Bonfire
Throughout the week Kendrick and I have encountered males and females wearing these little white sailor caps with red bills. These hats are not just part of a massive tacky fad as we assumed, but they represent that the bearer has graduated high school (I believe they get International Baccalaureates here). On Friday there were a lot of trucks running through town decorated with tree branches, ribbons, and english and danish signs. In the back there would be a group of rowdy, whistle toting, sailor capped teenagers.
The local adults wave indulgently at the youths.
I also discovered that on Friday night the Danes would celebrate the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. Apparently there would be bonfires all over the country, but every time I asked a Dane what they would burn on the bonfire, they would simply reply, "witches!". And then they would smile coyly.
On Friday night, in search of bonfire celebrations, Kendrick, Jordi and I went to Østerboro park with one of Kendrick's Dutch coworkers Marritt and her two weekend visitors. It had just gotten dark, at 10:30 or so. The park was dotted with candles surrounded by groups of well behaved teens. There was a small bandstand with a strange rock band of sorts and of course beer and popcorn kiosks. It wasn't very happening. There was a group of Ethiopians who were drumming, that was really cool, but only a few of the surroundings Danes were bopping along; primarily using ballroom and pop moves. The bonfire itself was rather small and unimpressive. More like a campfire.
We left the strange scene and met up with Cesar and Virginie. We convinced them that Bonfire was an event worth passing over, and Cesar enthusiastically endorsed a nearby cafe he had heard about called Park. Eventually we learned that the full name was actually Park NightClub but by the time we discovered that it wasn't exactly a cafe, Maritt had already given up all the beer and pop in her backpack and four people had paid cover. (jordi was puzzled over the concept of cover). We had no choice but to go in, finding it to be a small club with a sprinkling of customers sitting around watching an empty dance floor. DOH!! After a few drinks, we all loosened up and made some trips to the dance floor. Cesar and Kendrick eventually joined when the salsa numbers came up. The DJ then inexplicably switch the music to Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson, to the delight of Virginie (retro lover). At that moment, somebody yanked my arm. It was a really drunk, dark haired Dane would was trying to dance with me. He started to salsa to Smooth Criminal. His spins were clumsy and socket jolting, but he really really wanted to dance. I was amused, Cesar and Virginie were amused, and Kendrick was extremely amused. At the end he kissed my hand, and then kissed my engagement ring, and gave me a bow.
We decided to leave after that, walking all the way back to the Hotel. The night was cool and comfortable and the company was pleasant. The sky was already getting some light by then time we crawled into bed, at 2:30am.
The local adults wave indulgently at the youths.
I also discovered that on Friday night the Danes would celebrate the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. Apparently there would be bonfires all over the country, but every time I asked a Dane what they would burn on the bonfire, they would simply reply, "witches!". And then they would smile coyly.
On Friday night, in search of bonfire celebrations, Kendrick, Jordi and I went to Østerboro park with one of Kendrick's Dutch coworkers Marritt and her two weekend visitors. It had just gotten dark, at 10:30 or so. The park was dotted with candles surrounded by groups of well behaved teens. There was a small bandstand with a strange rock band of sorts and of course beer and popcorn kiosks. It wasn't very happening. There was a group of Ethiopians who were drumming, that was really cool, but only a few of the surroundings Danes were bopping along; primarily using ballroom and pop moves. The bonfire itself was rather small and unimpressive. More like a campfire.
We left the strange scene and met up with Cesar and Virginie. We convinced them that Bonfire was an event worth passing over, and Cesar enthusiastically endorsed a nearby cafe he had heard about called Park. Eventually we learned that the full name was actually Park NightClub but by the time we discovered that it wasn't exactly a cafe, Maritt had already given up all the beer and pop in her backpack and four people had paid cover. (jordi was puzzled over the concept of cover). We had no choice but to go in, finding it to be a small club with a sprinkling of customers sitting around watching an empty dance floor. DOH!! After a few drinks, we all loosened up and made some trips to the dance floor. Cesar and Kendrick eventually joined when the salsa numbers came up. The DJ then inexplicably switch the music to Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson, to the delight of Virginie (retro lover). At that moment, somebody yanked my arm. It was a really drunk, dark haired Dane would was trying to dance with me. He started to salsa to Smooth Criminal. His spins were clumsy and socket jolting, but he really really wanted to dance. I was amused, Cesar and Virginie were amused, and Kendrick was extremely amused. At the end he kissed my hand, and then kissed my engagement ring, and gave me a bow.
We decided to leave after that, walking all the way back to the Hotel. The night was cool and comfortable and the company was pleasant. The sky was already getting some light by then time we crawled into bed, at 2:30am.
posted by Gina at 4:52 PM
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