On friday after all of our exams were done, my friends and I went to a wonderful cafe to get some white wine Christmas Gløgg, which was delicious. Then I said goodbye to all of them and went to a reception with Laila and Ulrik, and then we headed back home through a blizzard. The next morning it continued to snow another foot and a half. It was insane. I helped Flemming shovel the snow and then I had to dig our Christmas tree out of the snow so we could bring it in and set it up. Flemming had to help me lift it over the huge pile of snow I had just shoveled, and after he cut off the top and bottom to make it shorter, we brought it in and set it up over lots of towels to catch the melting snow we couldn't get off. Once the tree was dry, Tine and I decorated it with lots of little elves, old fashioned ornaments, and danish flag garlands. Before we decorated, we decided to go for a walk in all of the snow. we had a ton of fun playing in it, and she showed me a street corner where huge drifts always pile up, and we just fell into the drifts and would disappear in all of the fluffy white snow. It was really fun, and you could even take a running start. we jumped and jumped until we were frozen cold and covered in snow.
it was a wonderful afternoon, and then we had a Christmas dinner. It included a pork roast with crispy skin that Danes love, and I can't even look at, and caramelized potatoes, cooked red cabbage, roasted apples, and mashed potatoes. This is the traditional Danish Christmas dinner. we ate and drank a little wine, and then after dinner they gave me some presents. They gave me very thoughtful Danish presents to take home, including a frying pan for apple cakes, which is a very special type of skillet that you can only find in Denmark. So during the break between dinner and dessert, I hurriedly finished wrapping my presents for them, including some chocolates from Vienna, and honeycomb candle, and a wonderful wool blanket. Risa la mande (I don't know how to spell it) is the traditional Danish dessert for Christmas, and it is sweet rice cooked in milk with sugar and cream, and you eat it chilled with cherry sauce on top. there is a lone almond in it somewhere, and whoever gets the almond wins the chocolate treat. It's a delicious dessert, and Tine won it this time. Oh, and they also lit real candles on the tree during dinner. it was beautiful. After dinner, we all bundled up and went for a walk in the snow and played in the snow drifts some more. That was so much fun. To top off the night, Tine and I snuggled up with some warm blankets and watched Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets!
Saturday was a really really special day. Sunday was great too, and Tine and I went into Roskilde to finish her Christmas shopping and eat a Danish hot dog together for lunch. they are delicious. I spent a lot of Sunday painting because I had to finish the two paintings I was giving them, and on monday I mostly packed. Tuesday morning I got to go see Tine's Christmas play at her school, and it was pretty funny even though I couldn't understand them. Finally, they had to drive me to the airport, and that was 40 minutes of torture as I tried really hard not to think about having to say goodbye. My family was definitely the most important part of my Danish experience. Luckily I got to sit next to one of my friends on the airplane totally by chance, since almost everyone I knew had left 3 days before, and it made the 10 hour flight a lot easier. I got home about 30 hours after I got dropped off in the airport because my flight in Chicago got canceled, but it all worked out in the end, and it was really nice to come home.
