Days 45 and 46 - February 14 and 15

Valentine’s Day also coincided with Fastalavn Sunday. Fastalavn is pretty much the Danish version of Carnivale, mostly celebrated by kids with dress-up and sweets. I went to a Fastalavn party set-up by an organization consisting of some Danish and some international students for international activities. We were required to dress up, so I thought – “What can I do that requires not buying a costume and using what I already have?” Why, Pippi Longstocking, of course!



At the party, which felt more like an arts-and-crafts session, we had traditional Fastalavn buns, very strange Danish soda, and made masks and “fertility branches”. None of us actually can remember what they’re actually called, but the tradition is that children make these the week before, then on Fastalavn Sunday, wake their parents up with them and get candy or money and buns. In “return” the branches are supposed to bestow good health and fertility on the family. It stretches back to medieval times, as does the “killing the cat”. In the old days, they actually had a black cat in a barrel, would hit the barrel until it broke, and then kill the cat in order to bring a good year (since cats were bad luck). Now, the barrel just acts like a much tougher piñata and is only decorated with cat cut-outs or stuffed cats. Hitting the barrel is absolutely terrifying. You hit it with a bat, and it makes the loudest crack. Plus, when the barrel is partially broken, there’s a possibility of splinters flying places. And people worry that piñatas are dangerous!




Creating our branches


In all our Fastalavn splendor



Monday brought the first language class of the semester. It’s a bigger class than in January – 18 people – and it runs from 5-8, so there are some negatives about it. By the last hour, all of us are pretty much dead. This class was mostly review, and it was a little scary, because the teacher is much stricter than grandmotherly Inger. However, she seems nice enough, and while most of the class was complaining afterward, complaining doesn’t make anything better, so I’ll just try to enjoy the class and learn as much as possible.

After class, a group of us from the January class went to see Valentine’s Day, the movie. It was cute – Love, Actually for the United States. Without the Christmas atmosphere and the British accents, perhaps it wasn’t quite as much a classic, but it was very cute. And with Julia Roberts, it’s hard to go wrong.

Not a lot more has happened in the past week. Class, and a little bit of relaxing. It snowed a little on Tuesday and a lot yesterday. I had my first Viking class on Thursday, as well. It's a history course designed for students who aren't primarily history majors, and I haven't taken one of those in a very long time, so it was kind of interesting. "Why are the Dark Ages called the Dark Ages? Because it was overcast and rainy the entire time!" The professor is quite a character, very friendly, and I think the class will be good - he managed to mention Captain Jack Sparrow in the first lesson, which is a good omen for the rest of the semester.

I'm getting very excited for my trip to Paris next week. I leave Thursday and come back the next Wednesday. I still can't believe I'm going to Paris...one of those places that has been in my head since I was little as a place where "When I'm rich, I'm going to world travel and go to Paris." Well, I might not be rich, but I am going to Paris! So unless anything exciting happens before Thursday, the next time you hear from me might be about mes aventures français.