Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Guro Litlere, Kimball's foreign exchange student, feeds her family's lambs while she was a baby. This photo was her family's Christmas card that year.
Guro Litlere, left, with a friend, both in traditional dress during Christmas season 2014 in her native Norway.
This traditional Norwegian Christmas tree is set up in Guro Litlere's home, decked out in customary red, white and metallic colors. Litlere is the current foreign exchange student in Kimball.
Not many of us can recall our first Christmas, much less recount it for family and friends. Guro Litlere will soon celebrate her first Christmas in the United States and will undoubtedly recount it for her friend and family at home.
Litlere, Kimball's foreign exchange student, comes from a small Norwegian village, Voss. There Litlere lives with her father, Tor Arne, an engineer, her mother, Gunvor, an outdoor Kindergarten teacher, and her two younger sisters, Anja, 14 and Oda Marlén, who is 9 years old.
As with many aspects of daily living, Christmas traditions differ vastly between the two countries that Litlere has called home.
In Norway, her family celebrates "Little Christmas Eve" on December 23. This is a day for families to gather, decorate the Christmas tree, and watch a television show called ''Grevinnen og hovmesteren'', or ''Dinner for One,'' in the evening.
Norwegians then celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve, December 24.
"We get up and watch two Christmas movies in the morning: a german old movie about Cinderella ''Tre nøtter til Askepott'' = ''Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel''," Litlere said. This is the original title, she added, which means "Three hazelnuts for Cinderella", but in English the title translates into "Three wishes for Cinderella."
Then traditionally her family watches a movie called ''Reisen til julestjernen'' which is directly translated to ''The Journey to the Christmas Star''. She said that after viewing both movies together as a family, they eat porridge.
One bowl of the traditional porridge hides a pealed almond and whoever receives the bowl with the special almond will get a prize – generally a marzipan pig, a pink candy in the shape of pig. Pigs are customarily good luck charms for the coming New Year.
Calendars are also a Christmas custom in Norway, Litlere explained. These calendars have doors, similar to an advent calendar and throughout the month of December a new door is opened each day. There are many different calendars, including a gift calendar, a chocolate calendar or a lotto calendar. They also have television calendars with a new episode each night.
Some traditions are similar in both countries, such as spending time with extended family over the holiday and eating a lot of food.
"In our family we take turns on spending Christmas night with my moms parents, or my dads parents," explains Litlere, "So, we go to whoever we're spending this christmas with, and we eat more food!"
The food Litlere enjoys in Norway for a traditional Christmas dinner is different than what she will taste for her first American Christmas but tables are laid out beautifully in both countries, often in red, which is traditional to both.
''Pinnekjøtt'' a traditional Litlere family Christmas dish is basically lamb ribs cooked for a long time, with potatoes and mashed turnip, she said.
"For dessert, we eat chocolate pudding, wafer biscuits, whipped cream, and much, much more," she said. "After eating for what feels like several long hours, it is time for the gifts!"
Litlere and her two younger sisters shop together to buy presents for their parents. The girls then go all together to buy presents for their grandparents, uncles, aunties and cousins.
"Then we get gifts from each other and our parents," explained Litlere, "Sometimes its something you need, and sometimes its something you want."