Spring has Sprung

Dare I say it? Shhhhhhhhhhhh. . . . . . 


Spring is coming! 


We had a snowstorm last week and received a fresh 8 inches of snow, making the town pretty again, and the skiers for the upcoming Inga Låmi and Birkebeiner ski races very happy. But today the temps soared into the mid-40s and those 8 inches were gone like that.

Can't you just feel the warmth?
Basking in the golden glow of afternoon spring sunshine.

I can't say that I'm going to miss the snow much. This winter--much like last summer--has been a bit of a bust. We have been so occupied with house projects, that we've had essentially no free time for fun time. We've had zero balance in our lives the last 6 months. I've been reading through my blog entries from last year at this time, and was struck by how. . . . happy I sounded. On this weekend last year, I completed my first ski race in 18 years and the adrenaline was palpable in my blog entry. This year, I've been on a single 1/2 kilometer ski tour with Greta. Maybe I was just choosing to write about the new, culturally interesting experiences, and now the novelty has worn off and nothing is fresh and shiny and new. . . but I just don't have that same "glow" about life in Norway right now. It has been downright hard. 

Friends and readers alike have kindly reminded me of just what an amazing experience this whole thing is. A very dear, intelligent, amazingly successful and down-to-earth friend wrote, "I spent Christmas in Rochester, Minnesota and have never even been to New York City. You had Christmas in Paris and live in Norway." 


I do need to keep this in perspective, but I also need to accept the fact that all the good things that Norway has to offer me aren't going to be handed to me on a silver platter. I'm gonna have to really dig deep and work hard for it. (Reality kind of sucks, doesn't it?) We are hoping that spring brings a little more sunshine into our lives, fewer house projects, and hopefully more time to enjoy Norway. . . and not just curse it.

I'm basking, too.
Now throw my ball.

Påskeferie (aka Easter holiday)--what? You don't have plans? Norway does. . .

Norway is a Lutheran nation, so on a number of important religious holidays the entire nation essentially shuts down. This couldn't be more true than påskeferie (Easter holiday). I had the entire week before Easter free from school, including the Monday after Easter; Greta's barnehage shut down on Wednesday, and nearly every store--grocery stores included--are closed Thursday, Friday, Sunday and Monday. A few shops are open for limited hours on Saturday, but I've been warned that it can be a madhouse. And why Monday, you ask? This is the 2nd Easter Day. I heard on Norwegian radio that Norway has the longest Easter break in the world. I'd believe it. 

Exploring Art on Lake Mjøsa

What is interesting about the entire Easter holiday situation is that Norway is not an especially religious nation. I don't get the impression that people are flocking to church on Skjætorsdag, Langfredag, Påskeaften, 1 Påskedag og 2 Påskedag. Traditionally, Easter holiday is when Norwegians flock to. . . the mountains. The final ski hurrah of the season, or for some, perhaps the only ski trip they do all year. But, all of Norway is bemoaning the fact that Easter is so late this year (in fact, the second to latest possible date for Easter), because there is very little snow to be found in the mountains. Many Norwegians have abandoned their traditional Easter vacation plans of escaping to their mountain cabins and have decided instead to go on walks directly past our house. It's a great workout to climb up the road leading to our house, and we have had hundreds of people out for a lovely springtime tur. It certainly helps that we have bright sunshine and temps in the 50-60s. Even for those who are up in the mountains, it seems that Påske is really just an excuse to sit outside and finally enjoy the sunshine after the long, dark winter. In fact, Påske is kind of like Norway's big beach vacation: mystery novels are a big seller this time of year. It's such a common association (Påske/mystery stories), that the national milk company prints a mini-cartoon mystery on the side of the carton!


As for us? No big plans, really. I'm reorganizing Norwegian notes, and, uhh, blogging, obviously. Erik took part of the day off yesterday, and we explored the lakeside walking path for the first time. It was a bit chilly--kind of a refrigerator effect from the ice on the lake--but the sun was shining and we found a nice little playground and picnic spot (at a campground, but that's another story). Today, Greta and I will color some eggs. And we've had enough Peeps sent to us in various Easter care packages to last us until the 4th of July, so I think we'll do okay. . .

So tempting, I might almost join her

First outdoor spring nap. . .

Spring is sprunging here in Lillehammer. Yesterday the temps hit +9C (uhh 48F), and today Tika deemed spring officially here by taking her first nap on the sun-drenched porch. You can see by the hillside behind her that we still have plenty of snow: a good 2 feet deep on most parts of the yard. But everyday reveals more and more hillside and more and more dog poop, so I, too, know spring has arrived.

Let the Christmas festivities begin!

