Dansk mad!

Tonight, my Danish class enjoyed a quasi-traditional Danish dinner!  Nina, our teacher, set things up and gave up preparation instructions, which included literally whipping cream (something I'm apparently horrible at), setting the table (Danes put plates in the very edge), and putting together a couple of layer cakes (think thick crepes with Nutella-infused whipped cream in between).  For dinner, we enjoyed traditional smørrebrød, open sandwiches with interesting combinations of things on rye bread.  There were some delicious vegetarian options, too, fortunately-- the mushrooms, tomatoes, and cucumbers in a sort of egg salad was my personal favorite.  

There were candles on the tables, of course, as Danes love having candles everywhere.  There's even a trio in the entryway of my gym every morning!  After eating, we sang a long, Danish "Happy Birthday" song to one of my classmates, which was entertaining both in its repeated mentions of "lovely chocolate" and our utter mangling of the words and tune.  

The night ended with a screening of "The Celebration," a Danish "Dogma"-style film.  I'd already seen it, and the Dogma handheld camera style had given me a bad case of motion sickness, so I was excused from a second screening, to my full and otherwise happy stomach's relief.

On the upside, I heartily approve of Danish vegetarian food, as well as desserts.  (But we knew about the latter already!)