Mortens Aften

We never celebrated 'Mortens Aften' growing up, but for some reason we decided to do so this year. So for my first Mortens Aften ever we invited to friends over to dinner. 

I am lucky enough to have a boy who actually likes to cook and experiment in the kitchen some times, so him and his buddy C started in the kitchen at about 4 PM to clean and prepare the duck. Even though they were supposed to cooking, I am mildly obsessive and also like to cook, so I couldn't help myself from hanging around the kitchen 'helping' them out. Either way, Little Dude was still napping, which allowed me to spend some quality time hanging out with the boys. I took over the gravy making because that way I can get it exactly the way I like it! ;) 

We ended up with a full christmas dinner of duck stuffed with apples and prunes, delicious gravy, browned sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, red cabbage, and waldorf salad. We are definately doing this again next year!

I also had a glass of white wine and half of a christmas beer (blålys) - and ended up with a nice hangover sunday morning???!?

Denmark around the World

On those Studenter....

My pathetic attempt at stalking some of the young graduates - just to give you a little bit of an idea of what it looks like.

Now imagine: Loud music. Singing along. Honking. Horn machines (those things they use at soccer games), probably a vuvuzela or two. On each bus: 20 or so drunk 18-21 year olds.

We've had two of these stop on our street, where they stop to visit the parents of classmates. These parents have some sort of food and drink prepared. More loud music. Screaming and screeching and singing. This is what these kids are doing today, all over the country.

You'd think it would be annoying... but they're just so happy.

Now imagine one of these driving off, with all of them singing "We could have had it allllllll...." to the tune of Adele.

Sankt Hans

You all silly Americans claim summer begins on Summer Solstice - the longest day of the year.
We Danes know that Summer really starts on June 1st (although some people believe it happens when we change to summer time.... ).

Part of the reason, I think, is because in Denmark, the difference between December 21st and June 21st is about 10 hours. Of daylight, I mean. This particular time of year, the end of June, is one of my favorites. The days are ridiculously long, and if we're lucky, the weather is warm and sunny - but hardly ever humid.

It awakens memories of childhood summers - it's strawberry season, potato season, and pea season. Studenterne - (the 'high school' graduates) are driving around on their crazy buses and wearing their cute hats everywhere.

And on June 23rd, it's Sankt Hans, or midsummer, or....

We ventured out to see one of the big witch burning fires. Even though we were late (it was past 10:30 before we made it there), there were still lots of people, live music, and a massive fire. There were booths selling beer (Odense Albani, of course), lots of studenter-hats, and families with picnic baskets (and sleeping children in strollers).

FRom now on, and until DEcember 21st, the days will get shorter. But right now... can you smell it? It's summer...

Seriously? Seriously?

What's up with this Eurovision BS? Sorry, it's just not as good as when we were young(er). Most of the songs in the top were just - not very good. The actual good songs didn't make it very far (with the exception of Denmark, of course).


The Danish song:

Made it to 5th place, barely -

And the winners from Aserbaijan:

I just don't understand

Son't even get me started on all these random countries outside of Europe participating?  Why even call it Eurovision? - Let's just open it to rest of the world while we're at it.

May 1st celebrations in Odense

M ayday - also known as International Workers Day - (or Arbejdernes Kampdag) is not something I've ever really participated in or celebrated.

In Denmark though - it can be pretty big. Especially if you are on the side of the political scale known as red/socialist/left wing. And there are alot more of those people in Denmark than in, say, the United States.

Last year I joined my boyfriend at Ansgar park for some of the celebrations, but because of rain and bad weather we only made it in time to make some rounds at a few of the tents.

This year the weather was perfect for it, but we never made it further than a walk around the nearby parks and through part of town. We did get to suck in a little bit of the atmosphere though:

The sex thing....

I like to think that I don't have alot of the stereotypical "girly" traits. I've never been one to wear excessive makeup, dress exclusively in pink, glitter, and dresses, just as I've always tried to distance myself from drama and gossip. As kids, we played with barbies, legos, dressup, kitchens, and animals.

I am also a firm believer that many gender stereotypes are taught - they are socially learned. We'll never know just how much is social and how much biology - but in my mind, alot of emphasis is on the environment.

So I've always known that I would raise my own girls to be independent and smart. To teach them that "they can do anything boys can do." For some reason, I've never thought about how to raise boys - but of course, boys bring challenges of their very own! Boys "can do anything girls can do" (except maybe bear children and breastfeed...).

