Danmark is full of crazy traditions any foreigner should read about before coming to Denmark. The 25th birthday tradition is one of them.
I found out about this during my first "Friday bar" with some of my coworkers. I was telling them I would turn 25 during my stay in Aarhus and from their reaction, I knew something was odd...
So, here is the deal, in Denmark, if you are still not married on your 25th birthday, you are doomed to go through the "cinnamon tradition".
Before you get to celebrate with a regular birthday party, friends are in charge of this special Danish before party. They take the birthday boy or girl to the street, furnish the protection equipment (like glasses to protect you poor little eyes) before throwing cinnamon and water or eggs on you !
No matter how fun this tradition appears to be for the Danes, as a perfect French girl, I found many things to complain about:
1: I hate cinnamon. If you put, even the smallest among possible of cinnamon in a cake, I will automatically spill it on your face.
2: Cinnamon is super aggressive for the skin... And imagining my very sensitive skin, already struggling to survive the danish weather, having to go through this ordeal... It's very painful!
3: With cinnamon usually comes water... In April, the temperature in Denmark barely reach 15°C. Do not throw water on me in these conditions unless you want me to turn into a stalactite !
Therefore, I spent 8 month, fearing in advance this day every time I saw the remains of this tradition - a beautiful big orangish stain in the street. And since I'm so brave, I decided to face this challenge with courage and booked a plane tickets to visit Norway on my birthday week! However, Corona showed up... Leading to countries closing down, meaning I had no choice but to face a birthday in Denmark. Yet, since the number of people allowed to gather was only 10 people, I got to celebrate this day with my lovely dear neighbors and luckily avoided the cinnamon.
I must say, no matter how fun this cinnamon tradition seems to be, I'm very happy that we sticked to the back to childhood theme party!
No hard feelings, I love you and all, but this cinnamon thing, really,
What The Fuck Denmark?