Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope everyone is having a wonderful time through these troubling times, This year Nathan and I are spending Christmas eve and a week in Norway.
I started the day with my oral exam in Dutch. The exam was online which meant I could do it from home. It started at 9:15 am and lasted 15 min. We went through the different subjects such as; family, moving, use of present tense and doktor. I was feeling super nervous but in the end, I felt that it went better than expected.
Our next task was to prepare for the flight ahead. We still had to pack and tidy the apartment a bit. The plan was to leave at noon, but we weren’t ready until 12:45. We went to the bus station and waited for the bus. We hoped we would be able to take the train that left at 13:19, but we were just too late when we arrived. Next one left at 13:49 which would give us 40 min to go through everything at the airport. All this made me really stressed.
When we arrived at the airport I tried to move as fast as I could. We were super lucky because there was no line for the security which saved us a ton of time which made me really happy, but little did I know that the plane would end up being 1h delayed anyways xD
It all started with a 30 min delay. Then when everyone had boarded the plane we got an announcement that someone from the previous flight had forgotten their brown hand luggage so the entire staff had to check if it was on the plane which took almost 30 min. After that was resolved they had to resume the process of loading the other luggage into the plane which added another 30 min. So at 4 pm we finally took off and we landed in Norway at around 7:45 pm. Then we had to have the police check our registration form and we thought they would want to see our vaccination pass, but the guy just said “it’s fine I trust you” which made me wonder if he does that with everyone. After that, we stopped by the duty-free to pick up some alcohol before we went to get tested. When EVERYTHING was done we finally found where my sister had parked and headed over. Then we were on our way home.
During the car ride, we talked a bit with my sister since this is the first time anyone in my family has seen Nathan everyone was very curious. When we arrived home we got greeted with both of my parents, a lovely tree and some amazing food. We still had to wait for a bit until dinner was ready which gave my parents some time to get to know Nathan. Then finally at almost 9 pm dinner was ready. We were having a classic Norwegian dinner.
That consists of a bunch of different sorts of meat. The main attraction is the rib steak of pork where the giant challenge is to get the skin the perfect crust with crunch. Then you also have meatballs and small sausages. For the side dishes, you usually have red kale, jam, potatoes and different causes. The entire meal is really delicious but also contains a bunch of fat xD. It came from when Norway was a poor country and Christmas meal was when you finally enjoyed some great food together with your close one.
After dinner, we prepared ourselves for the presents. We went around opening different presents from both friends and family. Nathan and I got each a pair of tall soft socks and a gift card. Then I got a jumper from my sister. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any presents for my parents or my sister which I will have to find during my time here. By the time everything was done it was already midnight and everyone were ready to head to bed.
I hope you guys had an amazing day too or if you celebrate today I wish everyone a very merry Christmas. May you celebrate with either family or friends and with some amazing food. For those who do presents I hope you get something nice 😀
The Anna behind Yannani 