Christmas 😉. The reason for Christmas being in December is because the Church needed to calm us Vikings down and accept Christianity 😄. We never let go of Jul though.
To add a little more to the history..Going full out nerd here :-D You can see lots of things in the celebrations that comes from our pagan past. Like the straw goats people use for decoration. Santa Claus is Odin. Or as he was also called "Jolfaor" (Father Jul or.. 😉). Santa's reindeers is a symbol of Odin's 8 legged horse Sleipnir. He rode at winter solstice and the kids used to leave out food for the horse, which you can still see people hang outside their doors (julenek). Odin left small gifts for the kids as appreciation. Jesus was not born in December and it's really the winter solstice we're all celebrating. So Christians may think they celebrate the birth of Jesus, but they're actually celebrating Yule, a pagan tradition.
@@Dougie- that's not true at all.In Orthodox christianity we celebrate it at January 7th and that's the only correct date for us .Saint Nicolas is a real Greek Saint :)
When I was in Norway, real tree, but currently living abroad so fake tree here. Also gifts on 24th, not heard about anyone in my circle of friends or family in Norway who opens gift on 25th of Dec.
This year I bought my first Christmas decoration in many years: A small, wooden arched, Norwegian candelabra painted red. Next year we'll go fir the lighted paper star. On Christmas Eve, we'll be imitating a recent Japanese "tradition" by having Kentucky Fried Chicken and sponge cake. Yes. . . that's a thing in modern Tokyo. In recent years, Norwegian lefse and sugered rosetta cookies have been difficult to find. I think maybe my Norwegian grandmother must have been making her own. Thank you for this video, Amie, and wishing you both a wonderful Christmas, even away from family in Portugal.
Almost forgot: My father was a huge fan of Lutefisk., and every year we'd end up at the Sons of Norway Hall with platters of the stuff in front of us. I discovered that if I had to eat it, smothering it in butter sort of helped. Not a lot, but a bit.
Thanks Anthony! We will still try to fly to Portugal and spend Christmas with family. Let's see how that goes... I have a Japanese friend and he told me about that strange tradition of eating Kentucky fried chicken hahahah so strange, yet I do love KFC so.. 😅
we also have stockings here :)
Nice video.
6:13 Ginger bread in English. 7:05 Rice porridge, not pudding. This was an upper class dinner for centuries, but became mainstream when rice and sugar became cheaper. I grew up with dying pine and spruce trees, but in the end we bough a fake tree. I don't have a tree after moving on my own. I will have pinnekjøtt in a coupe of hours, just to get the mood. I will use a pressure cooker to reduce the cooking time from 2 hours to 45 min. I use 24 hours of watering down time and replacing water 2-3 times. 13:30 must be perfect for the architect!
Pressure cookers are one of the best inventions of the whole time hahaha and yes, pepperkake houses looks very cool to me. I actually tried to build one today for the first time 😍
Have you tried to just leave it overnight, for 12, max 14 hours? Here we usually leave it for 12 hours, absolutely beautiful. The most important thing is of course to find the best meat. Seeing them sell some stuff from Gilde, and something else that doesn't look good for 149 kroner. We have been eating Henriette's them for the last few years, lovely, highly recommended!
@@hypphypp 14 hours is not enough for me. I'm not used to a lot of salt in my food. Henriettes make good pinnekjøtt. I had that 3 years ago. I've had Bjorlilam in the last couple of years. It was a lot of meat in the bones last time. Pinnekjøtt from Gilde is great used as soup bone.
24th at evening !!!
Jeg bor i Montana, USA, hvor det er mange furutrær. Min søsters familie kutter vanligvis en for å ha til jul. Bygningen min tillater ikke ekte trær på grunn av brannfare, så jeg har falske.
Could i ask what music are playing in the background? You have really great Vlogs 😊
Im looking forward to do my Master's in a few years from Norway... Is that okay if i ask you all my doubts about moving there
Sem esquecer a estranha tradição de ver em família o Tre Nøtter til Askepott! :)
Hahaha sim!! Esqueci-me dessa! Estranho mesmo 😅
Where is the part where you mention Christmas soda? Im a Norwegian who cannot have christmas without it
True! 😅
The "elves" are not julenissen (Santa Claus), it's completely different but we call Santa Claus (julenissen) after the nisse because of the season. The nisse are our ancestors and get worshipped as spirits (at least in the past), but even now it's tradition to please them by leaving them food (usually beer and porridge i.e. risengrynsgrøt). The nisse can talk to animals and can cause bad luck if you mstreat them, according to folklore.
In Germany we also have real trees and I always thought that would be normal and erverywhere like that
A lot of norwegians go to church even if they are not very religious, they see it as a nice tradition.
If I may ask, how come you have the American pronunciation? Did you live there? Or did you acquire it while living in Norway?
I have a fake tree, because me neither, I don't want to kill trees. But we had real pine trees when I was a child. And when having a real tree you have to wait until the 23, because otherwise it will not survive until Christmas day. And we want it to last until January. Then we eat the pepperkaker, apples and candy that has been hanging in the tree.
