Christmas in Oslo: the same, but different

Christmas in the States has always been an 'experience,' both good and...let's say challenging. Not bad. Just challenging. Sure, it varied from year to year, but in general it followed the same pattern: enjoying some sort of start to the season such as the lighting of the Westlake Christmas tree; shopping with the hoards; wrapping presents until the wee hours of the morning; baking cookies or such; getting a stollen from my mom; traveling to one or more relatives' house(s) for Christmas Eve and/or Day, potluck item in hand, end enjoying the holiday with family. Add to that holiday work parties, get-togethers with the girlfriends, hunting down a tree, hauling out the five or so boxes of decorations and decorating the house, and crafting and mailing out Christmas cards, and that's about how it rounded out on a yearly basis.

This year was very different. Given our recent move, many things got dropped off the list. I made no cards this year, which is a first for me in many, many years. We left almost all of our decorations in cold storage in the States; I even forgot to bring our stockings. Cookie making was pretty unnecessary, given the surprise shipment of homemade almond roca and biscotti from my family. And holiday parties? Well, we shared a nice evening with our landlord and her husband, but with just the two of us here and the lack of the obligatory Work Party Christmas Culture found in the States, we found ourselves with a lack of social commitments during the holiday season.

As for shopping and presents, G and I decided to give ourselves a trip to Spain during the week after Christmas, and we didn't exchange presents for the most part with family, considering the seemingly daunting logistics of planning for Christmas presents amongst the chaos of our recent relocation.

Plus, to top it off, we were just plain busy. Unpacking boxes, organizing, shopping for new furniture, etc. It didn't really feel like there was time for Christmas this year. This year, we tried to focus on the experience and observance rather than so much of the stuff. In a nutshell, here’s what we did:

1. Celebrated Solstice on December 22 with a bottle of bubbly and dinner. It seemed appropriate to fête the longest night of the year…and then send it on its way.

2. Walked to the new opera house for sunset on Christmas Eve. Covered in snow, we walked on its sloping roof to take in a wonderful view of Oslofjord and downtown.

 
3. Wandered back from the opera house through downtown enjoying the stunning Christmas lights. Probably because it’s so darn dark here for so many hours of the day, those Norwegians definitely know how to hang Christmas lights. 

 

4. Marveled at the serious lack of people on the streets midday on Christmas Eve. Downtown was deserted and most restaurants and shops had long since closed for the day (see the above photos; I took them around 4:00 in the afternoon). What a difference! We are so used to the crazy last-minute shoppers and late-night shopping hours; it was a welcome change from our normal experience. Nothing is open here, grocery stores and restaurants included, from about mid-afternoon on Christmas Eve through annen juledag (second Christmas Day - 26 December), and most stores have limited hours until after New Years Day. No focus on after-Christmas bargain-hunting here. 

5. G surprised me while I was cooking most of Christmas day by unpacking the remainder of our household, recycling all the boxes, rearranging the living/dining room, and hanging some of our art. We actually had Christmas dinner at our dining room table. It finally feels like home.

6. Enjoyed three days of wonderful food, Skype calls with family, and simply lazing around on the couch watching Elf, eating Christmas cookies, doing laundry, and planning our upcoming Spain trip.

I think I’ll go make myself a hot toddy and munch on some more biscotti, and savor the remainder of the holiday weekend.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend of your own.