Day 18 to 20: Christmas in Mundheim

Our return to Mundheim consisted pretty much of one thing: playing in snow.

There was close to a metre of the stuff, which made for some fabulous sledding. Of course, the problem was that without a good ski lift... or at least a rope tow... it was one heck of a climb back up the hills. Very steep.



By the time we had a decent run going... We were so exhausted we had to come back the next day to actually try it.



In Norway, the celebration for Christmas is all on Christmas Eve.

But before the presents, there was some serious work to be done. The morning of Christmas Eve my Great Uncle Hans came down to the house. He wanted me to come up with him, to pay our respects and clean off the grave of my great-grandparents. The two of us walked up the road to the old graveyard together. He had to show me the way to the grave, since it had been many years since I had been there, and of course it was all covered in snow.

It was very moving. The two of us standing there in the snow together. I shovelled off the grave itself, making it clear enough that we could lay a candle and a wreath. We both paid our respects, said our thanks to these people without whom we wouldn't exist. It was interesting for me to watch my Great Uncle, see this wonderful man paying respects to those that have been gone for so long.  He doesn't speak English... but we didn't really need to speak. It was a good moment, one that I will cherish.



With the serious part done, then came the celebrations. It's tradition to go up to Tante (Aunt) Lisen's for rice pudding on Christmas Eve afternoon. She lives in the upper part of the house we stay in in Mundheim. In the rice pudding, there's an almond. If you get the almond, you win a prize. Svein has had this honour for many years running now, and he's quite proud of his track record. However, unfortunately for Svein, this year Beth had the honour of the lucky almond. Or so we thought... turns out, Lisen had put in TWO almonds this year since there were so many of us. Well, still no dice for Svein--Malene had the second almond. Malene won some chocolate, and Beth won a scratch and win ticket. Too bad for us, she didn't win the million kroner (~$200,000) prize.

Throughout the morning and early afternoon, family members stopped by to drop off all their gifts. The pile around the Christmas tree grew bigger and bigger.

Then it was time for dinner. Ingebjørg and Svein laid the feast out on the table. Pinnekjøtt (lamb ribs) is the main traditional dish, but over the last ten years, kalkun (turkey) has been gaining ground. So much good food... and of course dessert. Yum!



Finally came the part the kids are always waiting for: the presents. Malene had the honour of playing Julenissen (Santa Claus) and handed them all out. Then one by one they were all opened. Of course, even though we had said we didn't want anything, there was still a small pile of presents for the two of us as well.

Overall, it was a great day. A lot of fun and great time with the family.