Jul i Norge

The rain has melted most of our snow here down by the sea, sadly, but there's still plenty on the mountains we can see out our windows. Norwegians take the commercialization of the holiday so far beyond America they're hardly comparable. There is literally a jul (as in yule) version of almost every product: julmelk, juløl (yule beer), julsossiser (yule sausages), etc. Downtown there's a julmarked (yule market) with the festive ornaments, clothing, gifts, food and rides among other things. There are also julnisse, which are the root of a lot about Santa and also Elf on a Shelf. There's a good article on them on Wikipedia. When I went shopping last weekend there were 15-20 teenagers in the grocery store playing carols on band instruments at the front and outfitted in matching Christmas outfits. Nearly every restaurant has a julbord (special yule menu) that they're advertising; it's usually more like a prix fixe and generally more expensive than their regular menu. One of the traditional dishes is a sheep's head. The butcher section of the grocery store has plenty of heads for sale! There is also gløgg, which is a heated beverage that various types of alcohol can be added too. Historically it was designed to cover the flavor of red wine that had gone sour. We hosted a potluck julbord for Cara's lab, so the fair was less traditional because more than half are not from Norway. But we did learn a fun game. Basically you need dice, a pair of gloves (or mittens if you want a real challenge) some presents that have been wrapped many times. The dice are rolled by each person in turn. The first to roll doubles puts on the gloves and tries to open a present, while the other players continue rolling in turn. The next player to roll doubles ends the first player's chance and the first player hands over the gloves and present to them while the other players continue rolling. This goes on until the present has been completely opened. The person completing the opening gets to keep it. Super fun!