First, there are the intense decorations. There are Danish flags everywhere! Kalle was turning 16 so he was getting a little too old for the flag gambit, but Karina put a few up just to humor me.
Little Danish flags lacing the windows. When was the last time you saw an American flag at a birthday party? |
Little Danish flag and Danish soldiers chilling on the empty dining room table. |
My favorite part though, is the food. Karina made "boller" or buns. We ate them almost straight out of the oven with butter.
The softest, warmest buns I've ever had. Mmmmm... |
Then, most importantly, there's the "lackage", pronounced "lau kay". I've mentioned it before in a previous post, but it literally translates to "layer cake".
Vanilla cake with pineapple cream filling. Iced with love and decorated with Kalle's favorite sprinkles. As she put them on, Karina tsked, "Going to break everybody's teeth." |
There were 10 guests at the party, so Karina also made a chocolate lackage with hazelnut and coffee cream filling. |
On top of those two cakes, Kalle's cousins brought over yet another cake. It was more strudel like with plum filling. We ate all the cakes with some hot chocolate and generous helpings of fresh whipped cream. Diabetes-inducing sugar goodness.
Before we ravaged the cakes, we had to sing Kalle a birthday song. The family sang the American version once for my benefit, then they broke into the most amazing song I have ever head. Before they began, Kalle chose three instruments -- and being the teenage jerk he is, he chose the saxophone, banjo, and cello. As the family broke into moans and groans, I, the clueless American could only sit and clap my hands in confusion. As it turns out, at the end of each verse, they had to hum the chorus in the style of whatever instrument the birthday boy/girl chooses. Cello. Really?? Brilliant. The song goes like this.
"[Name] har fødselsdag
og det har han/hun jo
og det er i dag.
[name] har fødselsdag
og det har han/hun jo i dag.
Og hør nu her, hvordan vi alle spille vil
Og hør nu her, hvordan vi spille vil
[imitation of a pre-decided instrument to the melody of the song]"
og det har han/hun jo
og det er i dag.
[name] har fødselsdag
og det har han/hun jo i dag.
Og hør nu her, hvordan vi alle spille vil
Og hør nu her, hvordan vi spille vil
[imitation of a pre-decided instrument to the melody of the song]"
Watching (and listening) to Kalle's 80-year old grandmother singing the song in her prominent, operatic voice in the style of a banjo was, needless to say, life changing.
I had a fantastic time and I can't thank my visiting family enough for inviting me into their home for a family get together like this one. Some more random pictures of the day:
Just wanted to thank you for this entry. My Danish cousin is turning 15 tomorrow, and is visiting my family in the US. I want to sing happy birthday to her in Danish, and I'm agonizing between the two versions I found. This version is the one I started learning, and I wanted to make sure it was still a "cool" song to sing, or if it was really uncommon to hear it. Anyway, rambling. Thanks!
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