Visiting Family

I applied for a visiting family after listening to my friends talking about what a great time they had with theirs during our first week here at DIS. Luckily for me, there were still some openings left in the program. You can learn more about it here. Definitely check it out, I'm so glad I did. All you have to do is write a quick blurb about your interests...mine went along the lines of "I love TV. I love food. I love sightseeing. I love dogs. Can we go skydiving?" and a few weeks later I got a reply from my visiting Mom that said something like "We love TV. We love food. We have a dog. Let's go sightseeing. You're on your own for skydiving though."

I met my Danish family for the first time last Sunday. We have been trying to meet up for weeks now but I have a relatively busy schedule and my Danish Mom (Karina) came down with the flu. I nervously took the train and metro to Gentofte to meet them with a bottle of Asti wine tucked in my tote, plagued with thoughts like "What if they don't like me? What if it's awkward? Will they like the wine? ARGH." But when Karina sped into the metro station parking lot and skid to a stop in front of me like a racecar driver, I knew all my fears were unfounded. I folded myself into her tiny little Danish car, and we made small talk over her husband's fishing poles (literally, he had left them in the car after his fishing trip that morning) on the way back to her place. It was first time being in car since arriving in Denmark and I've definitely missed the feeling of not being at the mercy of public transportation. Not a fan of all the roundabouts here though, they make me nervous.

When we arrived at her house, Ophelia, a six-year-old wire-haired terrier came bounding out of the house through the snow to greet me. I have been totally suffering from puppy love withdrawal since leaving the States soI let her jump all over me and my pea coat. Screw it, it needs to be dry-cleaned soon anyways. Karina introduced me to her beautiful family -- her husband Kristian, and her two sons Nielse (12) and Kalle (16). I felt instantly at home, especially when Karina told me to stop being such a prude and make myself comfortable, indicating that I should bring my feet onto the sofa and lounge properly like she was. She had spent some time in the USA, actually only 20 minutes away from my hometown, as an au pere. (Her favorite city of all time, however, is NYC.)

Lunch was a glorious smorgasbord of smørrebrød, or traditional Danish open-faced sandwich. I had heard a lot about the unspoken rules concerning the appropriate pairings of meats, fish, and garnishes so I waited for my family to make a few sandwiches before attempting to copy them. There was egg salad (made with fresh cream instead of mayonnaise), this savory jelly that tasted like beef broth, liver pate, bacon, fresh salmon, pickled herring, different cuts of deli meats, beet salad, thinly sliced red onions, capers, remoulade (Danish tartar sauce), mayonnaise, tuna in tomato sauce, fresh grilled sweet onions, mmm I could go on. To give you an idea, the table was COVERED in goodies. They would pass around this basket of fresh baked rugbrød (rye bread) and toast. Always ask before putting anything on either of these, as it is not acceptable by Danish customs to put certain combinations on toast. God forbid you attempt to put your pickled herring on toast. Sacrilege. We spent the lunch cracking jokes about the acceptable combinations of smørrebrød, with Nielse summing it up: "We are watching you and judging you right now." Haha, love that kid.

After lunch, Karina showed me some pictures from their family vacations. They have been ALL over the place -- Rome, Venezuela, Prague, California, New York, DC, France, you name it. We actually had to meet up this week because next week they are going skiing. I asked Karina how long the kids had off from school and she shushed me, "Shh...we are taking them out of school for this. Tickets are so much cheaper now." AHAHA. These are my kind of people.

You'll often hear about how Danes don't like to make small talk and will immediately jump into more serious topics. We ended up talking about a little about politics, the education system, the healthcare system, the housing market, the economy, and Janteloven (Law of Jante), the Danish concept of downplaying individual achievement and successes. When Nielse was telling us about how he was the only kid in his class who made it to the top of the rock-climbing wall, Karina tsked and said fondly, "Look at him, so American." Even though we had some deep discussions, we spent just as much time exclaiming over a game of handball (Kristian had to explain the rules to me...it's like a mix between ultimate frisbee and soccer.) and watching American Dad. They LOVE American cartoons like Family Guy and American Dad. I can't get over it, hilarious. Also, at one point, Karina was playing all her favorite music for me. "I am ALL about Frank Ocean" she says. We also jammed to some Kendrick Lamar and I introduced her to Macklemore.

When it got late, Karina insisted on driving me back to Helsingør, a forty-five minute trip. She wanted to take me on the scenic route along the ocean. With Nielse offering commentary in the back seat, she showed me the houses where the rich people live and we oohed and aahed over the houses where the REALLY rich people lived. The best part of the trip? Singing Locked out of Heaven with Karina when it came on her mix tape. Also, she knows almost all the lyrics to some Frank Ocean songs and I'm just sitting there listening in bemusement as my visiting mom drops the F-bomb left and right. She explained that it's not as big a deal in Denmark because it lacks the connotations it carries in the States. Love love love it.

I can't wait to meet up with them again when they come back from their trip! Don't miss out on great opportunities like this, sign up for a visiting family NOW. :D