December 18-- Advent at ADAFT 2015!

As if jet lag on its own weren't enough, our tiny C is suffering from "nothing is familiar and I don't know how things work" syndrome.  We know it well from our first days in Denmark.  Of course we speak English at home, and she's been to the US before, but she was too small to remember it.  And anyway, it's the little things that get you.

I recently asked another American-in-Denmark friend of mine what she most looked forward to about her upcoming trip home for Christmas.  She said, "Grocery shopping.  Just buying the things I know, and eating food I like...."  That's really something, since Denmark is assuredly a first-world country, with plenty of well-stocked supermarkets.  There's no shortage of good food.  But I can understand the desire to wander in and buy a granola bar or maybe some Grape-Nuts or even just a can of root beer.

For C, everything is wondrous and new and mystifying.  Why does the kale look different?  Why do the toilets all have handles, instead of buttons, for flushing?  Why are the light switches so small?  What happened to the electric sockets?  What is a drinking fountain?  What's a stop sign?  What are mountains?  Why are the plants so prickly?  Why isn't anybody speaking Danish?

I couldn't help but think of this last night as we wandered through Tohono Chul park, enjoying the Christmas light displays.  For B and me, it's lovely and familiar and delightful in every way.  For C, it's fascinating yet foreign.  And no wonder, when comparing what we saw last night to what she's used to seeing at Christmastime.

 

December 17-- Advent at ADAFT 2015!

Danes love the sun. It's clearly a case of "absence makes the heart grow fonder". The best way to enjoy moments of sunshine it to run out into your garden and take off all (or most, if you're shy) of your clothes. It doesn't matter if it's only 50 degrees and weak, watery sunshine.

So, imagine our parental pride this morning when C asked what we were going to do today. We told her that it would be warm and pretty sunny, so we might spend some time in the garden. C thought about it a bit, and said: "And we'll take off our clothes!". She's leaps and bounds ahead of us in adopting Danish culture.

December 8-- Advent at ADAFT 2015!

I can't talk about winter in Denmark without talking about the darkness.  People always ask us if it's really cold-- because Scandinavia makes everyone think polar bears and reindeer and furry boots-- and seem disappointed to hear that it isn't that cold and the real problem is the dark.

If you think the dark is not a serious problem, you are sadly mistaken and probably live somewhere very far south of us.

B was recently in Boston for some work stuff.  The Bostonians asked how much daylight we were getting, and then said, "Oh, not bad then.  Your sunrise is just about an hour later... and sunset an hour earlier... or so..."  Yes.  That's two hours less daylight than them.  And that was in November, a month before the Solstice.  The length of day here, today, was 7 hours.  And it's still getting shorter.

I know no better way to illustrate this than to tell you that this afternoon C got out our flashlight to shine on her solar-powered calculator. 

That, my friends, is dark.

December 4--Advent at ADAFT 2015!

This time of year, when Denmark is shrouded in darkness and the night is nearing 17 hours long, we become very aware of how Danes light their houses. Here are some rules you can follow if you want to light your home like a Dane:

1) Hang a lamp about 12 inches (sorry! 30 cm) above your dining table. It should feel like part of the table setting. You'll know you have it at a good level when you can't see the person sitting across the table from you.

2) When choosing a lamp, people often wonder how much they should spend. Like an engagement ring, a good rule of thumb is two month's salary. (Don't believe me?)

3) When all the lights in a room are on, you should just be able to identify your spouse from across the room. If it's possible to read a book at every location in the room, it's too bright, and not cozy enough. Americans often mistakenly believe that the purpose of indoor lighting is to be able to see things. Danes know that the purpose is to create coziness. Being able to see things is a nice but expendable side effect.


Alternatives, if you are a cheapskate:

December 1--Advent at ADAFT 2015!

Well, dear readers, it's that time again.  That special time when the Daring Duo regrets not having blogged more all year, and resolves to make up for it with 24 posts in 24 days-- in other words, it's Advent at ADAFT!

This year we're taking a bit of a different approach and going back to our roots.  Instead of focusing wholly on Christmas, we're focusing on Denmark.  When we started blogging, we regularly wrote about the oddities of Danes and about the trials and tribulations of being ex-pats.  And then we stopped doing that, and just started posting pictures of our European travels and our semi-naked baby in the Baltic Sea.  And you know, it's not just because we had a baby (adorable though she surely is).  It's because after a while you get used to things, and really, not that much about Danish life seems unusual or remarkable anymore.

Still, I miss the days when we told you about our struggles to buy groceries, or our astonishment at the enormous scarves that are de rigeur here.  So this year for Advent you can expect lots of anecdotes about our Danish life-- like language mishaps and bilingual toddler stories-- but also pictures of the lovely Danish coast, recipes for Danish delicacies, and obviously, singing, dancing nisser.

Klar, parat, start!  Og god Jul!

Decorating the Juletræ means you need lots of Julestjerner.

