Ordinary life takes on a unique twist for me because of living outside of the United States. I can't help but make observations of what is the same and sometimes different about living here. I like this process. It's good for the 'type A' part of my personality to realize that something can be different without being better or worse than what I'm used to...just different.
Haircuts are part of the ordinary, but here they've become an event. Travis needed one a few weeks ago and was shocked to learn from co-workers that they typically cost between 400 to 1,000 kroner (about $80 to $200). They told him he might find a good deal at 200 kroner. Travis is a man who doesn't even go to "Great Clips" without a coupon! So when he found a place that advertised a cut for 150 he went for it. Turns out two guys from Lebanon own the place. Trav definitely got his money's worth. He won't need another cut for a long time!
Ben lost a tooth recently. He was pretty excited to find out there's a tooth fairy in Denmark, too! At home, the tooth fairy always brings a dollar and takes the tooth. We thought the Danish tooth fairy was pretty generous because she left him 10 kroner, which is about $2. Ben learned from the neighbor, however, that he got ripped off because in Denmark the tooth fairy is supposed to leave 20 kroner and a small gift!
I recently started volunteering at my boys' school. I help organize books in the library and also spend time leading reading groups in the first grade classroom. I really enjoy this. When Ben learned I would be volunteering there he said, "Good! Finally you'll have something to do all day!" I decided to just smile rather than provide him with a list of what I actually do all day. Reading with these little kids is charming! I love hearing their accents. I learned recently that there are children from 59 different countries at my boys' school. It's so awesome to mingle with these cute kids from everywhere. In Ben's classroom, I noticed a map that has a pin in each country where a student is from. Ben is not only the only American in his class, he is the only student from the entire western hemisphere! He's learning much more than math and reading skills this year; they all are. Ben's classroom study unit this month is titled "Different People, Similar Lives." They have had representatives from the Chinese, Japanese, and Australian Embassies come to their classroom and make presentations and provide some cool interactive learning experiences. In addition, they are learning Danish history, specifically about King Christian IV (ruled from 1588 to 1648 and is one of the Danes' favorite monarchs). As part of this history lesson, they rode the train into Copenhagen to visit the Rosenborg Castle (built 1606 and house of the crown jewels of Denmark). I just love this kind of education!
Jared and Grant played soccer in an International School Football Tournament. This was a new and fun experience for them as neither has ever played on a soccer team before. I love that they were sincerely welcomed onto their teams, even by the highly experienced players. There seems to be a non-competitive sense of playing sports for fun that allows the top players to play alongside the inexperienced ones. Maurie has found the same positive experience on her select soccer team here. I have to admit it's refreshing. After being at the tournament for a few hours, Grant asked, "Why is everyone speaking English?" I reminded him that everyone there was from an international school. We had to chuckle about how strange it was to be surrounded by only English.
While watching games at the tournament, I got into a conversation with a lady from Kenya. She has traveled all over the world and has some of the most interesting experiences! I was surprised to learn she has never traveled to the United States. I asked if she would ever like to go there and she explained that she would love to visit the U.S. but that she wouldn't be allowed to with her Kenyan passport. I found it so strange to realize that this friendly, pleasant person would not be able to come into the U.S. because of where she was born.
Jared and Grant have joined an international troop of the Boy Scouts of America that meets in Copenhagen every week. The troop is completely boy-led, with adult leaders who act merely as advisers. It's interesting to be part of a different troop and experience the way they do things. Jared has completed his last required merit badge now and is looking for an opportunity to do his Eagle project. Grant is working toward the rank of Tenderfoot.
One goofy but hard to overlook observation is that school playgrounds don't have nearly so many safety precautions here as they do in the States. In fact, we went swimming at an indoor pool and found the same relaxed style of supervision there, too. We played king-of-the floaty and didn't get whistled at by a lifeguard once! Playgrounds here have small trampolines, high climbing toys, and even little zip-lines. I've asked some of our Danish friends about this and they simply explain that if a child gets hurt he or she won't do the same thing again. Schools here also have no security from the public. When I approach my boys' school, I walk first through the playground--which is right next to the parking lot--where there are often children and no adults outside. I then go into the school and can walk into any classroom without ever "checking in" or getting a visitor badge at the office.
Maurie's school experience is quite different from that of our boys'. One explanation is because of the age of the students (15-20 years old), another because it's a Danish school rather than an international one. The school work is pretty rigorous, with 9 different classes. She had oral exams last week. That's the Danish way. She went into a classroom with two teachers and they interviewed her about natural science for 15 minutes. Then they gave her a grade on the spot. She's working very hard in school and has fun planning alternative (meaning non-smoking and non-drinking) parties with her friends.
