A foreigner living in Å������ܲԻ� takes us through some of her first tastes of a Norwegian Christmas.

There are a lot of delicious Christmas foods and treats to try out in Norway but today I am going to write about the ones I have tried in Å������ܲԻ�.

Christmas in Norway is a fun, full of lights festival and experiencing it in the beautiful city of Å������ܲԻ� is a delight to the eyes.

Julemenn

The first Christmas treat I ever tried was in my Norwegian language class. Our teacher was supposed to make us familiar not only with the Norwegian language but also the culture here.

It was the beginning of December 2016 and our Norwegian teacher brought some Julemenn along with hot coffee. Yum! “Julemenn” in Norwegian literally translates to “Christmas Men”.

It is a delicious, soft, cake like sweet treat which I believe is not that hard to make at home.

This Christmas treat has various names in Norwegian, such as; hvite kakemenn, julemenn, spekulasi and so cute to look at. 

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I used to consider myself vegetarian at some point in my life. It did change when I came to Norway but I was still not very fond of eating meat in general. I am not really proud of what I am about to say but I used to be very picky about food.

In 2018, I had the chance to enjoy the Christmas dinner with some Norwegians. I will be honest, I was afraid to try this famous Christmas food called “�ʾ��ԲԱ����ø�ٳ�”. The reason is because it is meat. Lots of meat. Now let’s come to the taste.

You eat these lamb chops with some mashed potatoes on the side but for me, to eat the meat with not so many spices, rice or bread was scary. Until I tried it. I tried it just the way Norwegians were eating it, with the mashed potatoes. I was really surprised and amazed because it was absolutely delicious.

What shocked me most was how good it was considering it doesn’t have many spices, aside from salt and pepper.

The main secret to its deliciousness is hidden in the process of drying and salting the meat. Just thinking about it is making me hungry, I am telling you. After writing this blog and looking at these mouth-watering pictures, I am definitely looking forward to having pinnekjøtt again this Christmas hopefully. 😉

Julebrus

This is another favorite Christmas treat of mine. The word “brus” in Norwegian means “soda” and “julebrus” means “Christmas soda”. It is not only a pretty looking beverage, but it is also very delicious.

I really loved it the very first time I tried it in 2018. Since then, everytime I see Julebrus in the shops, I get excited like kids to get some Julebrus and so; I bought some more julebrus yesterday. 😀

Pepperkaker

Pepperkaker are yet another sweet Christmas treat. Pepperkaker are light, crispy, Christmas cookies that you will find in every shop in Norway during Christmas time. It is very light in weight and to eat too.

Every time I have tried pepperkaker, the box is full of cookies; brown in color and of various cute shapes, such as; heart, stars.

I bought this yesterday and I was sure the box would be full and indeed it was! Also, the box had some beautiful art on the outside.

Usually, the one I used to buy from other grocery stores comes in a round, plastic box.

I am aware that there are other Christmas treats in Norway as well, that I have read about and know about, but I only wanted to write about the foods and treats that I have tried during the Christmas time here.

If I try some other foods this Christmas Eve, I will surely write about it too.

Vi ses & God Jul! (See you soon & Merry Christmas!)

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I have a lot of wonderful stories to tell about Norway, but today I am going to write about my first snow experience in Norway, and in my life!

From jeg heter Rubab, hva heter du..? to speaking 70% Norwegian, I have come a long way.

I first came to Norway as an international student in 2016. I still remember vividly; it was 6th of August 2016 and I reached outside my student housing at 12am.

I was so happy to bring my dream to life, that I couldn’t stop smiling the whole bus ride from the airport to the NTNU campus.

Life in Å������ܲԻ�

I live in Å������ܲԻ� and don’t really want to move away from this city, but I might at some point in life for time being. What I love about Å������ܲԻ� is that it’s a cozy and small city of Norway located on the west coast, at the entrance to the Geirangerfjord, which is yet another beautiful place to visit.

Å������ܲԻ� is famous for its art nouveau (French for “new art”) architectural style. According to Jugendstilsenteret Museum which is located right in the city centre, called “sentrum” in Norwegian, the city was rebuilt after a fire in 1904.

My first Norwegian snowfall

I came to Norway 4 years ago (I turned 24 only six days before I reached Norway) and I had never ever seen snowfall! You can imagine how excited I must have been to see my very first snowfall.

I still remember it was Monday around 3am in the morning and a friend of mine texted to look outside the window because it was snowing. Finally! It was January 2017 and it snowed quite late that year (2016). As if the snow knew I have been waiting, so “it” decided to arrive late to Å������ܲԻ�!

Read more: Expat Blogs

Anyway, I got out of my bed and looked outside my window, and there it was; all the cars were covered with snow, poor people who had to shove it in the morning but not me, so I enjoyed the beautiful view.

I was super excited in the morning and decided to go to sentrum by bus.

I think I can say that I fell in love with Å������ܲԻ� once again that day. Even though I love colors around the city, Å������ܲԻ� looked mesmerizing covered in snow.

Everything was white and the city seemed so much brighter. I took the day off for myself and enjoyed my company alone, taking pictures and just feeling the cold wind across my face.

Fast forward four years, I still love the snow and beautiful snow-covered mountains but now I am also a bit terrified of it because of “glatt”.

“Glatt” is what Norwegians use the word for “slippery”. People who have experienced snowfall before, must be familiar with the frozen snow.

Read more: Why I Love Å������ܲԻ�

For people like me, who didn’t experience snowfall before, the frozen snow on the roads after a heavy snowfall can be quite slippery if you are not careful.

Well, it is still slippery even when you are careful. Watch out people, I learned it the hard way after experiencing a few terrible falls!

I have a great story about my weirdest, funniest, scariest experience with glatt but that’s for the next time.

Vi ses!

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