Sophomore Annika Jessen to celebrate Christmas in Denmark

As Danish Christmas carols ascended  to the heavens, candles were being lit on the Christmas tree. Suddenly, the chorus of voices was interrupted by a piercing yell that erupted from my uncle’s mouth.

We all turned, our mouths gaping at the scene. He had just knocked over a lit candle and caused a branch of our gorgeous Christmas tree to cackle with flames. The rest of the family screamed, anticipating our whole tree to be engulfed in a matter of seconds.

My uncle scrambled around for a device to put out the fire. My grandfather, Bestefar, ran over to the tree and attempted to blow out the fire, while my grandmother, Farmor, had the sense to grab a cup of water from the dinner table and throw it on the tree. Thankfully the fire was extinguished.

 This is just one of the many memories that result from traveling to Denmark for Christmas. My dad’s family lives there; his two brothers, his parents, and all of their relatives. My dad is a Danish citizen legally living in the United States with my mother. We don’t go to Denmark for Christmas very often, but memories are always made when we do. Denmark is all about tradition; there are so many things that have to happen during our celebration of Christ’s birth.

First we go to church on Christmas Eve, and we listen to a service in Danish. We return home for a Christmas feast where the main course is either cooked duck or goose. After dinner, we are always served Citron Fromage. This is lemon custard type dish, and there is an almond hidden somewhere in the dish. The goal is to eat the dish until someone finds the almond. Once a family member finds the almond, they get a prize. The prize depends on the giver; it can be something extravagant or a little piece of junk.

After dinner, we proceed on to read the Nativity story from the Bible in Danish. Then we sing Christmas carols while dancing around the Christmas tree and my uncle lights the candles on the tree. We are able to open presents after the candles are lit.