THANKSGIVING DINNER LIST:
- Turkey.
- (Supplemented by chicken)
- Mashed potatoes.
- Rolls.
- Broccoli.
- Squash.
- Peas.
- Cranberry sauce.
- Flatbrød.
- Gravy.
- Seasonal decorations
- (little pumpkins, candles, turkey napkins etc.)
- Pie!
- (Apple, blueberry and Chocolate!)
- Ice cream.
- (VANILLA)
Perfect. Only one thing missing... Any guesses?
Family!
That is one element that was definitely not missing from Thanksgiving for me this year.
Last Wednesday, we got a long anticipated visitor from Finland... That's right. My exchange sister Ella, who came from Finland on Rotary exchange and lived with me two years ago came to visit me here in Norway! It had been almost two full year since we've seen eachother. Her flight arrived in the middle of the day on Wednesday and I was there to meet her at the airport (thanks to Kristian for giving me a ride!)
Seeing her again brought me back to the year we spent together and all the adventures we had. I have missed her so much! We had a lot to catch up on. When we got home we decided to go on a walk. After that we both fell asleep for nearly two hours... You may think that wasn't the best use of our time together but honestly it doesn't really matter how we spend our time as long as we are together. I love my sister.
Wednesday night was one of my host uncle's birthday party, so for the first time, Ella got to meet a large part of my crazy, funny, amazing host family. Also for the first time, I finally talked to my bestefar (grandfather)! After being here more than three months, that sounds kind of horrible, but it's not that we hadn't tried to communicate before, but it always wound up him trying to use a mix of Norwegian and sign language and me getting a little confused.. But this time (with a little bit of help from Pappa) we succeeded in having a conversation! I invited him to Vermont for Thanksgiving next year (heads up mom!).
Thrusday was actual Thanksgiving day, but not in Norway! However, it didn't go by un-celebrated. I had quite a bit of free time from class in the afternoon, so Mamma and Ella came to meet me for lunch. We went to a nice little cafe in Stjørdal, named Hos Oss. It's definitely my favorite. While we were eating there Pappa stopped by! I don't know how he knew we would be there... Lucky guess I think (or it could be the fact that whenever I got to eat in Stjørdal I go to Hos Oss). He sat with us for a minute, but then he had to get back to work. He had a meeting Thursday night and Johan was working so having dinner that night wouldn't have worked because two key ingredients would have been missing. It was definitely a better idea to postpone dinner for a day or two than to be not have my father and brother there! Thursday evening Ella and I skyped home while our US family was eating, so we at least got to be there virtually for the dinner.
Friday I didn't have school (no clue why though...) so Ella and I slept in late. When we finally hauled our lazy selves upstairs, we made chocolate pie in preparation for Thanksgiving dinner! Two chocolate pies! And we got to lick the bowl! Ahh so yummy! Later that evening Pappa took us to Trondheim to go shopppping!!! I fell asleep on the ride to the city... I don't know why I was so tired! We went to a couple of different malls and shopping areas, but I didn't buy anything. Neither did Ella. We went to Egon for dinner, which is a restaurant in a huge tower.
Oh I should mention one more thing, on Friday there was a hurricane that hit Norway. It was named Berit. I don't think there was any significant damage, but while we were eating in the tower it was very, very windy. We could feel the tower swaying back and forth and it almost felt like being on a boat or an airplane. I didn't like it.
SATURDAY! Time for Thanksgiving dinner!!! Ella, Pappa and I were in charge of cooking. Early that day Ella and I set the table.
We needed two tables pushed together to fit everyone that we had invited! The only problem we ran into was there weren't enough wine glasses!
For anyone who has never tried, making Thanksgiving dinner is relatively difficult. There is so much food to cook, but it mostly all has to be cooked at the same time because it has to be ready at the same time! The squash, the potatoes, the broccoli and peas all take almost the same amount of time, and the gravy is made with the drippings from the turkey pan, so you need to wait until the turkey is out and being carved in order to make the gravy! It takes a lot of planning and then a whirl wind of cooking to accomplish Thanksgiving dinner.
About 20 minutes before we were supposed to eat, Pappa came home with the chicken (for those who aren't a big fan of turkey) and new wine glasses! I was so excited!
Well, we accomplished it. Everyone arrived around 5 and I was just finishing up the gravy, all the other dishes were set on the table, all hot and ready to be eaten. There were 18 of us total. Before we ate, I asked if we could say some type of grace, so they all sang a special Norwegian song, and then we dug in! There was plenty of food to go around... actually there was a ton of food and surprisingly most of it got eaten.
A while later we had a ton of pie! Apple, chocolate and blueberry! It was so good.
Having all of my family around made my Norwegian Thanksgiving so special!