But why do we insist on gendering children before they are even born? We've been so excited to find out the sex of our baby - it makes name picking and equipment shopping a whole lot easier. But why, really?  I don't plan on having a baby blue nursery (in fact, we won't even have a real nursery). I don't plan on dressing our boy in exclusively blue and green. I hope that we can avoid an excessive theme of cars, tractors, and tools.

When I told my boyfriend this, he kind of rolled my eyes at me. I think he understoon my point, but a man probably always wants his "little boy to grow into a real man". But why should we be shoving monstertrucks and toolkits in our childs face? Won't he grow up to be a real man without airplanes and tractors? And what is, in fact, a real man?

Isn't a real man someone who has respect for other people (men and women and children)? Who works hard, loves his family, and fights for his passions?

And if so, what is the real difference between a real man and a real woman?

Going Old School - France 2007

Remember when...



We went to France?

Really though, the title should be "Remember when we went to Paris and Nice and a few other small places in France?" It's not like we actually experienced all of France, but we did get about 14 days of touristy France.

At the end of May 2007, Erin and I travelled to Paris, France. We spent most of the first week in Paris (sunday afternoon through friday evening).

Pet Peeves (round 1) - Cutting in line

You know what's really, really annoying? People who don't understand the concept of standing on line.

Let me set the scene.
I'm standing at my local grocery store (Netto). They are notorious for never having enough cash registers open, but since they have cheap food, I deal. It's monday, which is the day their sales start. They always have new items (of the category "crap-you-can't-live-without-(except-not)") and specific food sales that start every monday. The brochure comes out during the weekend, and alot of times if you want to make it in time to buy some of the really good sales, you have to go on mondays. Also, it was about 4:30 PM, right around prime time for the start the after-work shopping rush.

So I'm standing in line (only one line open, out of three possible), and the line is long enough that it has started going down the nearest aisle. Her's the catch. The cash register is placed right at the intersection of two aisles- I'm in the one where a line has formed, and there are several people behind me. As I make it up to the "intersection" or "t-cross" (whatever you want to call it), this little old lady decides to get in line right next to me. Not only is she trying to cut in front of all the people behind me (granted she can't really see them, but she could check...) she also is trying to cut in front of me, clearly standing in line. Being the friendly person that I try to be, but also a hater of line-cutters, I try to tell her that there is actually a line forming behind me.

Her response: "old lady stare of death."

She then moves out of the line and over to the empty cash register. There, she yells at the girl at the open cash register to open another register since she believes there are too many people in line (I guess she was right about the last point). The girl calls someone to open the register and the old lady starts putting her things up, meanwhile sending daggers of death stares of her own at the angry old woman.

So now, she just cut in front og all the ten(ish) people patiently waiting in line for the open cash register! And, she was rude and angry for no reason!

Ugh. In my world, when another cash register opens,  especially in Denmark where they are all very open, you let the people who have already been standing in line have the right of way to the new register. At the same moment that register opened, two people behind me (from the end of the line) immediately ran up to get ahead in line. I blatantly pushed myself in front of them, letting the lady in front of me have the first right of way to the line.

On a some-what unrelated note: I'm starting to get really annoyed at the little old people who go shopping during rush hour and then complain about long lines, crowds, or too few open registers. This old lady was clearly old enough to be retired, couldn't she have gone  to the grocery store earlier in the day, when they are empty? I know it's not always the case that retired people have nothing to do, but I feel it is a common occurence that old people get angry at the grocery store, while the rest of us stand patiently in line - it just takes the time it takes!


The funniest part = the angry little old lady who cut in line? Her purchase: 20 bananas.


/ end rant

life style expert?

One of my favorite programs on Danish television is "Do you know the type?" (kender du typen?). In this show, two lifestyle experts get to investigate the home of a famous Danish person. (I really should say "famous," because there is a limited amount, and sometimes they include obscure reality stars, local politicians, etc.) Then, based on that home and different items in the home, they have to guess who lives there. Usually, at the end, they are given three choices to choose from, because realistically, who is ever going to know what random famous person lives in this random house? During the program, they are also asked questions like

