My Hyggelit Semester in Danmark: Glædelig jul fra København!

which means Merry Christmas from Copenhagen!

The snow outside my house!

Since it's the first of December, I believe it's officially Christmas. The house is decorated, my favorite carols are on repeat, and there's snow. lots and lots of snow. I'm currently snuggled up on a couch drinking tea, eating chocolate, and relaxing with my host parents, after two very hygge days taking full advantage of Copenhagen's christmas cheer.
Yesterday I had no class in the afternoon, so I went with my two friends Taylor and Vicki on an exploration through the city. We began with the Christmas market in Gammeltorv, the square literally down the street from my school (bad idea). We got irish coffees to warm us up, wandered through the cute displays, and headed down Strøget, looking at all the beautifully decorated shops (okay, and maybe stopping in a few of them...) before reaching Kongens Nytorv, covered in snow and home to the Nyhavn Christmas market, which was even more beautiful.

Kongens Nytorv, with snow

Jul i Nyhavn! Me and Vicki outside the market

We found Santa!

Despite my host dad informing me that, with wind chill, the temperature was around -4 degrees fahrenheit, aka the coldest I have ever been in my life, the three of us were determined to proceed. Copenhagen's iconic Little Mermaid statue had been in Shanghai for the entire semester, on loan to an exhibition fair, but we heard that she had returned to her spot in the Copenhagen harbor last Monday. So we faced the frigid winds (and conclusively determined that it is, in fact, much windier by the water) and found Den Lille Havfrue, as she's called in Danish. We took some pictures and retreated to a nearby cafe for tea, coffee, and scones.

Vicki, Taylor and I in front of the Little Mermaid!

Den Lille Havfrue and I

The Citadel (next to the Little Mermaid) at dusk

After defrosting our extremities, we headed out again. Taylor and I later decided that Danes must be at least slightly masochistic to live in this environment, but I think we all embraced that mentality since we were outside for about 6 hours in total yesterday. This time, Vicki had to leave to meet her host family in the city, so Taylor and I headed out on our own to Tivoli, all decked out for Christmas. We arrived right before sundown and it was stunning. So many lights and decorations! Despite the freezing cold, we wandered through every street at least twice, looking in the little stores and wondering how people could be crazy enough to go on some of the rides in this weather. We finally gave in around 7 and went to an indoor (heated!) cafe, where we had a sumptuous dessert of hjertswaffel (heart-shaped waffles topped with soft ice and chocolate sauce), æbleskiver (kind of like a pancake puff, normally covered in powdered sugar and some kind of red berry sauce), and gløgg (hot spiced wine, normally with raisins and almond slices in the bottom). Everything was fantastic, very danish, and very hyggelig- not to mention Christmasy!

Tivoli Christmas decorations!

Nimb in Tivoli

the Tivoli Lake

We found an igloo!

Hjertewaffel, aebleskiver, and gløgg!

After stuffing ourselves and warming up, we headed to our respective homes, but only for about 15 hours before meeting again in Lyngby, a nice-sized town between where our two host families live. Lyngby has a very nice (albeit confusing) mall and many adorable boutiques. Taylor and I started with the mall, her getting a pair of Danish boots as an early christmas present, and me investing in a solid winter coat (windproof and hooded!) which I have sorely needed these past two days.
We were pretty hungry by the time we had meandered through the extravagantly decorated 'Storcenter,' so we stopped at a nearby Chicken Sandwich store for club sandwiches, soda, and french fries, all of which we ordered in Danish! Our teacher Christina would have been so proud. We then wandered around a little bit more before I had to get on the train to head back home.

with my new (hooded!) coat in front of the sandwich shop

I got home around 2:30 to find my host mom, host dad, and host sister Maja ready to go on a cross-country skiing adventure... in our neighborhood. Literally. We walked to the end of the driveway, put on our skis, and set off. And to give this the context it deserves, I'm going to digress for a minute. I'm not exactly a winter sport person, I'm more of a watch-winter-sports-while-sitting-inside-by-a-fire-with-hot-chocolate kind of person. Blame my mom. But that's the way it is and I don't mind. Or I didn't until freshman year of college, when my roommate Carroll (the one oded to twice before) decided we should go skiing one friday on a school-sponsored trip. Since I had never been skiing before I thought it sounded great, and next thing I know, I'm on skis I have NO control of, on an icy slope in West Virginia. To sum that trip up, I return with numerous hideous and enormous bruises that take weeks to heal, a bruised ego, and the memory of accidentally skiing into a group of snowboarders. All of this was accomplished without making it to an actual slope, for which I am in fact rather proud of myself.
With this in mind, I was understandably nervous at the prospect of going cross-country skiing with my host family. But I had a fantastic time! I only fell 5 times (better than expected), and am nursing minor abrasions/bruises, mainly on my knees, butt, and self-esteem. But my host dad said that I did a surprisingly good job, and of course took lots of embarrassing pictures to document the occasion. I think we might even be going again this weekend! 'Tis the season, after all...