Food, customs, people

Hello =) several people have asked me the pretty basic questions about food and people. (Danish boys ^_^) so I decided to write an entry that is specifically about those things. Enjoy!

I have been here nearly a week now. A just by observing how the things around me ate occurring, I've picked up a few things already. I'll start with the food. Danish food is very good =) haha well most at least. I'm going to explain about the meals in my first family, as I have no idea if it is Danish custom or just unique to my family.

We eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This is a change for me as I don't think I've eaten breakfast on a regular basis in years. This meal is at the table =P and we don't eat this one as a family (yet anyways). My place is always waiting for me at te table when I get up in the morning. The choices for breakfast are yogurt (that you pour from a carton into a bowl) with granola and nuts and dried fruit mixed in, cocoa puff-y cereal (that turns your milk chocolate), and oatmeal. I haven't eaten the oatmeal. I like the other 2 a lot better. So I sort of alternate the days I eat cereal and the days I eat yogurt.

Lunch is always the same thing. Since my host dad is still on holiday from work, he, Astrid (my sister) and myself eat together. We eat the very Danish dark, rye bread for this. I was really confused on my first lunch because I thought we were going to eat sandwiches, and then they started cutting their piece of bread in half. So what you do is take a slice of bread, cut it in half, then put anything you would like on it that's at the table. There's little slices of meat, some cheese, sauces, cucumbers and tomatoes (I have eaten more cucumber this last week than my whole life I think haha) and just various things. I found out what I liked and what I didn't like very fast. I, at one point or another, have tried everything at the table. My favorite is this kind of cheese, like cream cheese sorta, with peppers and vegies in it, and cucumber, and a kind of meat. This goes on one half of my bread usually. Then the other half I just fill with anything that looks good. I have tried liver paste, pickled beets, 'pepperoni', and another kind of meat. Those I found out that I didn't quite care for =P but there's also a 'tuna' thing in tomato sauce that you put mayo on. That's good. And this sauce thing with pickles and other things in it that you put on meat. That's pretty good too. More or less, I like it all. Haha

Then there is dinner. Dinner is a hot meal that my host mom comes home from work and makes every night. It's made up of some kind of meat, a vegie, and potatoes. Potatoes are a huge staple here. You can boil them and eat them whole, or bake them in slices, or there are a million ways to cook them I bet. I have always loved potatoes. So I think this is my perfect country haha. We eat dinner as a family too.

I have gone to 2 BBQs since ive been here, and I noticed one thing right away: you bring your own stuff with you. I went to one with my Rotary club and every family brought their own drinks and plates and silverware and glasses and 'desserts'. Then the night before I went with my sister to her friend's house and she brought her own drinks and sausages. This was kind of odd, you know? So I asked my second host dad if this was a Danish thing. And he said that it's all just more practical. If you're invited over for dinner of course you don't brings things, but with a group of people it is more practical for everyone to bring their own. Huh, maybe Americans should adopt this one =P

i think that's about all for food...o!!!!!! Wait!!! I forgot to tell you, you ALWAYS use a knife for dinner and lunch. And no matter what Emily Post says about it, the tines of the fork are always pointed down when you eat what you have just cut. It took me a few times to figure this out, but monkey see monkey do =D I have gotten a lot better at weilding a knife. It took several failed attempts and dropped food though =P it's not that hard though once you're used to it. O, and clean your plate of food. Don't leave anything edible behind, k =) I haven't done this for fear of seriously offending them. I don't think anything terribly bad would happen to me, but why risk it? =P

ok! Now for the people!! The Danes are very nice so far. I like them. And believe it or not, they aren't all the blonde haired blue eyed stereotype. Most are, however. Haha but they aren't a nasty bleach blonde, it's a darker sandy blonde. I like it =) and almost everyone I've met has the bluest eyes ever! They really are lovely...this is for all my girlfriends, the boys that I've seen are fabulous! Haha very pretty. I think you would all like them ;P I know I do. Everyone out here is very tall in comparison to me haha it's ok. I'm used to it...a lot of people smoke out here. I thought it wad rather ironic when I saw some lady riding her bike with a cigerette in her mouth. But that's just what they do I guess. Don't worry, guys, I won't start smoking over here =) and as many of you don't know this, the legal drinking age here is 16. Very different from America. So it's very common for teens, as my host parents said, to gather with alcohol and often consume too much. 'they can't find that right amount' (my host dad said that) haha so it's different, and I'm about to see just how different. Yesterday my host dad bought some alcohol for my sisters party on Saturday. And that's when I'll get to see exactly how much they love to party haha.

Denmark is a great country. Lots of new and exciting things and I often catch myself with my mouth hanging open. Completely awe struck at the amazing-ness of it all. Here are some last-minute thoughts::

Danes wear their wedding bands on the right hand
I am fully prepared to gain weight, but I have no idea if I will because now I don't snack between meals, the food is healthy, and I'll be riding my bike everyday
they have hares out here, not rabbits
on Monday I might get an opportunity to shoot a shot gun...this scares me senseless
after over a year of not riding a bike, my butt is screaming at me hahaha
my Danish is improving everyday
books are your best friend when you have nothing to do (I've read 3 1/2 in four days)
I have deer that live about 100 meters from my house and they frequently are out in the field in the backyard

I think that's all now now! Email me more questions =)

love,
Rebekah