December 4--Advent at ADAFT 2012!

For today, here's a video of little C that I took the other day. Enjoy! She's great.

 

December 3--Advent at ADAFT 2012!

Today, we bring you a delightfully snowy scene. This is the view from our living room window this morning. It kept snowing more through the day!

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

Best of Denmark

At 4 AM on the day after Thanksgiving, some people are standing in line to buy flat-screen TVs.  E was in our living room, sitting in the new rocking chair with C.  Here's what she thought:

Thanksgiving isn't a holiday in Denmark.  And for dinner we had leftover pizza.  But in the last two days I went to mothergroup and chatted in Danish with five new friends and their babies.  With the magic of the Internet, I spoke to my whole family in real time and "talked" with three of my dearest women friends.  A sweet Danish friend borrowed a carseat, drove us all to IKEA, and watched C while B and I played Goldilocks and tried out every chair in the store.  Now I'm snug under the quilt my mother-in-law made, in the chair my husband built, with my tiny girl sleeping on my chest. 

So it doesn't get much better than that (unless of course we had all of you here with us too)!  And in that spirit of thanksgiving, here's the best of Denmark according to E and me.  Enjoy.

Music academy, Aarhus

Looking south towards downtown Aarhus

Aarhus Bay

Thy National Park

Tangkrogen

The Aarhus Botanical Garden

Folkeoplysningshus

From our first apartment

Cafe Vestergade, near downtown

View from Aros Museum

View towards Sweden from Louisiana Museum

Svinekløv Hotel

Aarhus Bay from Risskov

Støget at Christmastime

Marselisskov

Near the Egtvedpigegrav

The Egtvedpigegrav

The view from Egtvedpigegrav

A typical Danish farm, near Egtved

Mindeparken

Old-fashioned train near Risskov

Aarhus Bay

European Soccer Championship game, Bispetorvet

Downtown along the Aarhus River

Summer evening at Tivoli

The Royal Guard

View along Frederiksalle, Summer evening

Moesgård Strand

Near City Hall

The First Month

Little C is one month old now, so we thought we'd share some our favorite pictures so far. A more texty post about it all will be coming soon, but for now, enjoy the pictures! 

  

J-Day! (or J-Dag, for the Purists)

In case you're not intimately acquainted with Danish holiday customs, we're going to fill you in on an important one--with a little help from NPR.

Christmas beer.

Yes, special beer to drink only at Christmastime, flavored with extra licorice and sold in festive holiday cans and bottles.  In Danish, "Julebryg."

You can start drinking in on J-day, which is the first Friday in November, and that means it's time, as the Danes say, to be festy.  I have to admit that although I'm not a beer drinker, I do like the smell of this one.  And if I'm recommending licorice-flavored seasonal beer, I must be feeling super-Danish!

For more on the topic, check out this informative piece on NPR.