Flickr<\/a>. (Modified according to the Creative Commons License.)<\/p><\/div>\nTillykke med f\u00f8dselsdagen! <\/span>(Happy birthday!) Since July is crowded with birthdays in my family, I thought it would be nice ending the month with some facts about f\u00f8dselsdagsfejring<\/span> (birthday celebration) in Denmark.<\/p>\nDanes are the most birthday-obsessed people I\u2019ve come across yet. For many b\u00f8rn<\/span> (children) their f\u00f8dselsdag<\/span> is just as important as jul<\/span> (Christmas), if not more so. In Christmas, after all, you have to share the pool of gifts with your s\u00f8skende<\/span> (siblings) and for\u00e6ldre<\/span> (parents). A f\u00f8dselsdagsbarn<\/span> (\u201dbirthday child\u201d), on the other hand, \u00a0gets all the gaver<\/span> (gifts) for himself.<\/p>\nBeing a \u201dbirthday child\u201d isn\u2019t just for children, though. Far og mor<\/span> (mum and dad) have to get gifts on their birthdays too, and so it goes on the entire life \u2013 even though some have invented the word f\u00f8dselar<\/span> [foselARE] for the more mature celebrants. Especially important are the runde f\u00f8dselsdage<\/span> (\u201dround birthdays\u201d): 25, 30, 40, 50, 75 etc.<\/p>\nEven shops and institutions celebrate their birthdays in Denmark; it isn\u2019t uncommon to come across a supermarket that\u2019s full of red and white Dannebrog<\/span> (the Danish flag) because de fejrer <\/span>(they\u2019re celebrating) their 25 \u00e5r<\/span>, for example.<\/p>\nBesides gaver<\/span>, flag <\/span>and g\u00e6ster<\/span> (guests), another important ingredient in a f\u00f8dselsdagsfest<\/span> (birthday party) is kager<\/span> (cakes). Some parents bager<\/span> (bake) a kagemand<\/span> (\u201dcake man\u201d) to their little child. As the name says, it\u2019s a cake shaped like a mand<\/span> (man) \u2013 or a kvinde<\/span> (woman). Kagemanden<\/span> is decorated with glasur<\/span> (icing), slik<\/span> (candy, sweets) like chokoladeknapper<\/span> (\u201dchocolate buttons\u201d like m\u2019n\u2019ms), and tiny lys<\/span> (candles).<\/p>\nFor older kids and adults, all kinds of cakes or boller<\/span> (buns) can be used as f\u00f8dselsdagskage<\/span> (birthday cake). The most common one, however, is the classical Danish lagkage<\/span> [LAOWkay] (layer cake) with fl\u00f8deskum<\/span> (whipped cream). Lagkagen<\/span> is also lit with tiny lagkagelys<\/span> (\u201dlayer cake candles\u201d). There\u2019s usually one candle for hvert \u00e5r<\/span> (each year [in the life of the celebrant]). The f\u00f8dselsdagsbarn\/f\u00f8dselar<\/span> is now expected to bl\u00e6se alle lysene ud p\u00e5 \u00e9n gang<\/span> (blow out all the candles at once). If there are any candles still aflame afterwards, they\u2019re often said to represent something, like for instance how many k\u00e6rester <\/span>(girlfriends\/boyfriends) the child is going to have.<\/p>\nAn indispensable part of a proper Danish f\u00f8dselsdag<\/span> is singing f\u00f8dselsdagssangen<\/span> (the birthday song). There are a couple of different songs to choose from; the one that\u2019s most widely sung starts like this:<\/p>\nI dag er det Oles f\u00f8dselsdag,\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nhurra hurra hurra<\/strong><\/p>\n Han sikkert sig en gave f\u00e5r,<\/strong><\/p>\nsom han har \u00f8nsket sig i \u00e5r <\/strong><\/p>\nog dejlig chokolade med kager til.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Today it\u2019s Ole\u2019s birthday<\/em><\/p>\nhooray hooray hooray<\/em><\/p>\nHe\u2019ll surely get (himself) a gift<\/em><\/p>\nthat he\u2019s been wishing this year,<\/em><\/p>\nand delicious hot chocolate with cakes.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
![\"Thomas](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2014\/08\/3687433213_7c6983f12a_b.jpg\")
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