The fall here has been beautiful! There are several areas of what we call "the woods" near our home. I love riding my bike or going for a run through these woods. This time of year, especially, they are gorgeous. As I write this, the leaves are now down off the trees, but even this is beautiful. Although surrounded by city, it's a serene place to see red squirrels or an occasional deer and walk through the thick crunchy carpet of red leaves. I made my boys join me for a bike ride through the woods one day. They weren't too thrilled about the idea at first but ended up having a great time. We made a huge pile of leaves to jump into and ride bikes through.
I know it's old news now, but we had fun celebrating Halloween. I didn't think we would have Halloween here, but Denmark has sort of adopted Halloween over the last decade. Our neighbors explained that they take their daughters trick-or-treating, but that they never did that as kids themselves. Only the scary side of Halloween has made it over here, unfortunately, so when Jared showed up to a school Halloween dance dressed as a nerd, nobody understood his costume. They told him he was supposed to be something scary. He tried to explain that, as an American, he knows a thing or two about how Halloween works, but no one bought it. He was a zombie for the next Halloween party a few days later. As is our tradition, we made homemade donuts for Halloween. We invited a few Danish friends over. Donuts are an American thing, so they thought it was pretty fun to make and flavor their own. It was fun sharing our family Halloween tradition. (But we couldn't help missing our usual peeps.) Trick-or-treating was very similar to in the U.S. They even say "trick-or-treat" at the door. But the majority of homes still don't participate so the amount of candy is drastically less. Much of the candy was salted, black licorice, which the Danes LOVE, and at least half of it was not wrapped.
There seems to be a lot of general interest in America here, at least with the young people. I see people wear clothes with the American flag printed on them and brands originally popular in America, too. And, of course, American movies and music are huge here. My kids are often asked questions, and comments are often made about how something they do, say, or wear is "so American." For example, comments are made about how "American" their lunches are--brought in brown bags with white bread sandwiches, chips, and ziplock baggies. Sometimes this curiosity is positive and fun, other times it's a little negative and stereotypes Americans. My kids have also been asked questions about guns. Danes are amazed that guns are so available in the U.S. They're curious about this, but seem to mostly disagree with it. Jared's friends asked him if he'd ever
seen a gun. He said yes. They ventured to ask if he had ever actually
held a gun before, and were amazed when he told them he had
shot one before.
Religion is not typically a part of Danish culture. One of Maurie's friends asked her if she actually goes to church every week. Maurie said yes. Her friend was amazed and then asked how long church lasts. Maurie said three hours. Her friend couldn't believe it and said, "That's so American!" Maurie tried to explain that it's really not American. Then the friend said, "No. I mean just going to church is so American." I've learned the Danes are predominantly protestant but don't actually attend church except for Christmas and momentous life events, such as a first communion.
Our adventures with food have become less adventurous and more familiar now. We've finally figured it out. We can now make all our usual meals--that don't include cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup--and we've even learned how to make a few new things! Travis is the most adventurous and has mastered Swedish meatballs, French Ratatoille, and some killer french bread. Our friend, Ann-Mari who is a half-American Dane, has helped us figure out how to buy a few of the hard things. Some things Google translate just couldn't help me with: baking soda and whipping cream, for example. And she taught me how to use wet yeast instead of the dry we have in the States. Tortillas are very expensive here but are something the Roths cannot live without, so we've learned to make our own. That's the way it's done here. Stores are small and there is very little variety. You learn to eat that way and make everything else you want from scratch. I haven't been able to find black beans for quite a while (refried beans don't exist here). I asked Ann-Mari about it because I bought some when we first moved here. She told me they are a "spot" item, meaning they are only available ocassionally. Guess I should have stocked up when I had the chance! Produce works the same way. We only get what is currently in season. When plums and nectarines are out of season, for example, you can't find them...anywhere. It's not like U.S. grocery stores where you can get almost any kind of produce year-round if your willing to pay for it. My final observation about food is that the Danes eat a very healthy diet. When kids or teenagers have an activity where snacks are served, it's carrots, cucumbers, fruit, etc. Sugar and fat has an additional tax at the grocery store. There is one very small area of the store for chips where only a few kinds can be found. I've seen only about 4 different flavors of soda.
