Christmas in Copenhagen

So Denmark is very very Christmassy. And I love it! Christmas season here began even earlier than it does in the United States, at the end of October. The official start of Christmas season here, as far as I have been able to tell was J-Dag (or J-Day), which is when Christmas Beer comes out. That's right. Denmark makes their own Christmas beer and its release is a national holiday! I walked around downtown the night that it came out and it was wild! People were dressed in entire outfits, head to toe, that were put out by Tuborg, the maker of the most popular Christmas beer. I was even lucky enough to be given a free Christmas beer hat. Basically, it's a giant blue Santa hat, with white polka dots and something written in Danish on it. I didn't stay out too late, as I was recovering from the flu that night, but I heard every bar in Copenhagen was packed. Interestingly, one of my friends tried to get into one of our favorite bars and was told that on J-Dag they only let Danes into the bar and she was given a similar response at a different bar. Even Danish people who I've asked about that were surprised and were not aware of that policy.

Me in my J-Dag hat

After J-Dag, we left for our travel break and upon our return we were greeted with Denmark's Christmas season in full force. And as the weeks have continued it has become more and more apparent. Every street is lit up. There is a giant tree in front of city hall. My bus stop has turned into a Christmas tree farm. Nyhavn has turned into a Christmas market.
And there's tons of Christmas themed food. I tried something called æbleskiver, which are like spherical pancakes that you put in powdered sugar. They were one of the greatest things ever and it makes me sad that I won't be able to have them on return to the states, cause I don't think I will be able to buy them anywhere and you need a special pan to make them yourself. Another common winter drink is gløgg, which I haven't tried but I have heard quite a bit about. It's like hot wine with rum and rum raisins and nuts in it. It's supposed to be really good and is quite a big thing to some people apparently. I have one Danish friend who showed me his supply of raisins that he has been soaking in rum for THREE MONTHS so that they will be good and strong for Christmas season gløgg. I definitely plan on trying this.
I also used this Christmas season to finally visit Tivoli, something I have been wanting to do all semester. Tivoli is the second oldest amusement park in the world and was really really cool. The Christmas decorations were amazing and I had the most delicious caramel apple that I have ever eaten! The highlight of the evening, however, was the Crazy Christmas Cabaret or Mamma Mafia. It was a English performance in Tivoli about a bunch of mafia families in America, complete with singing, cross-dressing, dancing, making fun of Americans, making fun of Danes, and all around ridiculousness. They do a Crazy Christmas Cabaret in Tivoli every year and it it amazed me that at the beginning of the night, when they asked how many people had been to a show before, everyone except my small group of DIS Americans raised their hands.

Entrance to Tivoli

Inside Tivoli

But I would also say I'm taking a lot more notice of the Christmas season here than at home. At home, I know Christmas decorations, music, and festivities start around Thanksgiving, but I'm usually so busy with finals that I don't notice. I do have finals and work here, but because I'm in Denmark and trying to savor every last minute of it, it's so much easier to notice and enjoy the Christmas joy here.