Te uită cum ninge decembre...

...e ziuă şi ce întuneric intr-o sambata care sub obisnuitu-i cotidian ascunde farmecul zilelor de sarbatoare ce se-apropie. Si poate ca mirosul iernatic al crengilor de brad, caldura luminilor care incep sa se iveasca in dreapta si stanga sau cate-un mic spiridus saltand prin zapezi in recrutare de reni ne-aduc pe unul sau pe altul un pas mai aproape de Craciun. Iar eu, chiar daca aud doar ploaia cum bate la fereastra, mai simt inca zapada de ieri scartaind sub talpa cizmelor de iarna, ghicesc gheatza ce se zbate sub patura stropilor prea calzi si presimt linistea de maine, cand totul va straluci din nou intr-un alb de poveste. Cu alte cuvinte, I’m dreaming of a White Christmas…

… just like the one we’re going to have this year! YES. I decided that given a white pre- and a white post-Christmas time (even if I’m cheating a bit, by being in Norway now), the Christmas time should definitely be white as well! So when I get on my plane this Thursday and fly all the way south-east to Budapest, I am determined not to forget all about snow, ice and winter but to rebuild the hope of a Norwegian-weathered Christmas in Timisoara. Until then I am enjoying my last days of 2007 here in Trondheim, after a rather full past week, with my 1. Julebord, the 1. December, 1. skiing this year, 1. Norwegian language course “exam”, 1. Aquavit taste and finally my 2. Julebord.

Julebord

Strangely enough, Norwegians like to celebrate Christmas before it is actually here, and don’t wait until the 24-25th to get stuffed with food and alcohol, but train over a period of around one month for the Christmas dinner. You find Julebords (= “Christmas tables”) everywhere – friends julebord, company julebord, department julebord, sub-department julebord, sports club julebord, language course julebord, other friend julebord, university julebord, santa’s julebord, elk’s julebord, and so on until you finally reach the Jule-Julebord, the supreme challenge. As for me, I must admit that I haven’t been training too hard, and missed one or two practices, with some regrets about missing the Pinekjott, the Ribbe and definetly the Aquavit.

1. Decembrie

Romania’s national Day is of course a day of great pride and importance for everybody in the world, even if they don’t know it yet. Some lucky ones get picked every year and join Romanians all over the world in their celebration, benefiting from insider privileges, being offered a taste of mamaliga and a sip of tzuica. This year the Romanians stroke again and five brave youngsters organized a feast in the city of Trondheim overwhelming their Norwegian, Dutch, Japanese and Peruvian guests with salata de vinete, salata de fasole, salata de ciuperci, bulz/balmos/ceva cu mamaliga, tochitura (ca la mam-acasa), prajitura, cozonac, vin fiert and of course tuica… They did not join the initiative of their brothers in Spain and failed to start a hora around the house, not to be blamed, considering the weather conditions and extremely dangerously surroundings (there is no ice in Spain!!!).

Skiing in Oppdal

… is great!!! Especially if you get the one day with sun in one month so that you can really enjoy the fresh snow that fell just two hours before your arrival. And even though is it by far not as big as famous stations in Austria, France & Co. you get far more out of it by the enormous off-piste options you have without needing to compete with hundreds of other skiers looking for virgin spots as it is not crowded at all! Plus, on and off the pists, you don’t have to worry about people cutting your path: the only direction is down, and it’s faaast! And finally, you can always stop to enjoy the sight of elegant telemarkers, flying down in dream of snow… I guess it must be true: Norwegians are born with skies on their feet.






... citeste-mi ceva de la poluri, te uita cum ninge decembre...