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If you\u2019re in Denmark right now, you\u2019ll know that we\u2019re coming up on the year\u2019s longest day this week.\xa0\xa0June 21.\xa0\xa0You know it because it starts getting light at 4 in the morning, and the sun doesn\u2019t go down until 10:30 or 11 at night and then you\u2019re up again at 4 in the morning. In between it never gets really dark, just like in December it never gets very light.

During the dark times, I know that I wait and wait for the light times to come.\xa0\xa0Sometimes I count \u2013 only 3 more months until the light times!\xa0Only 6 more weeks to the light times!

When the light times do get here, they\u2019re actually kind of annoying.\xa0\xa0Sure, it\u2019s great to have some sun, and those long summer evenings.\xa0\xa0Green trees and the wildflowers are gorgeous. But with all that light, it\u2019s kind of difficult to sleep.\xa0

Everyone I know has blackout curtains and wears sleep masks. They don\u2019t always work, though, particularly when it\u2019s hot, and people start to get a bit crabby after a few weeks of limited sleep.\xa0\xa0The fact that it\u2019s light until 11pm is great on a Saturday night, but not so great on a Tuesday, when you have a 9am meeting the next day.

It\u2019s hot now, and I love the heat, but Danish homes are designed to keep heat in, not let it out.\xa0\xa0There\u2019s not all that much ventilation and never any air conditioning.\xa0\xa0So if you\u2019re stuck inside, you melt, or just take a lot of showers.\xa0

In the summer you get to see your neighbors again, after ignoring each other all winter.\xa0\xa0The first time you see their kids after the winter, their kids look giant.\xa0\xa0The kids have been packed away all through the winter season in snowsuits and boots and hats and when you see them unwrapped, they\u2019re entirely changed.\xa0\xa0The baby packed away last October is now walking and riding a little bike. The skinny twelve-year-old you knew before parka season is now a teenager with a deep voice.

This time of year is also home to my least favorite Danish holiday, Sankt Hans day.\xa0\xa0Sankt Hans \u2013 which I just found out today is the Danish name for St. John the Baptist - takes place on the 23rd\xa0or 24th\xa0of June each year. It\u2019s Denmark\u2019s version of the summer party that takes place in most country at some point \u2013 there\u2019s beer, outdoor grilling, mosquitos. What Sankt Hans has that I don\u2019t like is the burning of a witch.

Now, I\u2019m not the most politically correct person in the world, I\u2019m not the type looking everywhere for sexism, or insults to women.\xa0\xa0But even I find it problematic that Sankt Hans revolves around setting a woman on fire.\xa0\xa0It\u2019s a\xa0\xa0straw woman, and the woman is supposed to be a witch.\xa0The highlight of each party is\xa0\xa0build a big bonfire, and when the bonfire is at its height, they put a straw witch on it. Danish people assure me that this is no problem whatsoever.\xa0\xa0It\u2019s just tradition.\xa0\xa0I think \u2013 it\u2019s a bad tradition!\xa0\xa0Anyway, I usually stay home for Sankt Hans day.\xa0\xa0\xa0

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