Our ward hosted a Pancake breakfast recently. We were asked to prepare American pancakes. There were also French (crepe with lemon and sugar), Danish (crepe with jam and sugar), Mexican (breakfast burrito), Albanian (crepe with nutella and banana), and Mesopotamian (layered bread with feta and olives) pancakes. It was really fun to try pancakes from these different places. French, Danish, Albanian, and American pancakes are considered to be dessert and not actually food.
During a three day youth activity, we had three boys stay with Jared at our home. We served pancakes for breakfast one day, which they were super excited about because, to them, it's like eating dessert for breakfast. I made an American mistake when I set the table, however. I put out only forks and no knives. The Danes always eat with a knife and fork, one in each had at all times...it's actually super convenient. Anyway, after the prayer, the boys put pancakes on their plates and then just sat there staring at them. It took me a minute to realize that without a knife they had no idea how to eat the pancakes!
The Danes are very punctual people. Whether for business appointments, birthday parties, or dinner arrangements, they always arrive on time and--in the case of kids being picked up from a birthday party--leave on time. I once had a family call to apologize that they would be five minutes late for dinner.
Our bus route to the boys' school and Travis's work was cancelled last week. Grr! This has made things rather inconvenient. Now I drive them to and from the train station each morning and afternoon. They ride the train together and then ride two different buses to get to work and school. Jared had a fun adventure on his first attempt at getting home by himself. He got on the wrong train, one which doesn't stop at our station, so flew right by. He called me from a station 30 minutes south of ours. Poor kid. He handled it well, though. He just got off at the very first stop he could and called me. Thankfully, he wasn't asked for his ticket because he was way outside of his zones. The fines here are hefty and there is no mercy for "not knowing" something about using public transportation. He ended up waiting for a ride for over an hour in the cold, which he said may have finally cured him of wearing shorts in the winter. (He has quite a reputation here for wearing shorts. People think he's crazy. Here people actually dress for the weather because they have to be out in it, unlike Americans who are always in and out of warm cars or buildings.) He also learned how to read the monitor before hopping onto a train. :) Two life lessons in one day...a good experience.
You can always tell when someone is having a birthday, because they're house is decorated with Danish flags. Even bushes and hedges will have little flags poked into them. Danish flags are used to celebrate anything good and any fun event. In keeping with this tradition, but personalizing it a bit, Trav's co-workers decorated his desk with American flags on his birthday. They also sang him the three verse Danish happy birthday song. They love to celebrate! The song is a cute, cheery tune and the only words I can understand are the ones for "congratulations" and hoping the birthday person gets lots of chocolate.
A few weeks ago, our ward had it's primary program. All the children sang and some gave short talks about gospel topics. Grant was asked to speak for two minutes about the Priesthood. He spoke and looked like a young man up there. He also played a piano solo during the meeting. He did such a great job on both! Ben gave a one minute talk about baptism. When he began, the audience chuckled quietly. I imagine they were charmed by his cute, little voice speaking English. (Just as I am when I hear little people speaking Danish.) I was really proud of Ben. He was very nervous to give a talk in front of the entire congregation. I so appreciate the effort made by members of the church to include our family in every activity and responsibility that comes with being a member. We feel very much a part of the ward and are so grateful for the warm friendship we have felt. I love that they asked my boys to speak--Maurie and Jared have both given talks, as well--even though we only speak English.
In the short time we've been here, we've had the opportunity to attend a baptism and a funeral. The baptism was a wonderful, happy occasion. The person baptized was an Iranian man. He has made tremendous personal sacrifices to choose to be baptized into a Christian faith. I felt the Spirit so powerfully during his baptism. It was a remarkable experience. The funeral was equally memorable as I was so touched by the service. There was no translation for this meeting, but I could clearly understand the feelings of the Spirit. I listened and joined in as the congregation sang Danish hymns of praise to our Heavenly Father. The death of the young woman was a tragedy, but these Danes met it with faith and hope. It was beautiful.
The boys found a few interesting stores to pass the time and finally we all enjoyed some tasty kartoffelpuffers, which are German potato pancakes (deep fried and served with applesauce). 
The Museum of Natural History (Senckenberg Naturmuseum) was our next stop. It's right downtown Frankfurt inside of a beautiful old building and is a really impressive museum. It has HUGE life size dinosaurs and really cool, interactive geological displays. Our family has lots of different ages in it, but everyone found plenty to be interested in. 
In the main square we enjoyed the shops and foods of the Christmas market. Tree ornaments, cuckoo clocks, candles, crepes, a foot long bratwurst, chocolate covered strawberries...we enjoyed them all! 
We found a great little Italian restaurant for some pasta and pizza and then drove on to Hammelburg. 
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