Ice Skating and Vejleå Kirke

Hej! My week was pretty uneventful with classes and class socials, but I've had an enjoyable weekend! Last night I watched handball with some friends and saw Denmark beat Croatia! I'm still not entirely sure of the rules, but it's really fun to watch. 

Cecilie's birthday was last week, so Maibritt threw her a little party on Saturday. The Danes like to have their flag present when celebrating birthdays (as you can see on the table below). I was on the train last weekend when a group of girls paraded through doing a Conga line and holding Danish flags for one of the girls' birthdays. Pretty neat tradition!

After a delicious cake with fruit and whipped cream, we headed out to the ice rink. Apparently, Danes don't really have large feet because I got the biggest size they had (size 44), and they were a little snug. For those who know me well, I have absolutely horrible balance, ice skates and me isn't the best combination! I somehow managed not to fall the whole time, but I know I looked pretty ridiculous wobbling around the ice rink. It was a lot of fun though! Cecilie and her friend were doing really well and could probably have skated circles around me! 

After we finished skating, we came back and played Twister in Danish! That was a pretty fun experience. I kept mixing up my lefts and rights (venstre og højre), so I got more twisted than I should have. Each round would end with one of us getting so twisted that we would fall to the ground laughing. It was an awesome leg work out!

This morning I went to Vejleå Kirke in Ishøj, which I think was Lutheran. I got lost on my way there and ended up on the wrong side of the train tracks, I couldn't find my way to the other side, and when I finally did, I ended up in a mall somehow. I think it's safe to say that I have absolutely no sense of direction! I didn't get to take any pictures of the kirke, but it was beautiful in the simplistic Danish way. The walls were white with large, circular  chandeliers hanging to add a soft glow to the sunlit sanctuary. The floors and pews were made of a light, tan wood (and I actually had sufficient leg room, Mom!). The service was entirely in Danish, but it was still beautiful to see! There was a lot of singing, and I tried to follow along in the song book. I did recognize a couple of words! The only work I could understand in the sermon was fødselssdag, which means birthday. The priest said it a couple of times, so I'm assuming it had something to do with Christmas or Epiphany? By the way, the priests wear the old fashioned garb (see below), which is pretty awesome to see, especially since the priest today was a woman! I got communion during the service, which was pretty cool. 

I got communion during the service, which was pretty cool. Everyone went to the front kneelers, and they had fancy little cups for the priest to pour the wine into. I didn't realize they were upside down until I saw other people turn theirs over, but at least I didn't complete that faux pas!