Jul i Mandal

Christmas in Mandal. It's been six years since I last spent a Christmas here. Before that my family and I celebrated a number of holiday seasons here when we were living in Europe. Christmas time is so cozy here, full of traditions that have stayed with me since my childhood.

Farmor and I had 'visitors' before Christmas. In Norway Santa dresses up with this (terrifying) mask. Typically when there is a child in the household a family member slips away, puts on a Santa suit and this mask to distribute presents out. This was just my aunt, uncle and cousin stopping by, but my parents and I once scared the crap out of my aunt and uncle by jumping out a room with these masks on, scary!

On 'lille julaften,' which means little Christmas Eve (the 23rd), I accompanied my aunt, uncle and cousin to their cabin (hytte) which is right on the ocean, where they took some lobsters out of a lobster pot  for our Christmas Eve lunch.

Uncle Per hard at work.

I had no idea that lobsters turned red after they were boiled!

We went back to the hytte Christmas Eve morning to get cod ('torsk') for our dinner that night. This is about as fresh as food gets!

My aunt Jorunn and uncle Per make a great team. They cut and cleaned some twelve cod in about 20 minutes (my cousin Erlend is on the right).

Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on bread for Christmas Eve lunch.

And the lobster from the day before!

A crowd outside of the Mandal church before the Christmas Eve service.

Fresh cod for dinner! Served with boiled potatoes and vegetables, of course to be doused with a gravy boat filled of melted butter.

My cousins Erlend and Eirik!

Christmas Eve is when most of the festivities take place. After dinner, families typically dance around the Christmas tree while singing Christmas music. My family is full of musicians so there is always someone who can play the piano for us to sing and dance along to. After that, gifts are handed out and Santa (Julenissen, or 'Christmas Elf') comes around if there are kids. Christmas Day is not a present day, some people go back to church, and typically another meal is shared with family. Not a super detailed account, but a brief glimpse into what my Norwegian Christmas looks like :)