After the party, all the various family members made their way home, and Ella and I wound up going to a club that night.
Last Wednesday, we got a long anticipated visitor from Finland... That's right. My exchange sister Ella, who came from Finland on Rotary exchange and lived with me two years ago came to visit me here in Norway! It had been almost two full year since we've seen eachother. Her flight arrived in the middle of the day on Wednesday and I was there to meet her at the airport (thanks to Kristian for giving me a ride!)
Seeing her again brought me back to the year we spent together and all the adventures we had. I have missed her so much! We had a lot to catch up on. When we got home we decided to go on a walk. After that we both fell asleep for nearly two hours... You may think that wasn't the best use of our time together but honestly it doesn't really matter how we spend our time as long as we are together. I love my sister.
Wednesday night was one of my host uncle's birthday party, so for the first time, Ella got to meet a large part of my crazy, funny, amazing host family. Also for the first time, I finally talked to my bestefar (grandfather)! After being here more than three months, that sounds kind of horrible, but it's not that we hadn't tried to communicate before, but it always wound up him trying to use a mix of Norwegian and sign language and me getting a little confused.. But this time (with a little bit of help from Pappa) we succeeded in having a conversation! I invited him to Vermont for Thanksgiving next year (heads up mom!).
Thrusday was actual Thanksgiving day, but not in Norway! However, it didn't go by un-celebrated. I had quite a bit of free time from class in the afternoon, so Mamma and Ella came to meet me for lunch. We went to a nice little cafe in Stjørdal, named Hos Oss. It's definitely my favorite. While we were eating there Pappa stopped by! I don't know how he knew we would be there... Lucky guess I think (or it could be the fact that whenever I got to eat in Stjørdal I go to Hos Oss). He sat with us for a minute, but then he had to get back to work. He had a meeting Thursday night and Johan was working so having dinner that night wouldn't have worked because two key ingredients would have been missing. It was definitely a better idea to postpone dinner for a day or two than to be not have my father and brother there! Thursday evening Ella and I skyped home while our US family was eating, so we at least got to be there virtually for the dinner.
 |
| We are on the computer, Mom-at-home took this picture. |
Friday I didn't have school (no clue why though...) so Ella and I slept in late. When we finally hauled our lazy selves upstairs, we made chocolate pie in preparation for Thanksgiving dinner! Two chocolate pies! And we got to lick the bowl! Ahh so yummy! Later that evening Pappa took us to Trondheim to go shopppping!!! I fell asleep on the ride to the city... I don't know why I was so tired! We went to a couple of different malls and shopping areas, but I didn't buy anything. Neither did Ella. We went to Egon for dinner, which is a restaurant in a huge tower.
Oh I should mention one more thing, on Friday there was a hurricane that hit Norway. It was named Berit. I don't think there was any significant damage, but while we were eating in the tower it was very, very windy. We could feel the tower swaying back and forth and it almost felt like being on a boat or an airplane. I didn't like it.
SATURDAY! Time for Thanksgiving dinner!!! Ella, Pappa and I were in charge of cooking. Early that day Ella and I set the table.
For anyone who has never tried, making Thanksgiving dinner is relatively difficult. There is so much food to cook, but it mostly all has to be cooked at the same time because it has to be ready at the same time! The squash, the potatoes, the broccoli and peas all take almost the same amount of time, and the gravy is made with the drippings from the turkey pan, so you need to wait until the turkey is out and being carved in order to make the gravy! It takes a lot of planning and then a whirl wind of cooking to accomplish Thanksgiving dinner.
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| Master Chef! |
 |
| That's a LOT of potatoes... |
 |
| Three bags of broccoli |
 |
| Three bags of peas |
 |
| One can of Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce All the way from the USA |
 |
| One delicious looking turkey... |
 |
| Mmmm! |
About 20 minutes before we were supposed to eat, Pappa came home with the chicken (for those who aren't a big fan of turkey) and new wine glasses! I was so excited!
Well, we accomplished it. Everyone arrived around 5 and I was just finishing up the gravy, all the other dishes were set on the table, all hot and ready to be eaten. There were 18 of us total. Before we ate, I asked if we could say some type of grace, so they all sang a special Norwegian song, and then we dug in! There was plenty of food to go around... actually there was a ton of food and surprisingly most of it got eaten.
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| All ready to eat! |
 |
| Looks so good! |
 |
| Isn't that right, Johan? |
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| Dinner time |
A while later we had a ton of pie! Apple, chocolate and blueberry! It was so good.
Having all of my family around made my Norwegian Thanksgiving so special!
After the party, all the various family members made their way home, and Ella and I wound up going to a club that night.
This was one of the best Thanksgivings ever.
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