Hey, every body! This is Mary Cumpston blogging!
So I got season three of my favorite show iCarly while in Demark. And speaking of Denmark- how cool is that place? Now I am going to tell you all the events that took place in the Scandinavian island of snow called ‘Denmark.’ Denmark was discovered in… I have no idea, but any way when we first got there, they lost our luggage! So dumb! I fell asleep on the hard airport floor while facing a nauseating stomach ache. When I woke up, the airport people had just announced that our luggage would arrive “eventually.’ And it’d better because my mom doesn’t want to pay for a lawyer but I would love to sue the idiots at that airport! More importantly, I’d like to push them down and jump up and down on their faces and then use a fork to finish them off! Okay, I’m kidding about the forks, but I am really mad!
Anyway, we met our friends, Alfred and Karl, at the front gate right outside the snow, and you won’t believe what I saw then…a Burger King! It’s a big deal for someone like me, living in Africa, cut off from fast food. Everyone’s idea of fast food in Zim is mealy meal with butter! So when we got to Alfred and Karl’s, we went online, then fell asleep. We had plenty of time (3 days) to settle into their house which was rather small but very cozy. We visited the mall where I got a mango smoothie and a stuffed bear named ‘Bomsha’ which is Danish for pimple. I thought it was Danish for teddy bear, because it’s the same word but with a different accent. Whatever.
On Christmas Eve, we still didn’t have a tree but we did have one suitcase – mine. But that suitcase did not have the Christmas stuff we needed, like our favorite Christmas books and some of the presents and also some other stuff very important to my Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we had a very Danish Christmas. We did all their traditions at their relative’s house. Their relatives have a sweet nine year old daughter named Kya. She didn’t speak much English, but she’s still so sweet! In our Danish Christmas, we first had some rice porridge and dug through it for an almond which was only in some of our bowls. The ones with almonds got prizes. I won these glitter stickers which I used to make heart designs on my iPod touch (which I got from Santa.) We also did the dancing around the Christmas tree tradition and stuff like that, but we didn’t get the right suitcase by Christmas Eve and my Christmas was spoiled. Right before bed, me and Bryce got into a fight then I got really upset that we didn’t have the suitcase so I just cried myself to sleep. I enjoyed the activities but it just wasn’t Christmas. And this was the first ever Christmas that I woke up and didn’t want to get out of bed! I was really happy about the iPod but I was disappointed that we didn’t even have a tree! We had to put the presents under a paper tree that I drew. I got some great presents – a Make Up Models book, a stuffed dog named Pan – so cute, a Littlest Pet Shop Antarctica thing, and the iCarly DS game! I also got some cute clothes- blue tights from Justice, a plain blue ruffled skirt, and a lime green T shirt with little diamonds and may I say that Selena Gomez wore that same shirt in her music video for the song ‘Magic.’ Really! I got some great stuff for Christmas, just not a Christmassy Christmas. However, I got to eat McDonalds four times and go ice skating in Denmark.
How was your Christmas? I’m going to go to the Internet Café now to load the newest episodes of iCarly that I downloaded. Please watch iCarly on Nickelodeon cuz it rocks!
Bye from Mary!
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Tags: Burger King, ChristmasiCArly, denmark, mary
We have completed our first week back at school. It feels like it’s been a long one!
The weather has been beautiful! It’s hard to imagine we were in the cold and snow just over a week ago. It certainly is summer here.
Our trip was emotionally relatively easy; coming back to Africa was unexpectedly difficult! I felt Jeff’s absence everywhere I turned. Each sound and smell reminded me of him. Coming back to school I felt the vacuum he left behind. It feels like starting all over again on the grieving continuum.
On another note, Bryce broke his arm 2 days ago. He jumped out of a tree over the weekend and landed on it. It hurt, but there was no swelling, discoloration and he could move his fingers, wrist, elbow, etc. We watched it and it was feeling better each day. Then, Wednesday, he turned around funny and fell out of his chair at school . . . landed on the same wrist and it broke! Poor guy!
We had a truly African experience with it. The first place I took him was the Trauma Center, which was unable to help as there was no power. Ha! We then went on to the same hospital that Jeff went to after he broke his collar bone. It took about 3 hours, but they finally x-rayed him and put him in a plaster cast from his armpit to his fingers! They told us it would need to stay on for 6 weeks. The next day, yesterday, we went to the orthopedic surgeon who treated Jeff. He’s wonderful!!!! He explained Bryce’s break (a greenstick break) and removed the plaster cast. He replaced it with a fiberglass one from the elbow down. It needs to stay on for only 3 ½ weeks. Quite an improvement. Because of this, we have postponed Bryce’s birthday party until the cast comes off. (It was to be next Saturday; a swimming and water slide party. Not good for broken bones!)