Christmas Tree at Maihaugen
resplendent in hand-knit ornaments

Pappa and Greta by the tree,
ready to brave the brisk outdoors

Saturday seemed to be the official kick-off of the Christmas season in Lillehammer. Maihaugen, the open-air museum, hosted a Christmas market as well as several activities for children around the grounds. In the late afternoon/early evening was the opening of Christmas Street, the main pedestrian shopping district in downtown Lillehammer, complete with a nisse parade, led by the Nisse Far, a small brass band, and a variety of festive oversized dancing animal heads, not unlike Chinese dragons. It was a brisk day, around 10F/-12C, for most of the day, but we were well prepared. The events at Maihaugen were scheduled both in and out of doors, and we stopped inside for several snack breaks throughout the day.

Julenisse spotted outdoors!

Lunching on grøt (rice porridge)

Our day began around 11:30am, with the Maihaugen parking lot already filled to capacity. We visited a few of the historic cabins, decorated to celebrate a 1700s Christmas and a 1890s Christmas, and then spotted a small gathering of julenisser among the rocks, where baby goats had been leaping only a few months earlier.  We then headed indoors for a quick lunch of risengrynsgrøt (rice porridge with butter, cinnamon, and sugar) and waffles. That sat pretty well with the kiddo, and if it hadn’t, the next event on the agenda would have improved any sour mood: pepperkaker baking (gingerbread cookies). A long table was filled with more children in hand-knit sweaters than I have ever seen, and the women running the event kept an efficient schedule of doling out chunks of dough, rolling pins, cookie cutters, onto a cookie sheet, into the oven, quickly cool on the racks, and into a little wax paper bag. Afterwards I thought we could likely skip that event next year, as making gingerbread cookies at home will be a far less hurried and thus more enjoyable event. But, I must admit that having that bag of cookies on hand was rather nice to have as the day progressed.

Cutting out pepperkaker cookies

The day at Maihaugen concluded with visits to the animals in the barn and a fair amount of time in the 1930s village where a number of artists were selling their wares. I had high hopes for the Christmas market, as some friends spoke very highly of it, but I was a little disappointed. New England had its fair share of “craft fairs” that my craft-minded friends and I dubbed instead “crap fairs”, and this market was not without its share of that (although a smaller share, to be fair). Still, Norwegians love their Christmas elves and decorating with hearts this time of year, two holiday themes I have not, and will not likely, entirely embrace. So, after one last snack to warm up our insides, we headed downtown for the Christmas parade.

Mmmm, waiting for the cookies to cool

We timed our arrival to Storgate well. The nisse parade was about to start, and we only had to wait a few minutes before a parade of body-less decorative horse-heads and people dressed in elf-like costumes came spinning and twirling down the street. They were followed by a throng of people, many of whom were carrying lit torches--even rather young children! Mixed into this throng of people was a small brass band playing Christmas carols--"Joy to the World", if my memory serves me correct. We followed the parade down the street to a large Christmas tree which seemed to be already lit upon our arrival. At that point, the two adults voted that we were hungry (while the lone child was nearly asleep) and it was time to ditch the festivities and go get pizza. We believe the parade marched around downtown and lit two more Christmas trees, although I think it will be another year before we find out for certain. 


All in all, a fun-filled, exhausting day, and we all arrived home toasty warm.

Riding the tractor

Shopping in the 1930s village

Downtown Lillehammer in pre-parade excitement

The parade: a blur of people, lights,  and song

As if we needed an additional reminder that
we are living in a foreign country: small
children are trusted to carry flaming torches
in large crowds of people

The post-parade blur of people and lights.
Quite the festive scene!

Our own very tired (but warm!) nisse

Honestly, this is quite ridiculous

This is not going to win me any winter-time visitors, but I feel I must report on the current goings on in Lillehammer. There is a cold snap in central and southern Norway that I am being reassured is highly abnormal for late November/early December. This morning it was -6F, and at 1pm this afternoon it is now a balmy +5F. Forecasts for Friday have temps around -25C, which according to my handy converter is about -13F.

Now before anyone thinks, "Well, Emily, you moved to Norway. . . what did you expect?" I will say I was expecting it to get cold, just not this soon! Minnesota and Vermont have their fair share of bitterly cold weather, usually deep into January, so I am well accustomed to cold cold weather. But I was led to believe that Lillehammer had winters not unlike Minnesota, not like, oh I don't know, somewhere really really cold.

Tika begged and pleaded with her big brown eyes to be let out last night around 10pm, but once the door opened and that cold air hit her, she backed up out of the door, turned around, and went straight to her bed.

I read in the paper today (really I did!) that Storbrittania (can you guess where that is?), okay, Great Britain is also experiencing record breaking cold temperatures, also around -15C. On the other hand, in northern Norway, where one might expect it to be colder, it is actually above freezing! To which I say in my best childlike-taunting voice, "Welllllll. . . . . I've got Sunshine, Yes I do! I've got Sunshine, How about You?"