Here in Denmark everyone is Christmas-Crazy. No less than anywhere else, but in a different way. ;)
I was sick for the last week of november and when I came back on the 1st of December was I surprised by all the christmas decorations! Santas, stars, trees, etc. EVERYWHERE! It looked really christmasy!
This is Whinnie the Pooh dressed up as a fairy-princess. :D
In Denmark the families I have encountered don't have a traditional Adventskalender like we do in Germany with chocolate. The Danes have a Pakken Kalender which means every day one member of the family gets to pick out a small present and unwrap it that day.
It is a lot of fun and makes me even more excited for the big christmas day event. (Might try to convince my family at home to do this...)
The basket of goodies! :D
Pakken Kalender with the names of all the family members randomly assigned to one date.
In my kindergarden we have a Pakken Kalender for the kids as well. All the kids brought a small gift and hung it up inside and every day two kids are chosen who get to pick one of the presents. All the kids look really forward to being picked though some are sometimes sad they didn't get picked.
In addition to the Pakken Kalender the Danes have Nisser. They are a mix between elves/house guardian and in old times the Danes would appease the Nisser by leaving Milchreis out for them. If you didn't they would ruin your crops, let out your animals, etc. They were troublemakers if angered, but protected the house when pleased.
That's how I understood the explanation. :D
Anyway at my kindergarden we have two Nisser: Tiske and Taske. Two kids get to take one of them home and the parents then cause mischief, blaming the Nisse. The kids love having the Nisser over for a night and they bring them back to the kindergarden the next morning with a book where the parents wrote what mischief the Nisser did at home.
It's fun hearing the stories! XD
We also play Nisse with each other! ;)
At work everyone drew a name and then you became that persons Nisse. I've been having a lot of fun being a Nisse by pranking my "victim".
I even got had once. Today someone stuck a big, fat sticker to my back and I didn't even notice until the kids told me I had something on my back! I was so confused I thought I wasn't understanding them correctly, but lo and behold there was something on my back. XD
Something I drew for a certain Nisse. ;)
On monday we went to get a christmas tree with the kids. We went into the local forest and chopped down a christmas tree. We meaning Nicolai and Dennis of course. :D
We can't have it inside though because one of us is allergic to pine needles, but it looks lovely outside on the playground. :)
Chopping down a tree is hard work! ;)
Oh and on sunday I went for a walk with Mille and all the puddles and ponds were frozen over. It is getting mighty chilly here!
I might actually win our bet Rhaissa! :D
Yes, I was playing with frost, light and the table again. It's too much fun! :)
That's all for now!
Hope you all had a fantastic start into December! ;)
Sounds like such fun! Are "Tiske and Taske" common names for Nisse? That tradition of playing pranks sounds like a lot of fun - like April Fools, just over a longer period - do you play all during December, or just for a day? And some Germans do something like a Pakkenkalendar, you know... = )
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