There are seven continents, 193 countries, and more than a 1,000 different religions in the world. Every country has its own culture, traditions, laws, norms and its own people. When you move to another country with a different culture, different traditions and different people, you start realizing that some of the traditions in your home country are a little funny or weird. In Denmark, we have a lot of funny traditions, which originate from ancient times. For example, when you turn 25 years old and are not married in Denmark, it is a tradition that your friends tie you to a lamppost in the middle of the street and through cinnamon all over you. When you turn 30 and are not married, your friends do the same thing, but this time they through pepper at you. Like April Fool’s Day in the U.S., in Denmark on April 1 we have a whole day where everybody makes fun of each other. Your teacher could tell you that you are going to have an exam later that day, the media could write an article about how it is dangerous to eat chocolate and your friend could text you that they have won a million dollars. Both the news, the government, your teacher, your family and your friends could make fun of you. You just have to say the word “aprilsnar” before the day is over so people know that you are joking. In Denmark, we don’t really celebrate Halloween but instead we have something called “Fastelavn” that we celebrate in February. At Fastelavn, kids dress up in costumes and walk around from door to door singing a special song. Instead of getting candy, the kids get money from people. Also, we fill a barrel with candy and hang it up, and then the kids hit it with a bat until it falls down. Moreover, at Fastelavn we eat something called “fastelavnsboller,” which is a bun filled with vanilla cream or raspberry jam and with glaze on the top. In June, we celebrate “Sankt Hans Aften” in Denmark that is a celebration of John the Baptist’s birthday. At Sankt Hans Aften, we gather around a warm fire and sing traditional folk songs. The best known of these is the Danish patriotic song, “Vi elsker vort land” (We love our country), also known as “Midsommervisen” (Midsummer song). On top of the fire it is a tradition to place a figure resembling a witch and burn it. In the old days, Danes believed that fires made all evil go away and if you thought someone were a witch they were burned alive on top of a fire. In Denmark, we celebrate Christmas on the 24th of December and it is a tradition to dance around the Christmas tree holding each other’s hands and singing Christmas songs before you open all the gifts under the tree. The traditional Danish Christmas food is duck, roast pork, potatoes that are made with sugar, gravy, pickles and potato chips. Another Danish tradition is when a couple gets married, you through rice at them when they walk out of the church or the town hall. The rice is a symbol of fertility and people do it to wish the couple will have many children and have a happy future. It is also a tradition to cut off a little piece of the groom’s sock to stop him going out with other women, because nobody wants a man with holy socks. Moreover, it is a tradition to write “newlyweds” on the married couple’s car and tie cans to the car so it will make a sound when they drive. Every country has it’s own weird and funny traditions, and I think that is what makes it fun to explore new countries and new cultures. Mathilde Rousseau Bjerregaard is an editorial intern with San Diego Community Newspaper Group, who is from Aarhus, Denmark. Contact her at [email protected].