Last night we met Josiah’s host parents, Marie and Henric, who live four houses down from our new place. We also got introduced to “hygee” which is loosely translated to a sense of coziness or comfortable conviviality with feelings of wellness and contentment. It is a feeling the Danes have fully embraced as their national culture.
As we entered their home later at night with their four kids under 12 trying to get to bed, they immediately invited us in for coffee. As they passed 1 1/2 year old Hugo back and forth, they quickly made us French press coffee and tea, and Josiah, having seen this before, lit the candles around their Christmas wreath as the evening conversation started. Their 3-year old, Olivia, gave Siri a ginger cookie, and their older sons, Emil and Peter, started bringing out the jars of cookies. Everyone had a part to play.
Candles seem to be a big part of hygee. In our apartment, they have a whole drawer full for our use. Think of sitting under a blanket in front of a fire on a cold dark night with your beverage of choice surrounded by friends, and you have a good understanding of hygee.
From coffee and tea and cookies, we moved to wine and talked about our families, our son, our Christmas traditions, among many things. We never did talk about what we do, our jobs back home. It reminded me of our times living overseas, in Indonesia, Dominican Republic, and in Bolivia, where the conversations mostly focused on the family.
As the past full days of activities caught up with us, we finally said good night, did a few fist bumps with Hugo, and Josiah stayed behind, happy to be back in his own room as we walked the four houses down to our place.
Siri and David Adventures 