We got a notice from Kaleb’s school last week that today was the day for “Juleverksted” and the only part of the memo I understood was “foreldrene” and “hjelpe” (“parents” and “help”). I assumed they were asking for volunteers, and for what, I did not know. (We encounter many "unknowns" here.) But yesterday I told my teacher I wouldn’t be in class today so I could go to Kaleb’s school and help with “Juleverksted.” She smiled and said, “Oh, yes, that will be fun.”
So this morning both Kory and I went to school with Kaleb. Turns out it was an entire day devoted to making Christmas crafts. I guess the kids can give them as Christmas presents if they want, as they made two really sweet (and involved) things. The first half hour of school was devoted to lighting the Advent candles, placing another figure in the manger scene that the kids had made, singing some Christmas songs and having the teacher read a chapter in a Christmas book. (I guess the days of that ever happening in American schools have passed.) Even though Norway is so liberal in so many ways and many never go to church, they hold tight to their Christian traditions for fear that other religions (mostly Muslims) will take over. They make a big deal of Christmas, and next week the school will even take the kids to a church service on their last day before the break.
The crafts they made were so clever. One was a Julenisse (Norwegian Santa) and the other was a Christmas tree. The teachers in the school came up with the craft ideas. There is a sweater factory near here so a teacher went and got the heavy cardboard rolls (bobbins?) that the yarn comes on. They are tapered so they are wide at the bottom and thinner on top. One of the bobbins turned into a Santa and the other a tree. I helped at the station where the kids had to hand sew the red felt hat for the Santa. At another station they cut out brown felt for the body and at another they glued on lamb’s wool and a wooden bead for the nose. It’s the classic “Nisse” around here – where the hat sits over his eyes and the beard is so bushy only its nose is visible. Too cute.
Kory helped at the tree station, which was a far more involved project (see photo of Kaleb working and his best friend at school, Håvard, holding up his tree). The kids had to cut out rounded pieces of felt to be layered and glued on the base of the tree. Then they had to paint a Styrofoam ball with gold paint for the top star. They went to another station to string some tiny beads on thin wire to wrap around the tree for decorations, then they used gold stickers to finish it off by placing them on the tree in various locations. It was all detailed work and took up the entire day (8:30-1:00) just to make those two things, but they are keepers. All the kids did them, no one complained, no one goofed off. It was quite impressive to see 90 nine year olds working so feverishly. There were about six parents there to help the four teachers and we were all busy the whole time.
A lot of the boys at school recognized me from the party on Saturday and they all said it was the best party they had ever been to. I guess Morten (who didn’t come) heard all about it on Monday. He came up to me and asked if we were going to be here next year because he would very much like to go to Kaleb’s next party. Too bad, so sad for him. He missed out. I tried to tell him ahead of time, but he wouldn’t hear it. Oh well. He also said he had a gift for Kaleb and he’d like him to come over after school and get it. His mom was at school today too so we talked and she invited us over, so we were there for about 45 minutes after school and Kaleb and Morten played very well together! They were both interested in the same things (Ben 10, Pokemon and Nintendo), so maybe we’ve crossed a bridge. We’ll see. I hate to get my hopes up yet, but I am a big believer in miracles.
So this morning both Kory and I went to school with Kaleb. Turns out it was an entire day devoted to making Christmas crafts. I guess the kids can give them as Christmas presents if they want, as they made two really sweet (and involved) things. The first half hour of school was devoted to lighting the Advent candles, placing another figure in the manger scene that the kids had made, singing some Christmas songs and having the teacher read a chapter in a Christmas book. (I guess the days of that ever happening in American schools have passed.) Even though Norway is so liberal in so many ways and many never go to church, they hold tight to their Christian traditions for fear that other religions (mostly Muslims) will take over. They make a big deal of Christmas, and next week the school will even take the kids to a church service on their last day before the break.
The crafts they made were so clever. One was a Julenisse (Norwegian Santa) and the other was a Christmas tree. The teachers in the school came up with the craft ideas. There is a sweater factory near here so a teacher went and got the heavy cardboard rolls (bobbins?) that the yarn comes on. They are tapered so they are wide at the bottom and thinner on top. One of the bobbins turned into a Santa and the other a tree. I helped at the station where the kids had to hand sew the red felt hat for the Santa. At another station they cut out brown felt for the body and at another they glued on lamb’s wool and a wooden bead for the nose. It’s the classic “Nisse” around here – where the hat sits over his eyes and the beard is so bushy only its nose is visible. Too cute.
Kory helped at the tree station, which was a far more involved project (see photo of Kaleb working and his best friend at school, Håvard, holding up his tree). The kids had to cut out rounded pieces of felt to be layered and glued on the base of the tree. Then they had to paint a Styrofoam ball with gold paint for the top star. They went to another station to string some tiny beads on thin wire to wrap around the tree for decorations, then they used gold stickers to finish it off by placing them on the tree in various locations. It was all detailed work and took up the entire day (8:30-1:00) just to make those two things, but they are keepers. All the kids did them, no one complained, no one goofed off. It was quite impressive to see 90 nine year olds working so feverishly. There were about six parents there to help the four teachers and we were all busy the whole time.
A lot of the boys at school recognized me from the party on Saturday and they all said it was the best party they had ever been to. I guess Morten (who didn’t come) heard all about it on Monday. He came up to me and asked if we were going to be here next year because he would very much like to go to Kaleb’s next party. Too bad, so sad for him. He missed out. I tried to tell him ahead of time, but he wouldn’t hear it. Oh well. He also said he had a gift for Kaleb and he’d like him to come over after school and get it. His mom was at school today too so we talked and she invited us over, so we were there for about 45 minutes after school and Kaleb and Morten played very well together! They were both interested in the same things (Ben 10, Pokemon and Nintendo), so maybe we’ve crossed a bridge. We’ll see. I hate to get my hopes up yet, but I am a big believer in miracles.
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