Monday, January 14, 2013

Christmas in Denmark


My bike basket covered in snow.
This was an amazing Christmas.  I had a Secret Santa or nisse that brought me a stocking and decorations over my door.  Then I received a Christmas package from an amazing friend back in the States.  I hate to admit this but it is true.  I was secretly moping because others were talking about getting packages and presents and I knew that this wouldn't happen for me.  I was wrong because I did get a package and I can tell you that it brought a grin to my face just like I was a kid again.
From my Secret Santa

Our little group got together in our common room and had a Christmas dinner together.  It was a nice gathering and another way to share the holiday.

I made some Danish Christmas heart decorations for the party. 
Yummy dinner
Gift for our dinner from a friend that went home.
We also had one of our teachers invite those who weren't going home to his place in Kolding.  We got to go to a couple of museums and have a meal there due to another person at school.  It was so kind of them to reach out to those of us who wouldn't be able to go home to family and/or friends for the holidays.  We first went to a modern art museum called the Trapholt Museum and we got a special tour of Arne Jacobsen's summer house.  It had furniture, fixtures and dinnerware in the house and you actually got to sit on the furniture.  That was unreal.    We ate lunch there at a buffet that had some very interesting nouveau Danish food.  Our host didn't even know what many of the dishes were.  But they were good.

Arne Jacobsen summer house.

Trapholt Museum piece

Trapholt Museum restaurant

Trapholt Museum entrance

After that we went to the Koldinghus Museum, which you will know from previous posts that I had seen before.  This time we got a little special something here as well.  Apparently in the horse carriage house there is an old jail area from the Nazi occupation.  We got the key from the gentleman at the entrance and then let ourselves in.
Koldinghus "Halte hoch deine höchste hoffnung" "Hold up your highest hope 

Inside the Nazi jail.  Koldinghus

Koldinhus, Nazi jail, weapons of torture.

After that we went to his house where his wife cooked us a classic Thai meal.  It was a lovely home.  There were books everywhere you look and that makes a place home to me.  I miss my books being out on bookshelves.  And I miss the books that I have had to get rid of.  Oh well.

On our last day of Danish classes before the break, I gave a presentation on Danish birthdays and so I made one of there classic morning birthday cakes for the class the night before.  It was a rather odd venture as the cake required yeast.  I was a little afraid.  The last time that I tried to make something with yeast, I ended up freaking out because my hands were glued inside of dough gloves.  I guess being pregnant and hormonal didn't help my experience.  This time when I got to the stage of the dough glued hands, I held myself in check and kept going.  I survived and was able to bring the cake to school the next day.
This picture from the web looks just like the cake that I made. 
On the last day of university, we had an "afslutning" at the cathedral.  The choir sang three songs for the people.  The most amazing thing was that I got to sing with a real cathedral organ.  It was awesome.  We also a song in Danish and our last song was "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and we sopranos sang the descant.
Julafslutning pamphlet

Once school was closed, I got all caught up on the Danish television Christmas series.  I really enjoyed the one about kids who go to Valhal.  Guess what it was called.  Jul i Valhal.  Surprise!
A picture from the web of Jul i Valhal
During the holiday, we had two assignments to complete and get our lesson plans ready for our month of practicum.  We had all of our lesson plans on a platform called Pirate Pad.  Then it wouldn't work.  I didn't panic.  Yet.  I tried for 3 days and then asked others to try.  It didn't work.  Now I was ready to cry.  I had done so much work and loaded so many materials for the assignments on there.  So we had to write it all again.  Not a fun part of Christmas vacation.
I find this amusing.  Hummer soup.