December - Trip to Denmark and Germany

This month finished up the winter term, giving Erik 3 weeks off and the kids 2 weeks off for the holidays. Emma's school did a Christmas play about the birth of baby Jesus (one of the major differences between public schools here and public schools in the U.S.) Actually, the younger children did the Christmas story play and the older kids (including Emma) did a play called Papa Panov, based on a short story by Leo Tolstoy in which lonely shoemaker Papa Panov’s generosity reflects the true spirit of Christmas. It was really quite good, and they sang some great songs. (Emma is really enjoying being in the school choir, by the way.)

Jake's preschool did a play as well, Oopsy Daisy Angel, I think it was called, about an angel who is very clumsy but ends up saving the day. Watching a bunch of 2-4 year olds on a stage is hilarious...one by one, they left the stage to sit in their moms' laps, or sat down to suck a thumb, or just goofed around. Jake was one of five snowflakes and he actually sang most of the songs and did most of the right moves. I will try to upload a clip of him here.

Christmas Trip - Denmark

We left on the 19th at 4:00 a.m. (painful) for the airport for our flight to Denmark. We arrived in Arhus later that morning, where Erik’s cousin Mette picked us up and drove us to her parents’ house in Randers. We stayed at the home of Lars and Gerta Sondergaard, who are relatives of Erik's mother. (Their daughters Mette and Anne visited Oregon last summer for Kirsten's wedding and stayed with us for a couple of days.) They were fabulous hosts and we were so happy to be able to spend Christmas with them. Anne and Mette were there for our entire visit and their sister Lene and her husband David came for a couple of days with her very cute one-year old son, Johann. Unfortunately, I got sick with my fifth cold while I was there, but they were very kind and entertained Erik and the kids while I recouperated. We ate some delicious meals, toured Randers, went ice-skating and just hung out in a very lazy fashion. It was great!

Anne loves to cook so Emma helped with some of the Christmas cooking and baking--most notably, Emma and Jake helped make traditional marzipan candies.

Right: Gerta, Jake and Anne.

Ice-skating at an outdoor rink in Randers. Emma was fabulous, after the first few falls.

Left: Emma and Jake on Christmas Eve. A Danish tradition is to dance and sing around the Christmas tree, which I think we'll start doing back at home!

Right: Jake playing with the Sondergaard girls' old collection of Monchichi dolls. (If you're my age, you'll remember: "Monchichis, Monchichis, oh so soft and cuddly...")

Lars was kind enough to let us borrow his car for a day trip up north to Skagen, the town at the northernmost tip of Denmark, where the North Sea and the Baltic Sea come together. The area is extremely picturesque, and distinguished by its low, yellow houses with red tile roofs nestled into the beach areas. (These are pictures I pulled off the internet to give you an idea, since I forgot my camera for this trip.) Very cute town--I loved all the cheerful yellow houses, and with beaches similar to Oregon, I think we all got a little homesick.

Left: Example of traditional house.

Right: Old military bunker on the beach.

I went into Arhus one afternoon with Mette and toured around a bit by myself while she spent time taking down her art show at a local gallery. (As an aside, Mette is currently living in London and attending an art school there, so we are able to visit with her occasionally. Here's her website if you'd like to see some of her work: http://www.mettejuul.dk/exhibitions.php.)

I hung out in downtown Arhus and also visited the Old Town open-air museum (http://www.dengamleby.dk/english.htm), which is a collection of 75 historical houses, gardens, exhibitions, houses, shops, and workshops demonstrating what it was like to live and work in a Danish market town as it was in the old days. It sounds kind of touristy, but believe me, it was really great (or maybe that's just the archaeologist inside me talking.) The bakeries sold traditional Danish treats, people in authentic clothing demonstrated trades, and the living history displays were really top-notch.

Just a small part of the Old Town set-up.