- One of the most important tradition to mention is the actually date of Christmas. In Denmark, Christmas is actually celebrated on the 24. not the 25.. I didn't know this, but apparently Jesus was born during the night on the 24. Noting special is done on the 25.. Some families have the tradition of going to church, but that is an individual like tradition.
- Danes typically sing/dance around the tree before opening gifts. It is traditional to hold hands while singing some carols around the tree. I can't speak for all of Danmark, but my family in particular sang about five or so songs.
- The Christmas meal is very typical of danish food in general. There was turkey (which was jokingly called Timmy, Tommy's brother) and pork. Red meat just isn't eaten here. There was red cabbage and potatoes of course. As much as danes eat potatoes you'd think they have 1001 ways to make them. No such luck. Danes love to eat just plain boiled potatoes and smother it in brown sauce which is coloured a dark brown, mind you. Luckily for me there were Christmas potatoes there also. These are plain small boile potatoes which get pan candied with brown sugar so the outside is slightly sweet. The meal is finished off with risalamande. It is very hard to explain what it is so here is wikipedia's definition:
Cold Risengrød with whipped cream, vanilla, and chopped almonds, often served with hot or chilled cherry (or strawberry) sauce. A particular tradition is often associated with eating Ris á l'amande, where a whole almond is mixed into the pudding, and the person who finds it (typically hiding it inside his/her mouth) wins a prize. Usually served as desert at Julefrokost (Christmas lunch) or on Christmas eve and is very popular. Nine out of ten Danes enjoy it after the main course Christmas eve.
I got the almond and scored some dark chocolate (mørk chokolade på dansk).
Thoes were just some of the basic traditions of Jul that I found most different from American Christmas.
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