Jeg er enogtyve!!

I am twenty-one!! Finally.


Well it is official ladies and gentleman I have finally reached that magical, mythical age of 21, and how does it feel you ask? Honestly not much different simply because I have been living in Europe for the past 7 months, buzz-kill right?! However when I go back to the states I have a feeling it is going to be weird the first time I get carded. So as promised in a previous post I will recount my danish "fødselsdag" festivities.


The morning started off early with a certain someone singing a very cute danish birthday song about chocolate milk and cake, it goes like this:

I dag er det Sams fødselssdag 

Hurra, hurra, hurra! 

Hun sikkert sig en gave får 

som hun har ønsket sig i år 

med dejlig chokolade og kager til

Translation:

Today is Sam's birthday 
Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! 
She'll probably get a present 
For which she has been wishing 
All with tasty chocolate and cakes

While eating breakfast I made some birthday Skype calls to my mom and dad. It was really strange not seeing my parents on my birthday, the first time I believe. And after Martin left for work I cleaned myself up for class. No I am not lying, I did in fact go to class... well for the first hour at least! I simply had too many errands to run before my little party at 17:00.

With my wallet full of danish kroner from my Mom, Dad, and Grandmother I commenced my shopping adventure on Strøget. Before I set out on this mission I promised myself that I was only going to buy things that are unique to Copenhagen, so that meant no Urban Outfitters or H&M. My first stop was Georg Jensen, who was a Danish silversmith in the late 19th century, and today his collection is sold worldwide and is like a danish Tiffany's, in my opinion. After some researching online I had decided that I was definitely going to buy something from the 'Daisy' collection, designed for the reigning Queen Margrethe II. I could not decide between a pendant necklace or a ring; for Christmas Martin gave me a pair of earrings that I absolutely love. After trying both on, consulting the friendly girl helping me (who had the strongest Australian accent! Danes tend to be like chameleons when it comes to their English accents I find), and doing a fair amount of talking to myself (I tend to do that when making decisions) I purchased a sterling silver ring!

The next stop, which is conveniently just down the way, was Nørgaard på Strøget, a beautiful ivy covered store which sells clothing from the Danish designer Mads Nørgaard. I bought a really nice wool sweater that has colorful diagonal stripes, very danish looking. I had seen it on his website under the new spring collection and was happy to see that it was even cuter in person... and on me! *for a picture see the last picture and video in this post*

Although I had only spent about a quarter of min fødselsdag penge, or "birthday money," I decided to call it a day on the shopping and avoid hasty purchases that I would later regret. Plus I had received an SMS from Amager Blomster (a flower shop near where I live) saying that I had some flowers that needed to be picked up!But three days later I went to Field's (Scandinavia's largest shopping mall) and bought a Fjällräven backpack (in Ox Red) and a Bodum French Press, the coffee press is Danish but I strayed from the theme on the backpack but hey Sweden is close!

To my great surprise I had a beautiful basket of flowers from my parents waiting for me at Amager Blomster! The first of three flowers that I got on my birthday... I love how full of color they make my room, especially in this bleak Copenhagen winter. I returned home just a few minutes before Martin who had a dozen or so gorgeous red tulips with him. Pressed a bit for time, I quickly immersed them in some water and we rushed off hand-in-hand to Netto to acquire the ingredients necessary for a real Danish Fødselsdag. But not before he informed me of what my birthday gift was... a plane ticket to Paris in the spring! He has never been and we have often been day dreaming about drinking (bottles) of wine with cheese and baguette on the banks of the Seine - and soon those daydreams will be a wondrous reality. 


At Netto we bought Lagkage "layered cake", Fødselsdag Boller "birthday buns", and Varm Chokolade med fløde "hot chocolate w/ cream." Martin and I made all these delightful things before my guests started arriving, it was good fun except for the fact I could not seem to follow instructions haha!

Lagkage or "Layered Cake" with bananas & raspberries

Then around 17:00 people started arriving to my kitchen in Tietgen. My guests included Martin's Aunt Mette, his best friend Nikolaj and his girlfriend Erika, Vanessa, Katinka, Frederik, Sofie & Oliver. It was a nice little gathering and very very hyggeligt*see next post for video*


Once the candles were extinguished by yours truly, we indulged in the decadent birthday feast, which might I say had zero nutritional value... oh well, fødselsdag only comes once a year! While digesting the massive amounts of sugar we had just consumed, my friend Katinka suggested that I partake in another danish tradition. I stood on top of a chair and waited there while everyone else whispered "hoorah" 20 times and then on the loud 21st "hoorah" I jumped off the chair and into a new year in my life. See next post for the video, and feel free to marvel at my mad jumping skills. Also you can tell that I am nervous, as I play with the danish flag next to me haha!

After the dishes had been washed, the left over lagkage wrapped up, and final "tillykke med fødselsdagen" or "happy birthday" uttered, myself and Martin were starved for some real food, of which we had none that day. We had a very danish meal of leverpostej, mushrooms and pickled beets all on top of rugbrød or "rye bread." And in true 21st birthday fashion, in the states at least, we decided to brave the cold sub-zero winds and biked to my favorite café/bar Bang og Jensen. Although I was not carded it was still fun to take a picture with my first legal drink and say "Hey I am 21 and I can drink!" Being a Monday night the bar was deserted but it was really cozy with all the candles, the music and the snow fluttering outside the window. We almost closed the place down as Martin and I leisurely drank our beers and talked about everything and anything. 

It was a perfect birthday in Copenhagen and certainly one to remember. Not because of the drunken stupor, the fact that I got carded for the first time or the infamous 21 bar crawl; but because of the new traditions I got to experience and the new friends who celebrate min 21st fødselsdag with me. Vi ses!