Fastelavn og I Dag

This Saturday I am going to "Fræk Fastelavn" which Google Translate says translates to "Kinky Shrovetide"... I laughed out loud when I saw that, but it is really more like "Naughty Halloween". Not exactly where you want your daughter, but better than Kinky Shrovetide...

Fastelavn confuses me. I have heard all sorts of stories and even Wikipedia cannot really clarify it to me. The Danes say that is it just like our Halloween, but I know that there is a lot more to it than that. Some sites claim that it used to be part of Carnival (Mardi Gras) but then when Denmark turned Protestant the holiday became secular, but it still falls on the Sunday or Monday before Shrove Tuesday. A big factor is Fastelavn is beating the cat in the barrel. The story I have heard from this is that they would take the black cat away from witches and by essentially killing it by beating the crap out of the barrel they were destroying the evil and witchcraft. Thankfully, the cat is now replaced with candy and oranges, but I decided that my backup costume of being a black cat would not be a very good idea for Fastelavn like it is for Halloween in the states.

The main reason for this post is that in the next 3 days I have 2 midterms and 2 Fastelavn parties without having done much studying, no clean laundry, and no costume. I shouldn't be that stressed out, but it really is just as big of a deal here as Halloween is in America but it did not occur to me to care about it until a few days ago. The plan is to go to practicum tomorrow, come home and study until I am an expert on the Danish language and Hans Christian Andersen's entire life, sleep. Wake up on Friday, get an A on my Danish Test, go to Tiger to find some sort of animal ears/fairy wings, go home throw some laundry in the machine, go back to school and get an A on my HCA test, go home finish laundry, party for 2 days straight in whatever beautiful costume I have created.

I made cookies tonight but when I went to Føtex to buy vanilla extract I left it at the register (oh the joys of packing your own groceries) so I used vanilla sugar instead because that is what Danes normally use (it is also what they put in my favorite Danish Christmas cookie ever). I have used vanilla sugar before in recipes that have called for it and it has been fine. These cookies leave a weird bitter aftertaste in my mouth that I am SURE is from the vanilla. Everyone else loves them but I am unsettled. They started joking that I am pregnant so my taste is off, this made me remember that there are worse things than making funny tasting cookies. Not that having a baby is the worst thing ever, but another time for another thing. (Parents, are you sufficiently freaked out?)

Today I went to the open prison. I think I have been in Denmark too long because I just kinda accepted it without the shock we were supposed to experience. Eh, inmates cooking unsupervised with 10 inch knives, whatevs. Of course they can, it's DENMARK.

I bought my ticket to go to Munich, it was more expensive than I wanted. I am planning my Spring and I have decided to let go of the thought of going to Austria and Slovenia, just Prague and Istanbul for me. I think I have traveled enough that I can justify that I have fully experienced backpacking around Europe and taking trains and all that jazz. I also have decided to not come home when my school is over. I get 14 days after my visa expires before they kick me out of the country and I think I am going to go to all the places in Denmark I have been neglecting. I want to get to Berlin and Oslo but do not know if those weekend trips will be happening. Getting SO excited to see my family, but also getting REALLY stressed out.