December 10-- Advent at ADAFT 2015!

I know you've all been waiting for this.  What is Advent at ADAFT without Gunther, Hansi and Fritz?  (Don't tell me you didn't remember their names). 

Yes, the charming nisser from The Julekalender are back today to give you "The Boot Dance."  Enjoy!

December 5-- Advent at ADAFT 2015!

We've talked before about nisser, the little elves who run around being both mischievous and helpful all winter.  You may remember that they prefer to eat gruel, specifically risengrød-- rice gruel.

Danes use the term "gruel" to refer to any sort of cooked, soft grain or legume.  For instance, oatmeal is havregrød, and I've recently seen dhal referred to as "den klassisk indisk linser grød."  The classic Indian lentil gruel.  The concept is so popular that there's even a restaurant in Copenhagen called "Grød," which serves up fancy oatmeal, dhal, congees, and, of course, risengrød, which for our purposes (ie, not sounding gross) I will call rice pudding.

I tried making (and eating!) risengrød for the first time this year and was pleasantly surprised.  I guess it's like a boring risotto, but it's actually really good and comforting.  On its own, it isn't sweet-- the traditional way to serve it is either with butter and salt, or with butter and cinnamon sugar on top.  

Having heard that I'd made my own risengrød for the first time, a Danish friend of mine said, "So!  It's happened!  You are now a real Dane."

Who knew that was all it took!

December 3--Advent at ADAFT 2015!

C goes to a music class for small kids every Wednesday afternoon, where we've learned lots of Danish children's songs.  At this time of year we often get to sing about nisser, the little elves that live in Danish homes and sneak around at night.  Nisser like Christmastime.

Yesterday we learned a new little ditty: Der bor en lille nissemand.

Der bor en lille nissemand
på loftets mørke rum, bummelum.
Der bor en lille nissemand
på loftets mørke rum.
Han stamper rundt, han tramper rundt,
han spiser grød, for det er sundt.
Der bor en lille nissemand
på loftets mørke rum.

(A little elf lives in the dark attic, bummelum!
He lives in the dark attic.
He stomps around and eats gruel, because that's healthy.
A little elf lives in the dark attic).

C's teacher played the drums and we all danced and sang.  It's fun to change the verb-- so the elves can dance or hop or spin instead.  C picked running (because hopping had already been taken). 

Here are a few (admittedly old) photos of her music class so you can get a feel for it too!

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 16th--Advent at ADAFT!

We're now two-thirds of the way through our Advent calender, and we deem you sufficiently well-versed in Danish Christmas traditions to enjoy this clip.

It's an excerpt from the Danish television program "The Julekalender," a yearly special that airs in 24 episodes, one per day until Christmas. Obviously it involves both humans and nisser, and here are the nisser themselves to sing to you in a hilarious mix of English and Danish. (I'm not sure why they sometimes speak English. Because they are magic, I guess.) If you click "see more" under the video, you can get the full text of the lyrics.

The Julekalender--It's Hard to Be a Nissemand