We spent Christmas Eve with a family here in Tromsø; this is arranged by the international student office for all students who remain here at Christmas time, if they wish it. "Our family" consisted of parents and two children: father, Tor Arne; mother, Inger Marie; 11-year-old son, Rikhard; 6-month-old Magnus. They picked us up from the student hostel in the afternoon, and we went with Tor Arne to the cemetary to light candles at the graves of his parents. It is customary for families to do this, so the cemetary was full of people bring sprigs of greenery and candles to place at the graves of their loved ones; some also carried shovels, to move away the snow! From there we walked to the church at Elverhøy to attend one of the many services held that day. The church was filled to capacity, and beyond. We went to one of the afternoon services--of course it was dark, and the candlelight was beautiful. After that we went to Tor and Inger's home for dinner where we had traditional foods: pinnekjøtt (salted lamb ribs) and (yes!) lutefisk. As Inger Marie said--it's all about what you have with the lutefisk: creamed peas, potatoes and "lutefisk bacon"--which is just a very strong bacon, cut up in small pieces and fried. It was a lovely evening, and we walked home after (about 1 in the morning).
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