Host: Ok, before we look inside the fridge, this is your first challenge. Do you think our person is someone who A) shops organic and fair trade, B)buys discount, or C) Doesn't cook and has a mostly empty fridge?
Life Style Expert (LSE): hmmm well, based on what we just saw over there by the stove, with all the different little pots with herbs and spices, and the handmade olive oil dispensers and the high quality balsamic vinegar, I think this is a person who thinks alot about the food they make and the quality of that food. So I am going to say, this person is A) someone who shops organic and fair trade. People don't put that amount of effort into their kitchen and their condiments if they don't go all the way.. (blabla bla bla blabla) so yes, A is my final answer
Host: oh no! You were wrong. This person actually shops discount. Answer B
LSE: oh, well that would have been my second choice, you know, because often people who actually do care about their food also know where to buy locally and discounted, and they know how to go for good sales. This leads me to believe that this person is probably on the younger side, still not used to having ... (blabla bla blablabla)
Host: ok.....moving on...


Now my questions is

What is a lifestyle expert? And what do they do?

(cue Aaaahnold voiceover "Who is your daddy, and what does he do?" -"my mommy says my daddy is a sex machine...")

And, how do I become one? I think I would be a great lifestyle expert!

I found this little Gem on facebook, where several friends had linked to it, and wanted to share.


Ona a different, only slightly related, note:
It seems there is alot of hatred against Obama for various reasons, including some pretty funny accusations that he is not an American citizen, he is actually muslim, he is actually a communist/socialist, he is actually an Arab terrorist. I mean... really?

If you are going to criticize, criticize something real - and not crazy assumptions about religious beliefs, family background etc. If you don't like him for some reason, that's fine, just don't list "He is only pretending to be a Christian, he is actually a muslim. His dad was an Arab muslim terrorist!" as your main reason.

Also, - don't criticize him on the background of "but the economy is not back up yet." It took time to get where the economy is now, it will take time to get it back.

For the record, I am not saying I am totally for Obama. I also believe that criticism of the government is healthy and keeps democracy alive. Just use real criticism, and not biased rumours.


Also, if you chose not to vote, you also lose the right to complain.


// end rant.

on today

Today is Monday, October 18th 2010

In the US, it is also National Chocolate Cupcake day.

It is also "National Clean your Virtual desktop day". Have you cleaned your virtual desktop lately? According to wikipedia (the most reliable of sources), each computer has an average of 10 unused items on the desktop.

Alaska day is recognized in Alaska today, since this was the day the territory of Alaska was officially transfered to the US.

In the Virgin Islands, the third monday of October is an official holiday that celebrates the end of the hurricane season.


Clearly there are too mane crazy holidays and awareness months to be able to mention them all, but one that is especially important to mention:

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month
http://www.nbcam.org/
Aside from skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer for women.
In Denmark the campaign is called "Support the boobs." Just like you can buy pink ribbon items in the US, we can buy support the boobs items here.

I'm not necesarily asking that you buy anything or give money or otherwise support breast cancer awareness ths month. I am asking that you go to the website and learn about what you can do to prevent breast cancer (and other cancers), how you can screen yourself, and worrisome signs that mean you should get checked by a doctor. Too many people die every day because of cancer, and prevention and early treatment is one way to raise the number of survivors.

on being utterly unremarkable

Something I had been thinking about for a few days was mentioned to me the other day, and inspired me to write about it. It was something along the lines of: Being blonde doesn’t have quite the same effect in Denmark.

I had to agree. Not that I am the most stunning person in the world, but being blonde/blue-eyed and being able to cutesy-it-up has certainly had its benefits. I’ve definitely batted my eyes and smiled my way through a lot of stuff over time, gotten my share of free drinks, talked my way out of a speeding ticket, etc. (I’m not going to lie, sometimes I’ve contemplated adding in a ‘fake’ accent just to see what the effect might have been). In the US if you are a girl and even somewhat attractive, you’re guaranteed some male attention. It’s actually pretty good for the self esteem.

Now, I am surrounded by tall, blonde, blue-eyes, beauties. I walk into a room and immediately feel inferior to the Amazon women walking around with their long blonde hair and their long skinny legs, always immaculately dressed and accessorized, ability to drink the average Irish man under the table and at the same time seem completely oblivious to their beauty.

To make things worse, it makes life a lot harder when you no longer come with an entourage. I’ve been spoiled these past years, having always been surrounded by a posse of fun, beautiful girls and lots of fun guys. When you come as a group, you can always just make fun of the prettier girls; you can have fun and smile and pretend you are the coolest people in any setting just because you come as a group.

