When I arrived in Oslo in August, the temperature was warm, and the days were long. However, everyone shared warnings for the dark, winter weather. I’m from Minnesota, so I was accustomed to frigid weather and shorter days. How bad could it be…really?

What I call, the ‘Cold and Candle Season’ started to make itself known in early October. As if overnight, there were candles everywhere, from grocery stores to home good stores. Stores were also stocking more tissues, Vitamin D, cough drops, and hot water bottles. I thought people were overreacting since it was still 10 degrees Celsius and there was plenty of daylight. Perhaps I was distracted by the beautiful autumn colors and those long afternoon hikes…

Common items advertised to keep you warm in the winter months.

I purchased two small boxes of Ricola cough drops, just in case, and I already had packs of tissues. I was also proud of myself for finding 5 metal candle sticks and a box of red candles for 150 kroner ($15) at a school loppemarked (yard sale to raise money for the school’s band program). The man working the houseware section told me that, “the dark days of winter are coming” but I would be ok now, with the candles.

Everywhere I went in Norway, I saw candles- REAL ones. There were large candles outside the hotel doors, small candles on tables in the hotel lobbies, and candles in staff break rooms at school. I noted that a staff workspace was so koselig (cozy), and the teacher stressed that it was very important.

Last week, I had the pleasure of joining 9th graders in their cooking class. At the end of the period, the students arranged the tables in a long line, placed the cookies on the table and lit candles. The teacher told me that the National curriculum not only emphasized cooking but sharing in meaningful conversation while eating. So, every time the students bake or cook something, they sit down to enjoy the food and conversation. The candles, the teacher said, help to make it koselig.

9th Grade cooking class preparing the table to taste their Christmas cookies.

Back home in Minnesota, candles are more like a luxury, saved for special dinners with family and friends. They also serve as a necessity, like when the electricity goes out in a thunderstorm, and you need light to see. Perhaps candles are a bit of both luxury and necessity in Norway.

They are luxurious because you can buy them in many shapes, styles, and colors. The candle holders also vary greatly, from simple votives to extravagant ceramic pieces with cutouts for light to shine. However, they are also more of a necessity, brightening dark spaces in the winter months, hence their sales in everyday grocery stores. Candles provide light, a warm glow, that LED lights cannot replicate.

I’ve been so busy traveling and visiting schools, that I hadn’t really noticed the shorter days. This week, though, the realization of sunrise at 9:00 and sunset at 15:00 really set in (no pun intended). In Minnesota right now, the sun is rising at 8:00 and setting at 16:30. Two and a half extra hours might not seem like that much of a difference, but when the daylight hours are also dark and dreary, it feels like there is little light at all.

So, this week I did it, I finally broke out the candles and lit all five of them. I cozied up on the couch with chocolate, coffee, and a new book, Doppler by Erlend Loe. I’m still resting my knee, so the Fulbright book club, focused on texts by Norwegian authors, helps me to stay still for a bit, but productive.

I will admit, there is something to the coziness of candles. They cut through the darkness and warm both the space and spirit. From here on out, it’s not the dark days of winter but cold and candle season in my Oslo apartment. I’ll be taking this practice back with me to Minnesota. Så koselig!

Cold & Candle Season

Planning & Patience

Too Much Friluftsliv