Fastelavn

Carnival, or Fastelavn, is celebrated seven weeks before Easter and has something to do with cats in barrels, yummy treats and beating up the people you like … or something. Read the wikipedia entry here for a better description!

I guess one of the traditions is also dressing up as all the children (and the teachers too, it was FANTASTIC!) dressed up today (Fastelavn is on Sunday).

Hugo chose his own costume … it was a hard decision between Spider Man and a policeman.

Actually, this highlighted for me, one of the things I find difficult here. Everyone over the age of seven speaks English, but everything is written in Danish. There have been written notices on the board at preschool and I knew that it was something to do with Carnival but I had to ask one of the teachers what it said … everything is written in Danish, and I can generally work out some of what it’s saying (and a bit more, if I can use an online translator) but I still miss the detail. It actually makes me feel a bit stupid - which I’m not, really. I do get sick of having to ask, every time. And don’t get me started on official forms!