Tomorrow is Christmas! Well.. at least Christmas Eve! In Denmark (and many other countries) Christmas is celebrated on the 24th of December. In USA, Christmas is celebrated on the 25th of December. We wake up early in the morning to see all the gifts Santa has brought us in the middle of the night and then we are with friends and family all day.. opening gifts and eating and eating and .. EATING. But here in Denmark, Christmas Eve (th 24th) at night, everyone gets Christmas presents and dances around the Christmas tree singing songs. I'm not kidding.. In Denmark, dancing around the Christmas tree holding hands and singing songs is a HUGE part of Christmas! It sounds crazy.. I know! But believe me! It is SO MUCH FUN! You can't even imagine.. Last Friday, our last day of school for 2 weeks, the WHOLE school (whole meaning all 200 or so kids) joined hands and sang songs dancing around the Christmas tree in the middle of the school! And although I couldn't sing the danish Christmas songs (except for skilemedinka dinka dooo) it was SO amazingly fun! I already know that I will miss it so much next year!
(Bjarke and caviar)As far as food.. in USA we usually have turkey and
a big meal (or something like that). I have already written about the Julefrokoster (Christmas lunches) I've been going to. But you don't really know what I've been eating there! The typical foods are rugbrød (rye bread) with sild (raw hering.. I have a s
tory about the hering for later!) and egg (with caviar which is DISGUSTING!), æble flæsker (fried apples and bacon.. VERY GOOD!), blod pølser (blood sausages.. pig blood and raisens.. NOT GOOD! I have a story!), pig meat sausage with meat from the pig's face and beatroot o
n top, and leverpostej (liver paste) with bacon and mushrooms, to name a few.
a big meal (or something like that). I have already written about the Julefrokoster (Christmas lunches) I've been going to. But you don't really know what I've been eating there! The typical foods are rugbrød (rye bread) with sild (raw hering.. I have a s
tory about the hering for later!) and egg (with caviar which is DISGUSTING!), æble flæsker (fried apples and bacon.. VERY GOOD!), blod pølser (blood sausages.. pig blood and raisens.. NOT GOOD! I have a story!), pig meat sausage with meat from the pig's face and beatroot o
n top, and leverpostej (liver paste) with bacon and mushrooms, to name a few. (blod pølser)
(bjarke's ikky pig brain!)
My friends and I had a big discussion over whether sild (hering) that we ate at Christmas lunches was actually raw. IT IS! They were in denial.. but my friend Astrid and I proved that it is only marinated and is actually raw! Bjarke has forced me/tricked me to eat some blod pølser (blood sausages) with syrup.. it is SO GROSS! And then Bjarke says "ohh! but it's full of iron!" I thought I was going to throw up! blehhhhhhh.. Luckily Solvej helped me gulp some down! And I am not a fan of pig brain (my nickname for it.. it's not ACTUALLY pig brain).. I don't like it!
Oh! It is also typical to have ris a la mande, which is THE BEST! It is like rice pudding with chopped almonds and cherry sauce (or as bjarke likes.. carmel sauce) on top! And at Christmas time, there is one whole almond and the person who finds the whole almond gets a present! So you just keep eating and eating (not necessarily a good thing..) but I'm hoping I win! Wish me luck!
My friends and I had a big discussion over whether sild (hering) that we ate at Christmas lunches was actually raw. IT IS! They were in denial.. but my friend Astrid and I proved that it is only marinated and is actually raw! Bjarke has forced me/tricked me to eat some blod pølser (blood sausages) with syrup.. it is SO GROSS! And then Bjarke says "ohh! but it's full of iron!" I thought I was going to throw up! blehhhhhhh.. Luckily Solvej helped me gulp some down! And I am not a fan of pig brain (my nickname for it.. it's not ACTUALLY pig brain).. I don't like it!
Oh! It is also typical to have ris a la mande, which is THE BEST! It is like rice pudding with chopped almonds and cherry sauce (or as bjarke likes.. carmel sauce) on top! And at Christmas time, there is one whole almond and the person who finds the whole almond gets a present! So you just keep eating and eating (not necessarily a good thing..) but I'm hoping I win! Wish me luck! Well that's what's coming up for me tomorrow! haha.. Last Friday my class had a Christmas lunch/party at my friend Nicka's house and it was SO much fun! Saturday and Sunday I pretty much just chilled.. Bjarke has given me permission seeing as I w
ill be busy every weekend in January. AFS (in Denmark at least) does a week of ministay in January. Where we go live with another family in another part of Denmark.. to let US see more of Denmark and to let another family try having an exchange student to see if it's something they want to do in the future. I am going to Sjælland (Zealand) but I will let you know more about that in January. Yesterday I went and hung out with Shannon all day! We finished up our Christmas shopping and wrapped presents and talked. It was so nice! I had a really great day! I also got a letter from my friend Heather (hi heather! :) and a package from my Aussie pals the Bedfords! (hi guys!) which was SUCH a nice surprise! Thank you!
ill be busy every weekend in January. AFS (in Denmark at least) does a week of ministay in January. Where we go live with another family in another part of Denmark.. to let US see more of Denmark and to let another family try having an exchange student to see if it's something they want to do in the future. I am going to Sjælland (Zealand) but I will let you know more about that in January. Yesterday I went and hung out with Shannon all day! We finished up our Christmas shopping and wrapped presents and talked. It was so nice! I had a really great day! I also got a letter from my friend Heather (hi heather! :) and a package from my Aussie pals the Bedfords! (hi guys!) which was SUCH a nice surprise! Thank you! And well.. that's about it for now! I will blog again in a couple days.. after Christmas. I hope you're a little more culturized about Danish Christmas tradition now! And I hope you have a wonderful Christmas! I'm thinking of you all and missing you! But am very excited for my first Danish Christmas! I love you guys! love francine
OH! and I found this website if you're interested in finding out more about Danish Christmas traditions! http://www.californiamall.com/holidaytraditions/traditions-Denmark.htm
6 comments:
i cant believe you ate or eat
that food it all sounds sooo
NASTY lol MERRY CHRISTMAS! i hope
you have a great christmas
and lucky you get presents a whole
day ahead of all of us over here
in the u.s.
Jeez.... our food is SO boring! Maybe we'll try making a few Danish recipes next Christmas! Be sure to get the recipes! :)
Mom
ew...sounds like the Wasabi Bay incident all over again
None of the dishes you listed are eaten on Christmas Eve in Denmark.
The Danish equivalent to the turkey eaten in the States and the UK is roast pork with cracling and duck with small caramelised potatoes and red cabbage as garnish.
If you read my post correctly you would have noted that these foods are eaten during Julefrokoster (Christmas lunches), not on Christmas Eve. I am quite aware of what is eaten in Denmark on Christmas Eve. And you can read about it in the post titled "Glædlig Jul! Merry Christmas!"
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