Halloween in Svendborg, Denmark

For my birthday in June, my great friend Susanne gave me a card (amongst many other things she did for me!) that said it could be redeemed for a trip anywhere in Denmark. We planned the trip over Halloween weekend - and it was a surprise. I did not know what we were doing or where we were going.

We went to Svendborg, Denmark, on the island of Funen. Susanne's sister Annette lives there, with her brother-in-law Carsten, and her nieces, Julie, Sofie and Marie. We just spent time with her family and the kids. The home was decorated for Halloween and the kids even had costumes on! We made cakes and decorated them with licorice to make spiders...and the big surprise was we (Susanne and Annette) and I went to a castle nearby (Valdemar Slot) st night, and there was a haunted house there! I was so amazed and surprised, and it was actually as good as a haunted house in the US! Keep in mind, Halloween is a very American holiday, and most Danes do not celebrate it here. For example, when I walked into Annette's house and met her, one of the first things she said to me was that they have never celebrated Halloween before - everything they did essentially was for me, which was amazing. Susanne knows that Halloween is one of the holidays I miss celebrating back home, and she went out of her way to make sure that I had a great day.

The next day we just drove around the little town of Svendborg, walked around a park, went to a small petting zoo...and just spent time with the kids. I was nervous to spend time with such young Danish children (8, 4 and almost 2) because they haven't technically started learning English yet....so the communication factor was scary. But I have learned that body language is a universal language! I gave the two oldest girls a Halloween sucker when I arrived, and didn't say much, but they smiled and were happy. I tried to play board games and computer games with them...and actually was trying to speak Danish with the 8 year old and trying to teach her some English (helping her with colors, etc).

I feel very honored when a Dane invites me into their home or their family's home (I have now been to Susanne's parents and her sister's house) because not only are they sharing traditions with me, but they are accepting the fact that I am different, and know that they will have to speak English to communicate with me. It is a pretty cool feeling when you think about it.

Susanne is an amazing person and an even better friend. She never ceases to amaze me. She is a thankless, thoughtful person - and her friendship (as well as her ideas, thoughts and visions on life and the world) are one of the greatest things I have gotten out of this whole experience. She is truly a blessing in my life, and is an extension of my family here. I can't wait to repay the favors to her one day - I told her payback will be coming, and she will one day meet all of my family and friends, and see how we live as Americans!

Julie making a Hejlsvig family special treat - something Susanne and Anette used to make when they were little girls. A sweet (flodeboller) smashed on top of rugbrod. It was amazing and tasted almost like a smore.

Sofie and Susanne

Playing a Danish-English computer game with Julie

Susanne and I

Love this pic!

Svendborg

The petting zoo with 2 goats and 2 rabbits Love these old Danish homes - this was around 300 years old

Susanne

Marie sleeping in the stroller outside - I will never understand this :)

Sofie as a ghost

Marie

Board games that I tried to play and didn't understand the rules to, or when Julie told me to do something...

How the table was decorated (Halloween) when we first got there - we had buns, spider cakes, tea and coffee

At the grocery store picking up some things to bring to her sister's house

Interesting Comment - Jante Law

The Jante Law is something I learned about after 3 months of living in Denmark. I went on a course with Susanne from work called Dealing with the Danes, and it was one of the coolest things I have been a part of. It really helped me understand why Danes are the way they are.

This law is comprised of 10 different rules, and the basis of it is essentially that there is one single theme:

Don't think you're anyone special or that you're better than us.

The ten rules are:

Don't think that you are special.
Don't think that you are of the same standing as us.
Don't think that you are smarter than us.
Don't fancy yourself as being better than us.
Don't think that you know more than us.
Don't think that you are more important than us.
Don't think that you are good at anything.
Don't laugh at us. Don't think that anyone of us cares about you.
Don't think that you can teach us anything.

And lastly: Don't think that there is something we don't know about you.

What is interesting about this concept is Danes really do abide by it in a sense - they almost believe in anoniminity. They are happy being content...and not necessarily standing out amongst the group and exceeding.

I bring up this point because of an interesting conversation I had with a girl I play soccer with - one who has become a good friend of mine, Lonnie Kristensen.

Our soccer team had a really, really tough game one weekend. We were winning the game, but then became tied in the second half. This particular game meant a lot to us, and we fought back hard to win with 10 minutes left in the game. The whole team had a tough game, but I can confidently say that the defense won the game for us - like the saying, offense sells tickets, defense wins game. This really was true for my fellow defenders and myself this day.

I knew how well the defense played. And in the US, it is okay to celebrate your successes. After the game, the 4 girls that played most of the defense that game were standing around each other. I made the comment that, 'Girls, we need to be proud of ourselves. We won this game today for the team.' No one really said much, and we just started talking about our plans for the night.

A few days later, Lonnie brought up to me that she thought it was so cool that I made that comment, or even more so, that I am able and capable of making that comment. That because of Jante Law, she would never, or any other Dane for that matter, would never think to say that, because they don't want to feel like they are better, they don't want to separate themselves from the group.

Just sit and think about that for a second. There is a pretty severe lack of cockiness here, and it is really cool. I never would have thought twice about making a comment like that....and now I do!

Oktoberfest - Munich, Gemany

I was pleasantly surprised by Oktoberfest in Munich!!! It definitely was not as much of a drunk fest as I thought it was going to be - it was much more family oriented. Of course, if you had a seat and a table in a beer tent, there was hard core drinking going on there. But if you were not in a beer tent and were just walking around the fair grounds, it was actually very difficult to find an alcoholic beverage. The fairgrounds were filled with amusement park rides, games, fun houses, etc. During the day, there were lots of children...it was very fun.

I loved the traditional costumes. The Germans seem to be very proud of their heritage, and most everyone is wearing a traditional costume, the young and the old.

The drive from Aarhus to Munich was a long one...we left Thursday night and drove through the night. We arrived around 8am Friday morning. We were with a pretty great group! It was myself, Rachel, Anne, Mathias, Kanne, Mads and Soeren. On Friday, the girls went sightseeing through Munich as the actual Oktoberfest did not open until Saturday morning...

My camera was a casualty of the weekend, so luckily my friend Anne gave me copies of the pictures she had taken.

As a whole, it was a great time, and I would definitely go back!

The two hour car ride back from the border (Flensburg, Germany) to Aarhus was awful when we came home. 7 of us crammed into one car, and Rachel and I shared the front seat for 2 hours.

The boys watching a soccer match in our hotel room

My gangsta impersonation. The guy next to us is a German guy who was a security guard at the fun house that Rachel and I frequented. He took us out on Sunday night after Oktoberfest closed.

Anne and Soeren

Our security friend handcuffed me

This was the greatest part of the whole Oktoberfest. The fast spinning tunnel thing in the fun house!

Anne

This random drunk Italian guy named Fillipo was hanging out with us and making out with all kinds of girls - we saw him make out with 3 girls within a matter of 2 hours

Me, Rachel, Mads, Kanne, Soeren and Mathias

Walking through the park, people passed out - notice the guy on the ground, behind the bench, by the car

Passed out Heidi

In the beer tents

The neverending line at the bathroom...but it went so quickly!

Waiting in line to fill up liters of beer

Part of the opening parade