12/6/2011
Our journey to Bagsvaerd, Denmark began with a two hour
flight to Newark, NJ and then an eight hour flight into Copenhagen, Denmark.
We all felt such a range of emotions fom being excited, to
being sad, then anxious and finally tired. We arrived in Copenhagen at 6 am on
the 7th of December. We crammed into a taxi cab along with the 8 plus bags and
the cab driver delivered us to our new home.
The loss of 6 hours time as we flew over seas exhausted us
all. However the excitement of the boys
seeing their new home for the first time was rejuvinating. They ran up the
stairs to see their new bedrooms. Each of them exclaiming how cool their rooms
were.
We chose Cameron's room for him because it had several areas with built-in shelves...the perfect place to display his Lego creations. Corey's room was a bit larger and had a nice size area where we imagined bean bag chairs and a fun place to relax and "hang out". Every teenager needs that :o)
The kitchen was quickly unpacked and set up. Randell had to bend the sides of my 2 cookie trays upward so they would fit inside of my tiny convection oven! It has taken a bit of practice to get used to the cooking times and when or when not to use the convection options.
12/9/2011
We don't have recycle pick up in our town of Bagsvaerd. The locals carry their recyclables to the street corners which are furnished with recycle bins. There are bins for newspaper and printed paper, glass, and batteries. The cans are carried to the local grocery store where they are collected. We carried our Coke bottles and cans with us to drop them off. Although I haven't started my Danish language lessons yet, I was able to "read" and figure out where to deposit the bottles and cans.
Fortunately, my knowledge of grocery store layouts came in handy as I did the shopping this afternoon. I was able to figure most things out. It was a fun experience and we saw many things that were very different and some that reminded us of home. There was a man outside of the grocery, stirring almonds into a pot of very hot liquid. He was making candied almonds and selling them. We bought a bag full, they are a Christmas treat this time of year.
I spent 753 DKK (Kroners) for 5 days worth of food. This is about 135 American dollars. Not bad considering that I had heard food was very expensive. We opted to not have a car in Denmark and to rely on the public transportation. That made walking home from the grocery quite a challenge.The bags were really heavy for all of us.
12/10/2011
After seeing many troll-looking elves in store windows and displays, I began to wonder why "Santa Claus" wasn't more prevalent. I did a little research and found that Julemanden can be directly translated to "The Yule-Man" or "The Christmas-man". In modern Danish culture Julemanden is the equivalent of the English Father Christmas although the roots of the character reach into Danish folklore and mythology where in Julemanden is a mythical character who is said to bring Christmas presents to children in Denmark on Christmas Eve, celebrated December 24.
The main differences to the English Father Christmas is that Julemanden lives in Greenland, loves risengrød which is rice pudding with cinnamon-sugar, and a slice of butter on top, and is assisted by nisse which are the Danish version of elves. It is the nisse that we see in the store windows, preparing for Christmas.
Randell, the boys and I took the train into Copenhagengen for a day of exploring and familiarizing the boys with the bus and train routes.
Our first stop was the Kastellet at the waterfront. It is one of the most well preserved fortifications in Northern Europe. It is constructed in the form of a pentagram with bastions at its corners. It is beautiful piece of history with a view of our next stop. (For more information, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kastellet,_Copenhagen)
From atop one of the bastions, you can spot the "Little Mermaid" in the water below. She perches on a rock and many gather to take her picture. This is NOT the Little Mermaid most of us know as Ariel, this is the original mermaid written about in the storybook by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen.
At a later date, I will return to plant a letterbox nearby. A wonderful friend and stamp carver (Safari Man) sent a letterbox of the Little Mermaid, from Ohio, to be planted in a nearby area...I found the perfect hiding place today :o)
We finished our walk-about with a Danish hotdog and Coke. The hotdogs here are unbelievably delicious! Go figure!! We asked Corey to choose the correct train to get us back to Bagsvaerd. He did very well...we made it home and had stew beef waiting in the crockpot for us. It was a sunny day today but very windy and cold.
12/11/2011
This afternoon, we took the train into Hellerup, where the boys will attend school at Copenhagen International School. We will be traveling there on Tuesday so they can meet the Head Master and take their placement test. We did a "trial run" of the route there and back. I will ride with them until they are comfortable on their own and then they will go alone. The children here in Denmark have grown up taking public transportation and ride alone all of the time. The dangers of predators, thieves, gangs, etc. are not prevalent like they are in the states. Crime, for that matter, is not an issue here. Kids are care free, like I remember being when I was young.
After we showed the kids their school, we walked to the water front and sat for a bit enjoying our new surroundings. On our way back to the train station we found a bakery. Everything looked scrumptious but it was closed. I promised to take the boys there after their tests on Tuesday.
12/15/2011
The boys attended their first full day of school. The Head Master asked the boys to come to school today even though it is the next to last day before Christmas break. He wanted the boys to meet their classmates and feel comfortable in their new surroundings before they start school in January. Everthing went better than expected. Corey and Cameron were both all smiles when I picked them up. They both told me how much they loved it there and told me all about the nice kids that showed them around, sat with them at lunch and in class and how they loved their teachers.
Tonight we are working on a Danish tradition to get ready for the Christmas holiday. We will be cutting and weaving paper heart baskets. The Danes call them Jule-hjertet (also flethjerte, flettede hjerte or flettede julehjerte) which translates roughly as the Christmas Heart. Some Danes say it a symbol of the heart of Christmas (love and respect) and was invented by Hans Christian Andersen in 1867 (or 1860). During Christmas, the hearts were filled with treats (nuts, candy or dried fruit). The Danes are master paper cutters and have devised several special patterns for these heart baskets. We will upload pictures when finished.
12/17/2011
The boys and I took the bus into Lyngby to meet Randell and to have dinner. I am amazed at all of the flower shops set up along the sidewalks and the beautiful flowers they grow. Many of the bulbs have been forced for the holiday season but it is so refreshing to see such color and beauty when it is so cold and normally plants are not blooming. Part of the Danish Christmas tradition is to decorate the home with fresh, beautiful centerpieces for the holidays.
We ventured on and had our sushi dinner at Don Dons. It was fantastic. Big, delicious pieces of sushi. I think we have found our favorite sushi restaurant!
12/20/11
The den is finished, unpacked and set up, just in time to bring the Christmas tree in and decorate!!
12/24/2011
Glædelig jul...MerryChristmas! The Danes celebrate Christmas on the 24th, so we thought we would do so as well. The ornaments on the tree hold goodies like nuts and candy. The other ornaments are all edible and are chocolate wrapped in beautiful foils. You can see in the pictures that Maggie has figured out that the tree smells awfully yummy!
Since we already had a Christmas before leaving the states, the boys got a couple of presents each. They were thrilled when they awoke and found these under the tree as they thought we wouldn't have any more...
Randell got me a beautiful basket for my bicycle. It has a handle on it so you can take it into the market when you shop, then attatch it right back to the bike. Very handy to have. He also got me a gift card to the hobby store we found. We all know that I loved that!
The weather is sunny and beautiful. The boys have been out riding their bikes today and I am cooking the turkey dinner. Have a Blessed Chistmas!!
12/25/2011
Chistmas was wonderfully peaceful and quiet. We had our traditional brunch and then headed out for a lovely walk around Bagsvaerd Lake (next blog post). When evening came and we knew we could catch family at home, we Skyped and phoned back to the states. It was wonderful to catch up and hear about everyone's Christmas.
