First and foremost, it appears as though the professor's here are hell bent that our lasting memories of Denmark involve copious quantities of papers for their respective classes. I've written three hardcore research papers in the last two weeks, and I have three more to go in the next two weeks. Lots of writing. It's probably good though. I need something to get me accustomed to the workload that I will be returning to when I get back to Williams.
While on academics, my next six months have now been decided, as follows:
Winter Study: Current Economic IssuesSpring Semester: Economics of Higher Education Tutorial, Social Psychology, Oceanography, and a 300 level theater seminar about the use of music in theatrical productions.
There are, of course, things going on in my life that do not involve academics. For instance, the Thanksgiving break that we just finished. Now, for those of you who don't know me, I do not cook. Ever. But somehow, my host family and I got the brilliant idea that I should attempt to cook a Thanksgiving dinner for twelve Danes (my host family and the Gram family). A few people told me I wouldn't be able to pull it off, and a few others told me I was crazy to try. Needless to say, that was all the motivation I needed. The pictures are below, description of the event a little lower:
The Danes enjoying their Thanksgiving Dinner!
The hors d'oeuvres of baked brie and crackers, and the ginger cider welcome drink.
The table, set and lit by Ingrid before the Grams arrive.
The finished product! Turkey with all the fixings...
Thursday was my "practice" day. Ingrid bought two turkeys from the butcher because we weren't sure whether one Danish turkey would feed twelve people (turns out it would, but it was close...) So I spent the better part of Thursday monitoring the first of the turkeys, making sure it got stuffed and didn't get too dry while it cooked.
Friday was the big day. I started cooking for the 5:30 dinner party at a little after noon, and didn't leave the kitchen more than twice before the dinner started. Friday involved the second turkey, stuffed to the gills with the good stuff; mashed potatoes; candied potatoes; green beans; brocolli casserole; a baked brie appetizer; a hard ginger/apple cider welcome cocktail; and whipped cream. Things turned out pretty well, and with a little last minute backup from Ingrid, we got the dinner all finished before the Grams got there.
Once everybody got settled in and we had a cocktail in our hands, I put on a youtube version of "The First Thanksgiving" story, to attempt to explain a part of the Thanksgiving tradition. Also, at dinner, I passed along a Hewett family tradition of mentioning a couple of things that you were thankful for over the past few years. Hopefully I've started a new Danish tradition for the two families! Also, I managed an invite back to Denmark next Thanksgiving for Turkey Day round two!
Saturday was a pretty low-key day. In the morning, I finished one of the aforementioned research papers (a discussion of a policy Kenya should follow in order to achieve economic development) before heading over to the Grams house for a mini-Christmas market. I joined a small group choir in singing Christmas carols for a little while, mingled with some of the Danes, and then headed back to our house to have some lunch and warm up.
On Sunday, I managed to wake up in time for the Sunday family breakfast (this was only the second time that this has happened while I've been here...). I did a little bit of work while the Wredstroms were at church, and then I went down to the city with Carsten and Ingrid for the afternoon.
We first went down to the local catholic church (at least we thought it was catholic...it had "our lady" in the name) to hear a service featuring some pieces by Hendel performed by a quartet. A little "Goddy" for my taste, but the music was very good and it was more or less enjoyable. After that, we went for a walk down Stroget to find a cafe. On the walk, Ingrid decided that a hot-dog was in order, and I, of course, whole-heartedly agreed. Ingrid ordered for me (a little disappointed that I requested no raw onions...) and they were truly delicious. After the hotdogs, we continued down to the Royal Cafe. The Royal Cafe is a hyggeligt little spot on the walking street that is now famous as the place that Oprah visited while she was here. We had some gløgg med æbleskiver and enjoyed a cozy hour or so in the cafe. Gløgg is a Christmas beverage that is a mixture of warmed red wine, some form of harder alcohol, nuts, and fruit. It was delicious, warmed you from the inside out, and packed a bit of a whallop. Æbleskiver are apple dumplings that could best be described to an American as an upscale donut hole, served with jelly and powdered sugar (a do-it-yourself jelly donut if you will...). After our snacks, we walked around the street so I could do my last bit of Christmas shopping (that's right, first of December and I am DONE!!!) before heading back north. It was a really fun afternoon.
I had a wonderful long weekend. It was a great mixture of me imparting American traditions on "my" Danes and them imparting more wonderful Danish traditions on me. Now that December is here (complete with a "High School Musical" Advent Calendar), the Christmas season is in full swing. The city is getting more and more beautiful every day with lights, wreaths, and candles. I'm working harder than I have all semester, which is often the case as the semester winds down. I have two more weeks of classes, and then finals. The semester, and my time in Denmark, is winding down, and I'll be home in 19 days.
Spoiler: The next post will most likely be about my upcoming trip to Sweden with my family and the Grams, which is coming up this Saturday! Can't wait to cross another country off the list!
Ahh I am jealous of your Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteAlso, can't wait to see you! I can't believe we are all going home so soon.