Anyway, it’s just another adjustment I have to make. I’m not trying to say that Americans are ugly or I’m ugly or trying to fish for compliments. I’m just saying that the stereotypes about Scandinavians are absolutely true; it’s like walking around in a sea of blonde. It’s hard to stand out in a crowd. Maybe I should finally dye my hair purple like I’ve been talking about for years? ;o)

Also, remember how I talked about Sidney Lee in my last post? I was wrong about him. He is actually a ‘professional gamer,’ not whatever I said he was. He is also a part of this show “singleliv.” It’s impossible to properly describe this guy, but he is everywhere, everyone knows who he is, and everyone talks about him. This weekend, probably 10 different people have told me (on their own) some version of the following: “Well it doesn’t sound like you’ve acquired an American accent, like Sidney Lee did…..”


Oooh Denmark.

on being culturally illiterate

As many of you know, and will be eternally amused by, there are many things about the English language and the American culture that I don’t understand and several that I may never understand. There are things like the cartoons you watched as a kid, the fads that were in through your middle school years, or just the pronunciation of less commonly used words such as Braille.

However hard I’ve worked at properly adapting and integrating into American culture, there are just some things that are will always be lost in translation if you miss out on a few critical years. While I spent my much of my childhood and my early teens in Denmark, my peers went through 3-9 grade. That’s most of elementary school, all of middle school, and the first year of high school. Even though I certainly had it easier that many people I know that had to enter high school without any experience of the language or culture, there are many things I don’t understand and many conversations that go over my head.
Anyway, we’ve all had our laughs over the fact that I missed out on some American education. Some of it’s even been funny for me.

But I’ve always considered myself a little bit of an expert on Danish culture, having nearly grown up over here and all, but had a rude awakening to Danish Pop culture within my first few days here. Apparently a lot happens when you leave for a few years. So the past few days I’ve been on a self-taught intensive Danish Pop Culture course. I’ve learned a lot! And I’m willing to share with you guys:

• Nik&Jay: a Danish rap duo. Even though they started gaining popularity right before I left 7 years, their still going strong and are (surprisingly enough) probably the most popular/well known musicians in the country. I have to give them some credit for that though, for two white guy rappers, they’ve remained on top for a really long time. Every few years, whenever I return to Denmark, I hear their songs all over the radio, TV and nightclubs, and I’ve once again come to the conclusion that A. all their songs sound alike, B. their not very attractive, and C. they are not very good. (Also, I’ve been using the TV to catch up on my Danish music, because surprisingly enough, it seems that there are two channels that ACTUALLY PLAY MUSIC and music videos. It’s not MTV, of course, but VH1 and The Voice. They show nonstop music videos, usually organized into themes (think, Michael Jackson or “Dance party”) or hit lists (think European top 40 or top 10 club).
• “De unge modre” (the young mothers): this is exactly what it sounds like. It’s kind of like the Danish version of the MTV show “16 and pregnant” except it focuses on the lives of the mothers and their children as they grow up together. Cute. I’ve been told it’s one of the shows to watch (along with ‘singleliv’) and I already get the appeal: they make me cringe and never want to reproduce. It seems deliciously trashy and worthless; thereby making it perfect for me.
• “Singleliv” (singlelife): I’m still not quite sure what the point of this show is. It follows single people as they go on dates. From the short moments I’ve seen, it seems kind of awkward. You’ll have to give me some time for this one. But I’m working on it!
• “Baronessen flytter ind” (the Baroness moves in): So a few years ago, this Baroness gained fame after her and her husband invited the cameras into their castle to film their lives. Then they got divorced and for some reason, probably because her expensive habits are quickly causing her to go broke, she signed up for this new show. It most closely resembles a very odd version of “Wifeswap.” This is the concept: Baroness chooses random family, hopefully one that’s a bit odd. Baroness moves into house. Wife moves into castle for 4 days of pampering, makovers, and luxury. Baroness sees how real household works. Baroness tries to make some sort of change to the house (redecorates living room, changes husbands haircut, teaches kids expensive habits). Wife comes back home. Everyone is happy.
• Sidney Lee: This guy is a character. He’s a professional Reality Television Personality. Now who ever heard of such a thing? He spent a few years in the US and now speaks with a perpetual slight American accent. You’ll really just have to see him to really get it, because I still don’t.
  
  All right, I’m out. School and such!