You've goat to be kidding me

-
I survived another November in Norway. November is by far my least favorite month here. It's grey, dark, wet, cold, all things uncomfortable. At this time I'm beginning to feel stir crazy. I feel like a fish swimming around and around a fishbowl. You get the point, November is not my friend!

By December the Christmas lights are out combating the darkness, I'm in the Christmas spirit and only listen to Christmas songs. Don't anyone dare change my P7 Klem radio station in the car because we are FALALALALAing the entire drive! I love Christmas in Norway! We're up north so the environment is already Christmas-y, the Norwegians are set on making everything koselig (cozy) like their lives depend on it, there is julemarked (Christmas market) on the weekends, we bake cookies all month long and partake in Christmas activities. 

I love Christmas more so now than when I was a kid. Partially because I now have my own children and seeing how fun it is for them makes it fun for me as well. Also, partially because growing up with divorced parents meant there was always someone missing from Christmas. Now, I have my own family and togetherness is way at the top of the list for me. I think togetherness is valued for nearly everyone though!

I only noticed these straw goats a few years ago. At first observation I thought what a strange decoration, but when you think about it, few Christmas decorations, if any, make sense. This little creature - the Yule Goat or halmbukk is a decorative piece that can be found inside and outside the home in Norway near Christmas. It's made of straw, formed into a goat shape and wrapped with red ribbon. Some folks have them as ornaments and hang them from the tree.


For those interested in Norse mythology, it is thought the Yule goat is a symbol for Thor's carriage drawn by two goats. 

My own little Yule goat in the back. :-) 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Expat Life

-
I've finally begun reading a book that has been in my reading list for a few years now; Norwegian By Night by Derek B. Miller. The author is actually an American man from Boston living in Oslo. Although it's a thriller, the expatriation of the main character is relatable. Sheldon Horowitz, a Marine, relocates to Oslo with his granddaughter, an American married to a Norwegian man. One particular quote, or paragraph rather, stood out to me, "Lars, being Lars, was overjoyed and encouraging and optimistic about her ability to adapt and join the pod. Norwegians, true to their nature, prefer to spawn in their own waters. Consequently Oslo is peopled by Norwegians married to a shadow population of displaced souls who all carry the look of tourists being led like children through the House of Wax." According to Wikipedia  16.8% of Norway's population is made up of immigrants. Granted this number also includes children born to immigrants regardless of being born in Norwa
Read more

The Dyne

-
Image
Separate dyne!  On beds a dyne (duvet) is used and you purchase covers in many prints and different types of fabrics. These are a pain in the butt to put over the duvet, but we manage. Many people have a duvet for summer months and a duvet for winter months. Oh, and the most common thing is for each person to have their own duvet. Moving to Norway as a newlywed, I wanted to have one duvet that we shared on our bed thinking it would be extra cozy and we'd cuddle more. Newlyweds are hilariously idealistic though! This lasted only a few months before we surrendered with white flags in the war zone that was our sleeping quarters. Turns out, I'm quite territorial over the duvet. I hear a lot of women are like this. I freeze easier than my husband so I was often less comfortable than I wanted to be and he's a night owl who goes to bed later than I do which means every time he lifted the duvet, a gush of cold air would follow him waking me. We gave up with our idealism o
Read more

Movie Title Translations

-
Watching TV earlier, I noticed some movies are given different titles translated into Norwegian. I believe the movie being advertised on TV was Couples Retreat, but being translated into something different it was something like Trøbbel i paradiset. Translated it would be Trouble in the Paradise - you can see the similarities in the language in that title. All original English speaking movies are still spoken in English with no voice overs, but they are shown in Norwegian subtitles. There is an exception to this with children's movies and TV programs which do have Norwegian voice overs. I asked Arild why some movie titles are in English, some are translated, and some are translated into names completely different. He said he really didn't know and thought of a coffee table book he has which has a list of the most off-titled movie translations. He pulled out Typisk Norsk from under the coffee table and started reading these to me: I'll do the correct English title, t
Read more