Sounds lovely and makes totally sense! ☺️🎄
Are the apples cut and dried for hanging on the tree? I can't imagine the apples would stay fresh until January if they weren't dried 😋
Real tree is traditional. Put up Dec. 23rd. I think the reason is that the tree dies after 2-3 weeks even we add water to the cup in the bottom of the tree. If we put up a real tree on Dec. 1st, the tree is dead on Christmas Eve. The green will fall off and we will have a decorated brown stem with brown branches and a star at top on Christmas Eve. You can put up a plastic tree on Dec. 1st and it's pefectly fine on Christmas Eve. By the way describe the smell from a real tree. It's smell Christmas, doesn't it? Well, at least for a Norwegian. In addition. The house is fully prepared and decorated for Christmas Eve on Dec. 23rd. The house smell from green soap and decocrated - and the natural smell from a real tree. It smell heavenly, pieceful with a hint both of natural sweetness and incence. Add the smell from traditional Christmas food. The Christmas star in the window is the Christmas star. It is no "lamp" 😂
The Christmas wollen long sock is filled with candies and fruit placed on the bed post by Santa Claus, I think, during the night. The first joy on Christmas morning is to find the Christmas long sock.
I am the first one yaaaay
Real tree in my home
I Love you too❤😘 mon amie
You haven’t heard of advent candles (the four candles)? Aren’t you from a traditionally Catholic country?
Isn't pepperkaker the same thing as gingerbread? 😊
Yes I think so ☺️
Yes :)
Litt, men de smaker ganske forskjellig. Her i Storbritannia er de mye tykkere og har mindre smak, jeg foretrekker Norske pepperkaker framfor gingerbread. Hvis du leser oppskriften på gingerbread og pepperkaker ser du også at de er forskjellige.
Why would you move to a dark, cold place like Norway from such a sunny, hot place like Portugal?
Portuguese also has blue eyes @.@
Must say a lot is true but not all, lille juleaften for my family is to deriverte presents watch Movies and just be together. I am allergic to christmas tree so me and everyone in my family now has fake tree. I take my christmas tree up the frist Day of november but most Norwegians i know put it up 1 of desember. I’ve never had a christmas stocking in my life but i have a cousin who has one. I have a big family but we always get together at the 25th. Of desember. To say thank you for the gift. (I would be grounded if i wore pjs on the 25th.) the 24th is the Normal Day to open presents at in Norway, but of course some make other tradisions. As a Norwegian who has genes from all over Norway, i live in Larvik, have christmas in Ålesund with my family, with a grandma from Nord Trøndelag, a father from Drammen and parents in law from Arendal and Bergen, i will say it’s very diffrent tradisions from place to place. So it might be impossible to get them all in a video😂
Hahah that's so interesting! 😍🎄 Thanks for sharing 🥰 and I can't believe you are allergic to Christmas trees! 😳
@@MonAmieDesserts yeah i know! I found out when I was little while decorating the tree. I was so sad at that time, looking so crazy with my allergic reaction, I was advised to never have a christmas tree inside again.😅
So interesting!! Glad you survived your allergic reaction, how sad though!
I have a fake tree! Much preferable to live trees. More environmentally friendly so long as the artificial trees are used repeatedly and not purchased new every year and tossed out when the lights burn out or something.
Do you know any vegetarians in Norway? If so, what do they eat as their Christmas meals?
Some alternatives are nøttestek (nut steak), vegisterkaker (veggie patties from rice and cauliflower) and crispy vegetable protein from tvp. Also of course including all the sides that are already vegetarian/vegan. Here was my very delicious vegan christmas eve meal a couple of years ago (though I am not vegan nor vegetarian): instagram.com/p/BOaZ_qsj9jl/?
As vegetarians is more and more common her in Norway, I have seen alot of talk in the last years about Nut Roast
As a vegan who also is planning to study abroad in Norway, I've done some research into what it might be like for vegetarians living in Norway. I hear that, like everywhere industrialized, vegetarian and vegan speciality foods in groceries and restaurants are increasing, but something to consider is that we don't need vegan meats and cheeses to have a good meal (maybe for nostalgia or something, but it's not required). So Christmas here in the states might look like also including a small roast of seitan or tofu or other plant protein mixture, but the majority of dishes are simply whole-foods plant-based: potatoes, greens, root vegetables, fruits, nuts, etc. I've read that a diverse abundance of fresh produce is difficult to come by in many parts of Norway without paying a lot of money (or at all), but I imagine there are ways forged by wills, as usual.
@@Maleficas88 uuuuh, I love Nut Roast!
@@ikkirr oh, yeah, of course. I was just wondering if there were vegan/vegetarian equivalents to the traditional Norwegian Christmas dishes like there are in some countries like for example in the UK, you wouldn't eat beef wellington but it would be possible to make mushroom wellington :)
I grew up with a real tree and not a fake one. Maybe it's normal for many familys to have those birds but I never had it