Advent Calendar

	Advent Calendar - Day 10a
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	Denmark Once a year, Denmark is over run by a host of little folk known as nisser. What do you think they can be? Answer

Denmark, like Norway, is a Scandinavian country. They too have little folk. They have pixies.

Like the Norway barn elf, the pixies in Denmark have a tendency to misbehave if they do not get their way, and so for generations Danish children have been keeping them happy with bowls of risengrød (rice porridge) hidden in the attic.

How do they know the pixies exist?
The only real proof is that somehow the porridge is gone the next morning!

With thanks to Amanda Vedsted Drejer, a 12 years old girl from Denmark, for providing the information on this page.

Christmas in Denmark is much about spending time together and have a good time.

Some people start decorating their houses in October! In my family we start a few days before December. Some people also decorate outside the building with light chains. Streets are also decorated. In the cities there is just light everywhere!

We always make a decoration with a candle in the middle. This special 'advent candle' has marks with numbers starting with 1 at the top and 24 at the bottom. You light them and only burn one 'day' at a time.

A few lucky kids get a little present every day in December from the pixies. But I only receive a present on each of the four Sundays in Advent ... As do my friends.

On the television, there is always a show with 24 episodes. One for each day in December and finishing on 24 December. This year its called: "Alletiders julemand" or "All good times of a Santa" in English.

The traditional food to eat just before Christmas are "æbleskiver". These are Danish spherical (ball shaped) pancakes.

Æbleskiver - spherical (ball shaped) pancakes

We have a traditional drink called Gløgg (Scandinavian mulled wine). It is a hot wine with lots of spices and raisins and almonds.

We celebrate Christmas on 24 December in the evening with a Christmas dinner for the whole family.

Christmas dinner consists of duck served with sweet and sour red cabbage and brown potatoes with a caramelised sugar glazing. A rich brown gravy (sauce) is poured over the meal. The duck is stuffed with apples and de-stoned prunes and jam or pickled cucumber.

For dessert (pudding) we eat risengrød (rice pudding) with cinnamon and butter. Mom (mum) puts a almond in one of the bowls and the person who finds the almond receives a little present.

Presents are kept under the Christmas tree and are traditionally unwrapped after dinner. Before opening the presents, we dance around the Christmas tree and sing Christmas songs. It is called dancing around the tree.

We get a lot of presents... Well .... I get a lot of presents ... Sometimes we just sit for three hours opening presents. So its 25 December before we go to bed.

On 25 December we celebrate the second day of Christmas. It is a day for visiting families. My family goes to my grandmothers house and play Bingo.

Father Christmas (Santa Claus) in Denmark is known as "Julemanden"

Where is Denmark?
Click here to find out