Mary is doing well. She brought home a good report card for 1st semester, so we will have to celebrate. She has been working hard! She’s having some friends over tonight for a sleepover and iCarly party.
We’ve all been spoiled by the nice treats people have sent to us. We are eating some “exotic“ American treats (like Pop Tarts and spice packets,) enjoying American pop culture magazines (like Twist,) and watching some non-pirated DVDs (good quality!!!) Thank you all!!!
We are sitting here on Christmas morning, full from a good Danish breakfast (pancake-like things in the shape of balls!) and tired from a short night’s rest.
Yesterday we spent the day with our hosts’ family for a traditional Danish Christmas Eve. The day started with the kids decorating the Christmas tree. They then had us all sit down to eat rice porridge with an almond hidden in one of the bowls. The finder of the almond won a gift (somehow all the kids found almonds!) Each of the boys got whoopee cushions and the girls got jewel stickers. Mary would have preferred the whoopee cushion!
We then left the room while the adults lit real candles on the tree. Once they were lit, we came back in and held hands around the tree. Starting with the youngest, each person chose a song they’d like to sing, then everyone circled the tree while singing. The songs were in English (which everyone here speaks very well!) Danish, Swedish and Icelandic. Very cool. On the final song, everyone (19 people) sang as we snaked from room to room, holding hands. We all ended up in this tiny bathroom with people in the bathtub, on the toilet, everywhere! Then back to the tree and finished.
After awhile, the children received their Christmas gifts. Mary and Bryce did well watching all this while opening just one gift from me and one from Alfred and Karl. They wanted to wait for Christmas morning.
Dinner followed – duck, pork, red cabbage salad, carmelized and regular potatoes, a salad made of orange slices, pomegranate seeds, onions, olives and parsley, and apples. This was followed by more rice porridge, this time mixed with whipped cream and served with a cherry sauce, and of course – an almond hidden inside one. Bryce was the lucky finder of the almond and was given a gift – a magnifying glass and beautiful paper star!
Later on, the adults received their gifts. One man there is a teacher at a chef school and he made the most amazing chocolates and chocolate-marzipan cake. We ate till we were stuffed!
We finally headed back at around 10 p.m. We were all very tired. Although it was all very Christmas-y, it was also very foreign and the kids found that hard. In trying to make this Christmas so different I may have blown it – it was too different for them. They needed more sameness – I am the one who wanted the minimum of reminders. Add to that the fact that we are still missing 2 of our 3 suitcases and in them are the kids’ Christmas stockings and their favorite Christmas books . . . They went to bed quite sad.
Somehow Santa managed to find us here and left gifts under the picture of the tree Mary taped to the wall. He also put things in their socks – so all ended somewhat normally. Both the kids were pleased with their haul. They didn’t receive a lot of gifts compared to what they would have in the States – only 5 each, plus one from Santa – but they seemed very satisfied.
Today we are staying home while our friends spend another day with family. The kids want to have some down time with just us. Sadly, it’s raining outside today so the snow is melting. We’ve had it since we arrived, though, so I’m happy.
Other things we have done so far: We got in on Monday and just stayed home that evening. Each night for 24 nights leading up to Christmas, there are 2 shows that come out in installments leading up to the finale on Christmas Eve. Bryce got totally hooked and followed both of them to the end yesterday. It was interesting to see how well he could follow the plot without understanding anything that was said.
Tuesday, Mary and I spent a day at the mall. It was very nice with snow falling outside and all the decorations inside. The boys stayed behind with Mads and went sledding.
Wednesday we went sledding, had a snowball fight and made 2 snowmen in the morning. Then we went to a place called Tivoli (a gift from our friends here.) It’s an amusement park – the oldest in this area – and it was lit up beautifully!!! We walked around and looked at the lights and displays. The kids rode some rides and played some games and we all ate waffles with whipped or ice cream and drank hot cocoa. It was a wonderful night.
I’ve found myself reflecting on past Christmases and thinking about how different this one would be if Jeff were here. We miss him terribly – even with all the newness he is never far from our thoughts. I find comfort knowing that he is not doing the same – he’s not feeling badly that he isn’t with us. He is resting in heaven, celebrating Jesus’ birth, and experiencing joy and peace beyond imagination. Good for him and thank the Lord for us and the peace that knowledge brings! I pray for that peace for each of you and for a wonderful holiday season.
Merry Christmas to all from the Cumpston Family
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