Hygge #HogsAbroad

Hygge pronounced like “hooga”, is something you hear Danes talk about all the time, but unless you ask its hard to understand what exactly it is. And even after having someone explain hygge to you, they will tell you it is hard to really understand.

Hygge is roughly translated to ‘coziness’, but almost every Dane will tell you it is so much more than that. From what I have come to understand, hygge is being with people you love, just enjoying life. You can experience hygge when you are wrapped up in a blanket with a cup of hot chocolate or tea, candles or a fire in the fireplace is involved, and you are surrounded by family or friends taking pleasure in the simple things in life. However because hygge is more of a feeling, it is different to everyone. Anytime that the atmosphere is warm and cozy and you are feeling happy can be hygge.
To Danes, hygge is something they take seriously, and try to make every situation as hygge as possible. This could possibly be why the country of Denmark is so happy!

While it is a widely talked about concept in Denmark, hygge is something Danes take pride in and will tell you that it is hard to experience if you are not from Denmark. Since I first heard about it, I decided I was determined to experience this hygge. So with the Christmas season here (apparently the best time to experience hygge) we decided to experience this feeling with a weekend away.

With the determination to have a hygge weekend my friends and I headed off to the little town of Ebeltoft (about an hour away from Aarhus). We rented a house through Airbnb, and as soon as we got there we fell in love with the place. It was a little cottage in the country side just outside of town, and it was such a typical Danish house with the minimalist style of furniture and art. Even with the minimalist style the house still felt cozy and welcoming. My favorite part was a moose on the wall right as you walked in, we named him Marvin!

The town of Ebeltoft was such a cute little town. To me the whole town had a bit of a hygge feeling, there were not many people around and there was a cozy feeling about the town. The streets were decorated for christmas and it was just perfect!

We cooked all of our meals while we were at the house, everyone helping with something, and we all sat around the table discussing random things while eating. At night we would sit in the living room drinking hot chocolate and talking about anything and everything. To me that was hygge, I don’t know if that would match up to a Dane’s definition of it, but I would say we reach our goal of having a hygge weekend.

Also when we woke up this morning we were surprised by a blizzard. This was the first snow since being here in Denmark, and it was a lot of snow. We were all excited to see the white fluffy flakes falling from the sky. Unfortunately we had to leave the house today, but I think that being snowed in and watching movies or just enjoying each others company would have just added to our hygge weekend.

Danes will say hygge is hard to understand, but in my opinion if you surround yourself with people you love and just enjoy being in the moment you can experience this hygge.

If you are interested in learning more about hygge, just google it and you will find many articles about it.
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Read more from Jennifer at https://jenniferbuss.wordpress.com/

To find out more about the Walton college exchange program in Aarhus, visit http://studyabroad.uark.edu/exchange/wcobaarhus/