Hej,
So after a long week of class, I could not wait until the weekend. My weekend was packed with social events. On Friday, we had guests over for dinner, then on Saturday, we had a large banquet for my host brother’s football (soccer) league. Sunday was the big day, with a birthday party for my host father’s 90 year old grandmother. I was not sure how the day would go, considering everyone there speaks Danish and I do not know many people at the party. I was nervous, but excited to see what the party would look like.
I have to say, this party may have been the most fun that I have had on my trip thus far. We sang Danish birthday songs that family members custom-wrote for Inge (the birthday girl). There were speeches and plenty of “skål” (cheers) moments, which included shots of schnapps and other alcohol. We ate traditional Danish food, including rugbrød (rye bread), herring, frikadeller (meatballs), and roast beef with remoulade and crispy onion. For dessert, there was cake layered with white cake, fresh raspberries, marzipan, and whipped cream. The design on the top of the cake was none other than a Danish flag.
After our lunch, there was time for dancing. But this was not just any normal dance for a birthday party. A special dance instructor came in to teach us a traditional Danish dance that royalty used to do in the olden days. He apparently was at Inge’s 80th birthday, and he made the promise that he would be back to dance again in 10 more years! So I did not plan on participating in this dance for two reasons: 1. I don’t know Danish, and 2. I don’t dance. But, who do you think was pulled up to dance anyway? Me. So, with the help of my danish dancing partner who translated and explained everything for me, I danced a traditional Danish dance, called the Lancier (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96Pq4B-7zv0). It was traditional for royalty to dance it, but it is still taught in schools today, and high schoolers are expected to dance it at their gala, which is like our prom. I laughed so hard, mainly because our group could not get it right, and we were either behind the music, behind the other groups, or we just fell apart in general. It was honestly so much fun though, and I recommend dancing lessons to anyone and everyone.
I hope you all had a great weekend at Mercer, and I hope the last few weeks of the semester are not too stressful!
Tak for din tid,
Bethany