Also you need lots of lights up here in the far North.

Stay tuned later this week when we review how to fold Julestjerner so you can make your own!

 

More Summer: Strawberries, Sun and Seaside

It was, briefly, summer!  Officially we're still having it, but yesterday was the first day of Aarhus Festuge, and all Aarhusierne (people who live in Aarhus) know that that's the unofficial end of summer.  So, from very late June until mid-August we enjoyed occasional lovely weather.  And enjoy it we did, spending nearly every nice day outdoors, at the beach, at the wading pool, or in the forest.

Today we're just bringing you some highlights-- photos from Sculpture by the Sea 2015, at Tangkrogen beach; a beach day at Moesgaard Strand; and a very successful strawberry picking expedition in Bendstrup.

C and I enjoy the first really warm day in Aarhus.  We made it into the newspaper!

 

On the way to Sculpture by the Sea with C's grandparents, C and L

  

What is a Danish summer day with no ice cream?

C's favorite sculptures, by far.

  

Looking for jellyfish at Tangkrogen.

Saturday morning at Moesgaard Strand.

 

 

  

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" asks C.

At Holger's Jordbaer, you're allowed to eat up to 1 kg of strawberries while picking.

C does her best to keep up.

And we brought home another 2 kg!

Summer: Solstice, Sankt Hans, and Students

June is a busy time in Denmark, when we're either having summer or pretending to have summer.  If the weather is good, you can bet that every Dane around will be leaving work early to sunbathe in the park with sausages on the grill and a beer in hand.  If the weather is not good, everyone will still go to the beach, stay out late eating ice cream, etc--but wear raincoats the whole time.

When we're feeling disappointed in the weather, I like to remind myself that summer doesn't officially start until June 21, the solstice.  (So all those cold, rainy, windy days in June don't really count).  Everyone knows the solstice is the longest day of the year, and here it's pretty darn long.  I know we've written about it before, but 20 hours of visible light, when the sun neither rises nor sets, bears mentioning again.

Sculpture by the Sea 2015.

Considering the Danish "summer" weather, I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise that the big Danish midsummer festival prominently features bonfires.  June 23 is Sankt Hans Aften-- a strange holiday that blends ancient magical rites with the saints' day of John the Baptist, June 24th.  John the Baptist is known as "Johannes Døberens" in Danish, and his name is easily shortened to "Hans."  And since the 23rd is the night before his day, it's called Sankt Hans Aften-- or Eve.  Notice that that date is exactly six months before Christmas Eve and consider that the Gospel of John says of Jesus, "He must become greater, I must become less."  It's nicely poetic--after John the Baptist's day, the days grow shorter and shorter until midwinter (Christmas), when they become longer again.

Typical Danish Sankt Hans weather.

But everyone imagines it'll actually be like this.

Shortly after all this hullabaloo, it's time for graduation.  In Danish this is known as "becoming a student."  I don't know why, since it seems to me like when one stops being a student.  Suddenly the streets are full of young people wearing funny hats.  Unlike at American graduations, students here proudly wear their hats all the time for a week or so, and it's customary to greet and congratulate the people you see wearing them--even if you don't know them at all.

One of my lovely students.

Not only that, but the new students celebrate their student-ness with a long tour around the city, typically in a decked-out vintage wagon.  They'll spend all day driving from one home to another, making sure to visit the parents of every student in the graduating class.  The parents are responsible for providing drinks and sausages (has anyone else noticed that virtually nothing in Denmark can happen without a sausage?) and taking many, many pictures.  The students are responsible for sitting in the trucks making lots of noise and waving at everybody they see, but fortunately not for actually driving the vehicles.

C describes these as "the noisy buses.  Dyt, dyt!"

Tillykke Danmarks Dronning!

The 16th of April was a big day in Denmark-- Dronning Margrethe II celebrated her 75th birthday!  Although the really big deal partying was all in Copenhagen, the royal family spent Easter here in Aarhus, and we (Aarhusians, not the Daring Trio specifically) held special festivities on April 8th.  The Queen rode through town from her local palace, Marselisborg Slot, down to City Hall, where she was feted with music and dance, and made an impromptu heartfelt speech about how much she likes Aarhus.  Well, guess what, Queen Margrethe?  We do too!

Anyway, little C and I could not pass up an opportunity to get a close-up with the Queen and her hat.  Yes, C is extremely interested in hats, especially Royal hats, especially on windy days.

So we toodled over to Bruuns Gade and stood on the sidewalk with a bunch of flag-waving Danes, waiting for the Queen to pass by.  First there was a motorcade of nine motorcycles, followed by a regiment of trumpeting guards on horseback.  Then the open coach with the Queen and Prince Henrik!  And finally, another regiment of guards, also on horseback.  Normally we only see the guards on foot, so that was pretty exciting.

C's reaction-- "I not done looking at horses."

And for those wondering, Dronning Margrethe's hat was white, and no, it did not blow away.

