Tillykke med fødselsdagen, Rose!
God aften fra Danmark! (Good evening from Denmark!)
The beginning of the week was mostly full of classes, so I don't have much to report on in that realm. This past weekend was eventful, though. Yesterday, my youngest host sister, Rose, turned thirteen - so I figured this post was the perfect time to talk about Danish birthday parties!
Rose has been very eager to become a teenager; when I arrived last month, she had already started counting down the days until her party. She usually goes to bed around 10, but on Saturday night/Sunday morning, she burst from her room right at midnight, squealing at me and Isabel in Danish as she danced around the kitchen. She's quite the enthusiastic kid :)
We spent all of Saturday afternoon baking for the party; Isabel loves to go all out when she hosts events, so we ended up with quite the spread. The menu included a berry ostekage (cheesecake) with a layer of lime in the middle, Pavlova cake (Rose's favorite), lagkage (traditional Danish "layer cake"), pecan pie, meringues, hot cocoa, all sorts of fruit, and fødselsdag boller (birthday buns with chocolate and raisins). In addition, Isabel made butter chicken (with a "butter-chicken-no-chicken" alteration for me and Rose, the pescetarians of the group) for dinner. We're set for weeks!
Side note: I can't help but notice that Rose is already a natural at cooking, even though she is seven years my junior. She takes right after her mom. I'm the kind of person that needs to analyze and absorb every component of a recipe before beginning, even if I've seen it before. Meanwhile, Isabel is juggling ten different dishes at once, and Rose has her hair expertly tied back, a well-used apron covered in flour, and measuring spoons galore scattered across the counter.
It was cold enough outside that we put most of the completed dishes in the yard to chill for Sunday. Fridges here are small (at least by American standards), so in the winter, a lot of families store their drinks, vegetables, and even cartons of ice cream on their patios and balconies.
The next morning, Isabel had decorated the kitchen table with Dannebrog (Danish flags). Not only were the vases full of flags - we had mugs and napkins covered with them as well! The Dannebrog is a very common birthday decoration, and when we woke Rose up to sing to her and begin our breakfast, we waved the flags at her doorway until she got up to join us in the kitchen. This is the song Isabel and Silke sang to Rose (I just waved my flag because I can't speak Danish haha):
I dag er det Roses fødselsdag (today is Rose's birthday) Hurra, hurra, hurra! (pronounced like "hwa, hwa, hwa") Hun sikkert sig en gav får, (she will surely get a present) som hun har ønsket sig i år (that she has wished for this year) Med dejlig chokolade og kager til (with lovely chocolate and cakes)
*Translations courtesy of Isabel :)
Isabel and Silke sang this verse, plus a few others, and we began breakfast. I gave Rose a little plant to add to the collection of cacti and succulents sitting under her skylight, as well as a drawing to hang on her wall. Her mom had given her a desk, which the two of them had already built the week before I arrived. We ate scrambled eggs, coconut dipped in Nutella, and breakfast pastries, and cleaned the house to prepare for the afternoon's guests.
People started arriving at three; I had met most of them before, but I don't think I've mentioned them in my past blog posts:
Silke and Rose's older sister, Sara
Sara's boyfriend, Phillip, as well as Phillip's sister, Josephine / "Jo"
Isabel's brother / the girls' uncle, Simon
Simon's children, Hubert and Pearl
Isabel's boyfriend, Torben, and his youngest son, Tore
Isabel's friends / the girls' "aunts", Ula and Mariane
Mariane's children, Victoria and Alexander
I'm proud of myself for being able to keep all these names straight after having met so many people over the past month! :)
Rose was, by far, the most excited about Torben's gift - a ukulele! She and Tore spent much of the evening trying out chords and singing in goofy voices. Tore also played a bit of guitar for us, and Hubert and Torben took turns with the keyboard. It was nice to hear live music; it reminded me of get-togethers with my friends at home :) In Danish, there's a saying that if something is especially cozy and enjoyable, it is hyggeligt; with all the laughter and chatter, the music in the background, and the yummy food, I would say that's exactly what the evening was. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and I appreciated that many of the guests made an effort to include me in the festivities by practicing their English.
So it was a good weekend! I think Rose would agree.
Now it is core course week at DIS; I'll explain more about that in my next post! Earlier this evening, Rose was teaching herself how to play Katy Perry's "Hot 'N Cold" on her ukulele, and Torben came over to help us out with some of the leftovers. Now the house is dark, there's a cat purring in my lap, and I'm thinking I should head to bed....
Until next week! Godnat (good night)!
