Familien

The day finally came that I had been waiting for since the middle of April, when I made connections with some relatives in the US who had the connections with the Danish relatives. It's really hard to believe that the people who hosted Kayla and me last night are actually related to me, too.

I've been trying to figure out how exactly John and I are related, and I think that with the help of my Leah, my grandmother's first cousin, and Wikipedia I have figured out the relationship.

John Hansen and I share a great-great-great-grandfather, Hans. If I have the story correct, Hans Petersen brought his family to the US from Denmark, but one of those siblings decided to return to Denmark. I of course descend from one of the siblings who stayed (Anton), and John from the one who returned (Hanne). So, thanks to that chart and my own ability to logic these things out, I can say that John Hansen and I are third cousins, once removed (because he is my Dad's age--so that makes him my Dad's ). Now that I've figured that out, I can definitely say that we are familien, family.

Anyway, John picked Kayla and me up from a Lyngby station in København and drove us to their home in Jyllinge, which is about a 45 minute trip and is in the center of Sjælland, the island where København is located. Danes really enjoy their meals and the time spent eating because they see it as quality time that is spent with one another, and we certainly had a great taste of this at dinner last night. It was wonderful to enjoy such outstanding food and time with some newly discovered family members. Kayla and I were so appreciative of the Hansens and their willingness to serve such an excellent (and Danish) meal to two complete strangers! As per my mother's request, I'll give you a little detail on dinner. We started with a potato soup, then had poppyseed encrusted salmon with boiled potatoes (with a buttersauce for the first two) and fresh salad, and finished with dessert--a chilled rhubarb soup with vanilla ice cream on the top. YUM! I think the poppyseed encrusted salmon is something Dad's going to have to try later this summer.

We finished the night very full and giddy on wine, but very satisfied! Before leaving I requested a picture with John & Jenny, simply to show the family back home that this really happened. I'm the first person in my branch of the family tree to make a trip to Denmark and meet some family from the Old Country, so this is a pretty neat experience. Of course they said that I'm always welcome, so perhaps there will be another trip to Denmark in the future. I can certainly see that happening...