Sunday, December 11, 2011

Holiday Season in The White House, part 1

The US holiday season kicked off on November 24th. In Danmark we started things a little sooner, but not by much. My first new experience was to go with a group from the church out to the forest to kick roots. I was told we were going to the forest and then going to a little tea house for kaffe and æbleskiver (coffee and these donuts like pastries). I agreed to go, not fully knowing what I was getting into and maybe I didn't actually believe we would be kicking out tree roots. But, that is we did. This is something a group from the church has been doing for years. They find old dead roots, pull them out of the ground, clean them decorate them and you have a great center piece.
The following week was Thanksgiving and even though this is an American, not Danish, holiday I decided I still wanted to celebrate it. And I have never had such a special Thanksgiving away from home. I am able to recognize the fact that I am an emotional person and I know that holidays are especially hard on me. So, one of my housemates very heroically took on the job to make sure that I was busy Thanksgiving morning to keep my mind off of things. We got on our bikes and he took me to the beach/harbor that is not too far from us. We walked around an old military fort down the beach and around the harbor. I loved the water and the waves and the great conversation.
After my morning at the beach I came home and started on my first Thanksgiving dinner in Danmark. I have a wonderful housemate who is an amazing cook and she jumped in and helped me make the perfect dinner. I mean even when I was too grossed out to touch the raw turkey and pull the gunk out she did it! She was my hero in the kitchen that day! We had about 11 people over- the pastor and his family, my housemates, and a couple of the teens. They asked me questions about my traditions and we talked, ate, and laughed A LOT! It was a very special time. And I really felt like I was with family, and I was... my Danish family!
After our Thanksgiving celebration it was time to let the preparations for Christmas begin. We spent a Saturday decorating our house to get into the Christmas spirit. As well as decorating the church juletræ (Christmas tree). We have been combining American and Danish juledekorationer (Christmas decorations). It's always very interesting to see what we consider to be typical and how it is different. I have been learning Jul (Christmas) everything! Now, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
We then spent another Saturday baking all kinds of goodies for Christmas! We filled the house with smells of gingerbread-men, cut-out cookies, and jew cookies. And had plenty of fun decorating them! There was lots of icing!!! :) Now, it's beginning to taste a lot like Christmas!
We still have a couple weeks before Christmas filled with a church party, youth party, and other things so there is still a lot more celebrating to be had. Stay tuned for part 2 of the Holiday Season in The White House....

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