LAND OF GAY YOUTH

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27276, 30 December 1949, Page 2

LAND OF GAY YOUTH

Dunedin Woman's Visit To Norway " Norway is a beautiful country,” said Mrs Sven Stene, who, with her husband and small daughter, has just returned from a year’s visit to her husband’s relatives in that country. Mr and Mrs Stene experienced both winter and summer conditions there, spending four months of the long Norwegian winter in Trondheim, whilst the summer was enjoyed on a small island to the south of Oslo. In winter, Mrs Stene said, the snow lay thickly, and people put on their skis at the front door and skied through the streets. Even the small children were expert on skis. Bright clothing was generally worn throughout the winter, she continued, matching patterned jerseys and socks, with caps in scarlet, being popular. Bright blue and green were the usual costume for the younger people, who rarely seemed to wear formal clothes or to wear a dark top coat. When the weather was extremely cold, they put on a* wind-breaker jacket. Gay parties of young people were often seen setting out on ski-ing trips, equipped with rucsacs to carry their belongings and looking bronzed and healthy.

In the summer time, sailing, swimming and cycling were the popular sports, and again clothes were bright and colourful. " Norwegian girls are extremely pretty,” Mrs Skene said. “ They are tall, very blonde, and all seem to have perfect teeth.”

Most foods in Norway were still rationed, though milk was an exception. Butter was about 3s a lb, and many people took their fat ration in margarine, which was quite good and cost only about Is a lb. Meat was usually eaten only once a week. Fish, however, was plentiful and was usually eaten as the main meal of the day. It was very fresh and was cooked in a variety of appetising ways and served with vegetables and potatoes.

Fruit was taken as the chief dessert, whilst every meal was accompanied by coffee, which was unfortunately in short supply. Many of the cakes served in the homes were made with yeast, and, though not so sweet as the cakes in New Zealand, were very good indeed. ' "Apart from picnics in the summer, which are very popular, entertaining in Norway seems to be quite formal,” Mrs Stene said. " There is little casual ‘ dropping in,’ but when you are invited out to dinner you sit down to a large meal, serving yourself from a succession of dishes of food circulated round the table." Tables were set with exquisite linen and china. At the conclusion of the meal, all the guests thanked the hostess for the food; they thanked her again on leaving the house, and if fellow-guests were met within the succeeding day or two they thanked one another for the pleasure of their company at the dinner. Bovs and girls thanking a hostess, or in some families their own mother, at the conclusion of a meal, would make either a polite bow or a little curtsey.

There were very few materials in the shops. Mrs Stene said, and garments, especially for women, were remade and altered to last a long time. Norwegian women spent hours darning and knitting, frequently using wool from old garments. Tile war had caused an acute shortage of clothes, but there was already a tradition of thrift in the care of clothes. Many people, especially in the south of Norway, spoke English; children learnt it at the schools and a large proportion of the older men had been to sea and had learnt English on their travels.