Hygge

My friend Ann-Mari introduced me to the word hygge. Tonight we experienced it. I looked up on a website for a good description of what it means:



The best to witness hygge in action is in a Danish home. Many Danes put a great deal of effort into creating that 'cozy, comfy' atmosphere in their own homes. If you can’t manage to wrangle an invitation into a home, another very good place to find hygge is in a small, cozy restaurant serving good Danish food. Here, as in the home, are the dim, soft lights (usually candles), comfortable furnishings and ‘homey’ feel so essential to creating a hggyelig atmosphere. Here, you'll also find the other essential ingredient for hygge: husmanskost, which means “good down-home cooking.” Danish cuisine tends be the kind of hearty, solid fare you’d expect from a country with hard winters, a long shoreline and a cultural preference for comfort food — lots of simple, unpretentious dishes featuring seafood, dairy, beef and potatoes.



Part of this atmosphere means guests stay a long time at other's homes. Ann-Mari told me some of her American friends here were surprised when they invited Ann-Mari's family over for dinner and Ann-Mari's family just kept staying...and staying. We went over to a neighbor's house for Easter dinner tonight. The food was very typical of what we'd eat for Easter back home. Ham, potatoes, vegetables, salads, bread. The only thing missing was the jello. :) We got to their house at five, ate around 6, talked for a while, had dessert at 8 or so, kept talking...we didn't leave until nine o'clock. It was a great environment, and nice to have time to really talk and get to know each other. Their kids are older, between 9 and 17 years, and they were so great with our children. I think William found a new best friend in their youngest, Matthias. I haven't heard William laugh so hard in a long time. We were just able to chat with the John and Elpida and their two older children, while the younger two children totally played with our kids. It was awesome. I love Denmark and our neighbors, the Leits, are so great.