Hygge

I cannot believe I have been in Denmark for one and a half months. Within that short time frame I have already experienced so much and have fallen in love with Denmark. The longer I am here the more I want to live here forever. Two weekends ago I cooked a dinner for my host family and they invited another fammily that I have gotten to know quite well. The other family has three kids and their daughter was an exchange student in the US last year the most exciting thing for me however is they had a guest from Dallas. He works at the University of Texas at Dallas. I made clam chowder, mac & cheese, and apple pie.

During this meal I began to understand something in Danish culture and that is the word, "Hygge". There is no direct translation but it is almost a state of complete relaxation. You have no sense of time and it is common for dinners to go on for hours. When someone is experiencing hygge it does not have to be anything special it is just a cozy warm feeling that you get when you are with great people and everyone is enjoying being with one another. I think this has lead to the Danish lifestyle which is very relaxed and calm I must say that the only time that I have felt this before was Thanksgiving. You don't need to be with anyone to experience hygge as you can watch a movie and make a cup of coffee on a rainy day and if you feel good comfortable and relaxed it is percieved as hygge.

I hope to start a weekly Danish course soon that way I can learn the language a lot quicker. Ï fallen in love with the Danish style and my friends from class are taking me to Aarhus next week to buy some new clothes. School is going good and this weekend I'm going to visit a good friend of mine named Carlos. He is from Ecuador and is living on an island off the west coast called Fanø. I'm going with my host mom's knitting club and when they get to the island I will be joining up with Carlos.

To be consistent I will be updating this blog every other Sunday.