Fastelavn!

Today is Denmark's version of Carnival called "Fastelavn." I got to celebrate the day the traditional way with Lisbeth and friends in Dragør, but I will explain that later. First, I want to share some pictures from my short study tour to Western Denmark. On the first day of the tour (Thursday) we went to ARoS modern art museum in the morning and spent the afternoon at Aarhus University listening to a lecture about happiness across cultures. I had a very proud Minnesotan moment during the lecture when the speaker, Christian Bjornskov, was talking about trust and happiness in the United States. He showed us a graph where the x-axis was trust level and the y-axis was happiness level. All of the states were sort of chunked together in the middle except for the Midwest states (and New Hampshire?), which were much higher on both happiness and trust. Minnesota was one of the few states that could be read clearly because it was all on its own way at the top. My classmates (who are almost all from the East coast) asked me after class what Minnesota's deal was and I was happy to explain all of the many reasons why it's the best state :)

Some of the girls in my class in "Your Rainbow" at ARoS

"Boy" 

Andy Warhol Originals! 

Edvard Munch exhibit

We stayed overnight in little cabins in the woods at a hostel in Skanderborg, Denmark. On Friday we visited a bank in Middelfart that has been named "Denmark's Happiest Workplace" several years in a row. We learned about how the bank does not follow a traditional hierarchical management style. Instead, Middelfart Sparekasse uses "self-management," which gives its employees a lot more freedom to make decisions on their own. It made me excited for my internship this summer because it sounds like I will have the freedom to tackle my projects in my own, unique way.

On Friday night, we stayed in a different hostel in Aarhus and got to see the town by night! Then on Saturday we visited Aarhus University again to hear a lecture about how mindfulness and meditation can be beneficial to your health. We heard a professor speak about his research on meditation's effects on cancer patients. At the end of the session we had the opportunity to follow a guided meditation. It was a very fun but exhausting trip. I did not mind the four hour bus ride home because I slept the entire way :)

NOW FOR TODAY!

As I mentioned earlier, today is Fastelavn. In a way it is like Halloween. Little kids dress up and go knocking on doors and singing songs. However, instead of candy they get money! Lisbeth said when Emma and Josephine were little they would sometimes come home with 600 kr, which is over $100! Lisbeth took me, Annie, Anna and Leah to an old fisherman's village called Dragør to celebrate the day. Dragør is perhaps the cutest little town I have ever seen. It is filled with tiny yellow houses that are located right by the water. In the olden days, Fastelavn was celebrated by putting a black cat inside a barrel and then taking turns hitting it with a bat until the barrel broke and the cat fell out--very humane, I know. Black cats were seen as a symbol of the devil and the tradition was supposed to ward off evil. Thankfully, Denmark has adapted their tradition a little and now schoolchildren hit barrels filled with candy rather than kittens. In Dragør we gathered with a huge crowd of families to watch men and women on horses take turns beating a colorful barrel until there was nothing left of it. It was quite the cultural experience and we all agreed that we felt very foreign. The man and woman who break down the barrel are crowned the "cat king" and "cat queen." They were awarded little trophies and their horses were given special wreaths. I'm so happy that we went to Dragør and were able to experience this silly old tradition. Oh, I can't believe I almost forgot to mention the special treats that Danes make today called Fastelavnsboller. They are buns filled with vanilla cream and almonds and are topped with chocolate frosting. Yes, they are as good as they sound. Lisbeth made them for me and my friends and they were positively delicious!