Bango!

Dinner before the games began!

Today was Family Bingo (Bango) Night in Ijby! I went with Helle, Kasper, Helle's mother, and Lars' father to join about 75 people from our community for a night of dinner, games, prizes, and fun. Four times a year, this community center holds bingo night to raise money for the kids' soccer club. TONS of people turn out, ranging in age from about 4 to grandparent age.

Given that this was bingo in Danish, I decided to play with a modest 2 cards. Everyone else in my family had 6 cards, except Helle who had 10! I looked kind of ridiculous sitting next to her, but I was still proud that I was able to keep up (most of the time).

Bingo in Danish is quite different from American bingo. As you can see from the cards in the picture, there are no letters that divide the columns, and there are random blank spaces in each card. The only way to get bingo is to get all of the numbers in your row covered. Each game has a total of three rounds: the first round, the person to call bingo needs only to have one line covered, but the second needs two lines, and the third needs the whole card filled. My main challenge was that in Danish numbers higher than 10 are structured differently than in English. Instead of saying Thirty-seven you say "Seven and Thirty." The person calling the numbers also talked a lot between them, so I sometimes needed to be prodded to check my card/pay attention. 

Totally focused

The atmosphere was fantastic! Everyone was so into it and the person calling the numbers had a good spirit and made everyone laugh. Before the first round began, he even gave me a shout-out. Amidst the many things he was saying that I could not understand, I suddenly heard, "blah blah blah, fra Washington! Hun hedder Sara!" and the announcer pointed towards me. I smiled and waved, and got ready for the first game.

It was hard to remain focused some of the time, but I was about 90% accurate with hearing and marking the numbers on my card. Periodically I would get some form of a shout-out. I had to say how old I was, and my age (22) was then selected as that round's "lucky number."

By far the most exciting part of the evening for me was when I was asked to come to the front of the room. I was surprisingly calm given that I was getting up in front of a large group of people who spoke a different language! I approached as a giant wipe board was pushed in. I was challenged to three games of tick-tack-toe (which were all tied) and then to another game where I had to estimate the length of a zig-zagged line on the board. The other girl (who was my competition) and I each guessed (without the other's knowledge) the same distance of 135cm (and we were relatively close). Finally, a different contestant was brought up and we played a game having to do with hiding matches in our fists and trying to guess how many the other person was holding. Finally... I won! And I was presented with a jersey, an Ijby soccer club scarf and a medal!!!! Everyone cheered and I graciously accepted my gifts/prizes. I couldn't stop smiling!

Victorious! 

I never officially won a round of bango and though many people walked away big winners, I was definitely the most decked-out person there (and the one with the biggest smile)! Tak, Ibjy!

My winnings

More tomorrow... I still have to describe my Wednesday night adventure/fun! I'm feeling really sick so I am going to bed now, but I will fall asleep feeling like a champion. :)