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Sprites of Christmas Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Dec 25, 2014
If you go to Skandinavien in december, you’ll most certainly encounter little men (and women) with pointy røde huer (red caps) everywhere: In butikker (shops), in private homes, in fjernsynet (television). No, you’re not mad! Say hello to the nisser [NESSore]… The typical nisse looks like an old man with a langt, hvidt skæg (long…
Christmas Countdown! Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Nov 30, 2014
I dag er det første søndag i advent. (Today’s the first Sunday of Advent.) That means that there are still three Sundays left – og så er det jul (and then it’s Christmas)! Mange danske familier (many Danish families) celebrate this by lighting the first out of four stearinlys (stearin candles) on a special adventskrans (Advent…
So You Think You Can Lie? Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Nov 29, 2014
Det er koldt i november. (It’s cold in November.) Fortunately, the julefrokost (”Christmas lunch”) season has started in Denmark. That means plenty of opportunities to møde mennesker (meet people), drikke øl (drink beer) and … spille terninger (play dice)! Here’s a terningespil (die game) that’s popular in Danish værtshuse [VARE-ts-hooseh] (pubs). A friend of mine…
Randers Ramblings Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Oct 31, 2014
Randers [RANNors] is a by (town, city) in Nordøstjylland (North Eastern Jutland), between the cities of Århus and Aalborg. This efterår (Autumn/Fall), I got a bit of work up there. I must say I’ve fallen in love with the city! Randers lies next to Gudenåen, the only å (stream) in Denmark that’s wide enough to…
Veries Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Oct 27, 2014
To say something is ”very something”, the ordinary Danish word to use is meget: • Du ser meget glad og tilfreds ud. You look really happy and content. • Jeg er meget overrasket! I’m very surprised! This word sounds nothing like it’s written. It’s usually pronounced [maath], somehow rhyming with the first syllable of the…
Ardent Love in Two Languages Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Sep 30, 2014
A classic of det danske køkken (Danish cuisine) is brændende kærlighed, which translates as ”ardent love” or ”burning love”. It is basically an elaborate version of kartoffelmos (mashed potatoes). A little ”love” is added, typically in the shape of bacon… Brændende kærlighed 4 pers. 1 portion kartoffelmos (se under) 300 g svinebryst eller røget bacon…
The Scotlands of Denmark Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Sep 27, 2014
Last week the people in Scotland voted no to becoming a country independent from the United Kingdom. For some people in faraway countries, it was maybe the first time they saw the Scottish flag or even heard about Scotland. I want to make sure that you, i det mindste (at least), hear about the parts…