24th December

I do admit that around the middle of December I started to regret my decision to stay over Christmas in Iceland - far away from my family. It was not the fear to stay alone over the holidays but more that it would have been nice to spend these special days around people I love. Soon tough I couldn't save myself from all the invitations of my Icelandic friends. There were twice as many invitations as holidays so unfortunately I had to turn some down. The 24th I've spent at Hanna's family. Hanna works with me at Hereford and she invited me to her mother's house to spend Christmas eve with her mother, sister and 2 brothers.
I easily found my way to her house in Hafnarfjörður. Although I was a complete stranger to the family they all welcomed me overwhealmingly warmly. The amazing thing here in Iceland is that Christmas starts at exactly 6pm. So just like on New Year's eve we had the TV turned on and waited for the clock to announce the beginning of Christmas. At 6pm all the Church bells started to ring and the lax (salmon) was brought on the table. Traditionally we all drank "Malt og Appelsín" with the food. After the fish the main course were sweet potatoes and hangikjöt (smoked lamb) - quite delicious! The desert was a creamy substance called "fromage". It has nothing to do with the "cheese". Untill now nobody was able to explain to me the ethymology of this word. After the food the presents were opened and I've spent a great time discussing Icelandic political matters with Hanna's mother. A great evening!