December 19--Advent at ADAFT 2012!

Nu er det Jul igen!

Last night E arrived at the ballet school to find all the kiddos holding hands and skipping through the hallways and studios, singing this song.  For most it was the last day of class before vacation, all the shows were over, and spirits were high.  Just imagine these singers are little blonde kids in tights, and you'll have the same happy experience she did!

December 2--Advent at ADAFT 2012!

Last year I wrote about nisser, the Danish elves that are so prevalent at Christmastime.  Not surprisingly, everyone loved them, especially the three nisser--Gunther, Hansi, and Fritz--who star in the Danish TV tradition, The Julekalender. 

Since not everyone is lucky enough to watch all 24 afsnits in their entirety, Gunther, Hansi and Fritz are back here on ADAFT this year.  They present to you

Snitt a Little Bittle from The Julekalender

December 1--Advent at ADAFT 2012!

Hello dearest readers! 

It's that time again--December is here already, and that means we're bringing you 24 festive blog entries while you count down to Jul!

Last year we brought you a musical number from my favorite holiday movie, "White Christmas."  Here's another of my favorite parts, featuring Danny Kaye and Vera Ellen.  Sure, Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney are fantastic and there's nothing sweeter than when they sing "Count Your Blessings," (which, sadly, is not on YouTube), but for pure falling-in-love, pre-Christmas excitement, I'll take this scene any day.

Danny Kaye and Vera Ellen present:

The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing

December 11th--Advent at ADAFT!

Yesterday was a fun break from Danish things. But you know, when in Denmark, do as the Danes do.

And the Danes know that Jul would not be any fun without nisser! Nisser are like gnomes, or elves, I guess we would say in English. But not Lord of the Rings-type elves, sort of short and stocky and wrinkly and funny elves.

Full-grown, they are about the size of a 10-year-old child, and resemble old people. But they are energetic and will help out with farm and household chores, although they also love small practical jokes! Nisser also keep busy with playing cards and smoking pipes.

Now the thing is, regular nisser live alone, one per human farm or household. But Christmas nisser get to get married and have families, and they are the special helpers of Julmanden, helping him to distribute gifts wherever they should go.

So as you can see, it's much more fun to be a Julnisse, and especially at this time of year.

December 8th--Advent at ADAFT!

I was at a really fun concert tonight, "Jul i Aarhus," where it occurred to me that Danish Christmas music is a bit esoteric. Many Americans know carols from other countries, even if only in translation. Think of "Silent Night," "O Tannenbaum," "Bring a Torch, Jeanette," "The Holly and the Ivy," or "Carol of the Bells." But unless you're Danish, possibly Swedish, or possibly an ex-pat living in Denmark, you probably don't know any Danish carols.

But the ones I've heard are really sweet and lovely. So here's one of my favorites--and one of the most classic Danish carols--"Dejlig Er Jorden."

This video isn't a fancy professional concert, and I really like that too. It's just a whole bunch of Danes singing together, much like I heard tonight. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I did.

Dejlig Er Jorden

December 6th--Advent at ADAFT!

Well, B just might be a weather prophet--we had our first snow for this winter this morning! It wasn't much and didn't stick past about 2 PM, but it was still fun and festive!

You know what else is festive? Tivoli. I haven't been since we moved out here, but last year we walked around just outside Tivoli about four days before Christmas, and with all the snow and twinkly lights it was absolutely magical. So as soon as B gets back and recovers from his jet lag, I plan on heading right down. Bonus points if it snows on the train ride there.

Advent at ADAFT!

It's the last day of November, and that means just one thing--tomorrow everyone starts their Advent calendars!

We love Advent calendars of all kinds: chocolate, Flash-animated, candles... but we know there's always room for one more! So we, the Daring Duo, are proud to present Advent at ADAFT. Visit the blog every day between now and Christmas to discover a delightful treat that's Danish, festive, and maybe even both!

See you tomorrow when all the fun begins!

Glaedelig Jul!

The Christmas season has begun in Denmark!

How do we know? Because there are more candles than usual, everyone is drinking "Juleøl," and we have been invited to at least three Julefrokoster. (A Julefrokost is literally a Christmas lunch, but these days it's pretty much just a drunken pre-Christmas revel of great cultural significance).

It all really begins with "J-Dag," the day on which one is officially permitted to begin drinking Christmas beer. This year it was on Sunday, 7 November.

This might seem really early. But consider that here in Denmark, we went off of "Sommertid," or daylight savings, on 31 October. So it's basically dark all the time now. You really need a special beer and some extra candles to make up for that.

Juleøl. It's special beer. It has licorice in it. Not in chunks, just licorice flavor, along with barley and hops and stuff. It's pretty good. (Dane-ification is clearly progressing nicely if I've just endorsed a licorice flavored beer).

The big business, though, is Julefrokoster. Every possible entity has one. Families, businesses, departments, apartments, etc. B and I attended our apartment buildings' Julefrokost last night, and we have plans for the biology Julefrokost, the computer science Julefrokost, and the International Club Julefrokost. (That's also why you have to start early).

It's hard for us to say if last night's Julefrokost was traditional. Some people said it wasn't; that if it had been traditional, there would have been a lot more meat and fish. (There was still a lot of meat and fish). Also, nobody drank schnapps or gløgg. (There was still a lot to drink). And it was not, in fact, at lunchtime. (Nobody cares about this. You can have Julefrokost at pretty much any time of day, I think). It was a good time.

Some people told us that you can count on Danes pretty much giving up all of their habitual reserve at Christmas lunches and airing all their dirty laundry. The day after, of course, everyone will pretend none of it happened. So we went into the whole thing pretty excited. Nobody told us about their secret lovechild or Swiss bank account, but they did tell us what they don't like about Denmark--and Danes don't like to criticize Denmark, especially in front of foreigners.

As I write this, it's 2:45, so the sun is setting. Then again, B claims it never really rose. But we can't complain too much, because Friday night we exited the cinema (Harry Potter #7! Of course we were there!) and it was snowing as we walked home. It was perfectly picturesque.

It's not snow, and it's not (technically) at night. But it is out our window and it does look great.

All this talk about Christmas lunches always reminds me of something, and it's so charming and hilarious that I really want to share it. It's the Vicar of Dibley "Christmas Lunch Incident." Go find it online and watch it. (Try youtube.) And stay tuned all the way past the end credits so you can hear the Vicar tell her joke. (Especially you, R. I know you will love the Vicar and her classy jokes).