{"id":237,"date":"2011-11-27T23:11:45","date_gmt":"2011-11-27T23:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/?p=237"},"modified":"2011-11-27T23:38:00","modified_gmt":"2011-11-27T23:38:00","slug":"o-christmas-where-art-thou","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/2011\/11\/27\/o-christmas-where-art-thou\/","title":{"rendered":"O, Christmas Where Art Thou!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Advent<\/a><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s got a name in Danish: den f\u00f8rste s\u00f8ndag i advent<\/strong>. (Yeah, you got it right: the first Sunday in Advent<\/em>!) Advent<\/strong>, of course, is the countdown for jul<\/strong> (Christmas). Today many families are lighting the first out of four candles in their adventskrans<\/strong> (advent wreath). Over the next three Sundays the remaining lys<\/strong> (candles) will be lit, one at a time. In a few families they even use the opportunity to sing a couple of julesange<\/strong> (Christmas carols) around the wreath. (Well, at least that\u2019s what we did it in my family when I was a kid!)<\/p>\n

The real nedt\u00e6lling<\/strong> (countdown), of course, started several weeks ago. Every year the shops seem to decorate their windows with julehjerter<\/strong> (Christmas hearts) and fake sne<\/strong> (snow) just a bit earlier. Towns are adorned by guirlander<\/strong> (festoons, pronounce: gear-lander<\/em>) and the occasional julegran<\/strong> (Christmas spruce) at the market. Boder<\/strong> (booths) offering julekager<\/strong> (Christmas cookies) and hot drinks mysteriously appear out of nowhere in the cities. Old ladies start taking their b\u00e6reposer<\/strong> (shopping bags) for a walk instead of the dog\u2026 And every year there are people complaining that the Christmas \u201drace\u201d is starting too early!<\/p>\n

Vinter<\/strong>\u00a0in Denmark can be a cold and dark experience. Like Halloween<\/a>, then, the Christmas preparations give people a sense of purpose, something to cling onto till Spring comes hopping along and life\u2019s a breeze again. As my hairdresser told me earlier this month: \u00a0\u2013Well, I agree december<\/strong> is the real julem\u00e5ned<\/strong> (Christmas month), but it\u2019s so dark outside and people kept asking me about\u00a0julepynt<\/strong> (Christmas decorations), so I decided to put those electrical Christmas lights in my front window\u2026 And it sure is appreciated!<\/p>\n

December 1st, then, is when the launch party really takes off. Now even the most reluctant families start buying julegaver<\/strong> (Christmas presents), and the children open the first l\u00e5ge<\/strong> (or luge<\/strong>, both meaning \u2019Calendar door\u2019) of their julekalender<\/strong> (\u2019Advent calendar\u2019, a Christmas paper calendar with 24 \u201ddoors\u201d, some of them come with tiny pieces of chocolate), eventually pick the first gift of their pakkekalender<\/strong> (gift calendar) and watch the first episode of the julekalender<\/strong> (a kind of televised Christmas show or story in 24 parts, parallelling the paper calendar).<\/p>\n

As the banjo-playing mouse sings in the children\u2019s song \u201dS\u00f8ren Banjomus\u201d<\/strong> (S\u00f8ren the banjo mouse):<\/p>\n

Bar\u00b4 det alts\u00e5 snart var jul, kan ikke vente\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

If only it were Christmas soon, can\u2019t wait\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n