Summertime?

Here in Denmark we don't have Daylight Savings, as such.  Instead we change the clocks twice a year, in late October and late March.  From October to March we have Vintertid, winter-time.  And from March to October, it's Sommertid, summer-time. 

In a way, this is hopelessly optimistic, since March in Denmark is not especially balmy or sunny.  And yet, there's something true about it.  Of course we get the extra hour of light in the evenings, and it comes right when the days have actually started getting longer-- just over 13 hours long this week.  And if you've ever been to Denmark in the summer, then you know the evening light is special in a heart-breakingly nostalgic, Nordic sort of way.  And when Sommertid starts, that kind of light starts up too.

Despite the special summer light, it is actually just becoming spring.  The first sign of spring here is when the crocuses start popping up.  Some years they have to fight their way up through the snow, but when you see them carpeting Rådhusparken and the grounds of Vor Frue Kirke, then it's springtime in Aarhus.

  

It's getting warm enough now that C and I have been finding lots of ladybugs--more and more each day.  Today we found nearly 100 mariehøns!  Luckily we know the Danish rhyme to say when we find them:

Marie, Marie, Marolle
Flyv op til Vorherre og bed om godt vejr. 

Marie, Marie, Marolle.

Fly up to Our Lord and pray for good weather.

So far it's working!

A Love Letter to Aarhus

Dear readers, we intended to celebrate Valentine's Day with a love letter to Aarhus.  But we were laid low with a vile virus, so... better late than never!

Some of you know we were thinking about moving back to the US this summer, and some of you already know that won't be happening.  It's OK, though, because as you'll see, there's a lot to love about our new home.


Tangkrogen.  Simply the best beach in town.  It's Aarhus Bay, which feeds into the Baltic Sea.  The Baltic Sea, guys!  We live by the Baltic Sea!  We like to walk there when the weather's nice, and also on Christmas Day (when the weather usually isn't nice).

Sculpture by the Sea.  A weird Australian-Danish collaborative outdoor art exhibit.  (I guess it's not so weird if you remember that the Crown Princess is Australian).  Sculpture by the Sea happens every other year in June, and we're already looking forward to our 3rd! 

Mindeparken.  More specifically, our favorite trees in Mindeparken.  The whole park is right by the Queen's palace in Aarhus, and is full of lovely gardens, fun playgrounds, and generally delightful spots.

Ingerslevs Torv Farmer's Market.  We go here every week!  We went this morning and all the flower vendors were back so we know that spring is actually coming. 

Aarhus Hovedbanegård.  The train station.  It's walking distance from our house.  How cool and European do we feel when we just grab our baby and our wheely suitcase and waltz right over to the train station to go to ANOTHER COUNTRY?  Very, very cool and European.

ARoS Art Museum.  Also a short walk from our home and full of interesting and weird art, it's most notable for "Your Rainbow Panorama," the giant glass rainbow tube on the roof.  Everyone who has ever visited us has taken pictures of it.  (Hmm, I think that may be the entire readership of this blog).  But like I said, usually some neat stuff inside too, including, currently, one of our very favorites-- "Your Atmospheric Colour Atlas."  What can I say, we're Olafur Eliasson fan-boys and girls.

 

Aarhus River.  It goes right through the middle of town in a most picturesque fashion.  So picturesque, in fact, that this very location was featured in the SF Chronicle's travel section.  Recently the city has uncovered some more of it so you can walk along the river all the way down to the harbor.   Also, for about half the year there are ducks in the river-- C's a big fan.

Ballet Akademiet.  The ballet school where I work.  Danes all want to exclaim about how amazingly lucky I was to get a job there, doing what I do, so soon after moving to Denmark.  I want to exclaim about how it's the best teaching job I've ever had.  And yes, I do teach in Danish.  In an upcoming post, I'll tell you about some of the more amusing mistakes I've made.

Møllestien.  Probably the most adorable and cozy little street in all Denmark.  Looks great in summer and winter.

Hovedbiblioteket.  The main library.  I first succumbed shortly after moving to Denmark, when I discovered that not only was it basically across the street from our then-apartment, but they have a whole wall of English literature.  And some knitting books are in English too.  Now we mostly visit the children's section, where there's lots to play with and a tempting selection of picture books for C.

Aarhus Universitet.  Where B works.  Hey, it's why we came!  And B often says that he wishes he could just keep his same job and magically transfer it to the US when we leave.   

Riiskov.  The forest north of town.  It's pretty, and we like to walk there.  B trained there for his first DHL-Stafet (a seriously big-deal Danish race), C took some of her first steps there, and there are great views out over the bay.

Fika.  The cafe we go to on Tuesdays.  The staff is awesome about explaining what's vegan or gluten-free, and everything is delicious.  If I get a sandwich there, I get the roasted beet sandwich.  Think about that, guys.  I go to a cafe and order their ROASTED BEET sandwich.  That's how good they are.