J-dag og Fødselsdage

Before I commenced on my travels a few weeks ago, I had a few remaining responsibilities:  plan an itinerary for Spain, pack, and remember to enjoy Denmark.  I crossed two of these off Friday night (30 October), when Nina and I met for planning, drank a cranberry (holiday?) version of Somersby's (a very sweet cider that's popular here), and went out into Køge to celebrate J-dag:  the annual release night of Tuborg's Julebryg (Christmas brew).

When I started seeing ads for J-dag in early October, I was disgusted that the commercial beginning of the Christmas season was the day before Halloween.  But as the clouds became more regular, the sky darkened a little more each day, and I grew accustomed to the lack of Halloween spirit, the idea of celebrating Christmas didn't seem so heinous.  Either way, it's not like J-dag is really about Christmas, anyway; it's about selling some beer.  The marketing behind J-dag rivals the perpetuation of Valentine's Day in the United States.  True, the decorations aren't quite as extensive, nor is it celebrated in schools for children under the age of 16 (and yes, the schools DO host J-dag parties for the 16 and over crowd after school.  No joke).  However, it's still an excuse for a big, national party that includes a song (to the tune of "Jingle Bells") and free rides on the s-train to anyone who's headed to the bars.

Neither Nina or I felt that we were able to feel the true spirit of J-dag (there was somewhat of a cultural barrier in joining the crowd), but it was still an experience to observe the college-aged kids dressed up in blue trousers, dresses, and as a Christmas tree, distributing more Julebryg to the various pubs.  As for the beer?  We thought it was the worst Tuborg we've ever had, which is saying something, because I don't like regular Tuborg in the first place.  But if the celebration surrounding it sells, then keep brewing, Tuborg!

I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a family birthday (fødselsdag) party for host-parent's nephew on the next day, as well as a surprise birthday breakfast the day after that.  This is the first time I've done any birthday celebrating in Denmark, but they're pretty much like any other get together, except this time with Danish flags as a key theme of decor.  Bringing food to someone's house and waking them up on their birthday morning isn't all that uncommon (as was done Sunday morning, which I have to admit was a little strange).  There's also a birthday song with too many words for me to remember (and 4 verses, apparently! though they usually sing two).  I've also learned from my host family that for the big birthday parties (and baptism, confrimation, anniversaries, and weddings), friends and family actually write humorous songs about the person to common tunes.  I think that would be a really nice tradition to have in the US, though I'm certainly not the type of person to start doing it on my own!

The birthday party on Halloween was definitely a lot of fun, though, as I had just gotten a Halloween package from my mom and we brought some of the candy over to share.  There were mixed reviews on the candy corn, but Rene seemed to like it, and thought they looked like teeth.  I'd never thought of them that way before, but when my host-mom's sister stuck them in her mouth like fangs, I could definitely see that interpretation.

P.S.  I learned today that there's a cemetery in Edinburgh near the cafe where JK Rowling first started writing Harry Potter.  Apparently, there are headstones for someone named McGonagall, and both a Tom Riddle Jr. and Tom Riddle Sr.  I now feel like a Harry Potter Fan Epic Fail for not finding it.