Hygge

One of my great goals in life was to follow in the steps of Princess Mary and become the next Danish princess. Not even kidding, it’s on my personal agenda. Nicolai informed me that the only single Danish prince is now only 10, and that perhaps I should tempt him into a van with some candy, in hopes of securing a marriage proposal in 10 or so years. I’ll think on it.

This is the Danish castle Kronberg that Nicolai drove us out to. It has a something important to do with Hamlet, and conquering the Swedish in the middle ages, but I forgot. Here's a map though, showing where it is in Denmark, a fair way north from Copenhagen;

For fighting off the Swedes

Me with a funny crown being a trickster

Nicolai and I got lost in the catacombs under the castle 

Life has become so comfy, that I’m highly considering moving to Denmark. I always said that Boston was a little Copenhagen, considering how many Danish students we had there, and in Copenhagen, the small little social community seems to have continued. Everyone has been so kind, and people are really bending over backwards to accommodate me and spend time with me…during the day I always have company with one or more Danish kids from  college, and during the night I am shipped about here and there and everywhere for dinners, drinks and the nights at different people’s places. Life has been super cosy or ‘hygge’ as the Great Danes say, they’ve all sort of formulated these plans for me, and I just merely am in existence, having a jolly good time. For example, one night, I was invited to Nicolai’s parent’s house for dinner, and they spent hours cooking and preparing for me, and then we had a fantastic meal and I met his whole family. His dad told stories, his younger sisters showed me snippets of their lives and Nicolai showed me around his home town. His mother spoke to me about Australia, and his dad told stories about his rampant youth, whilst I explained the rules of AFL and cricket, whilst they eagerly listened. I was told a lot of stories about Nicolai growing up, to my delight, and to Nicolai’s (disappointment?) I don’t know. You’ll have to ask him. All I can say is it was a super fun night.

One night I was invited by Emilie and her boyfriend for dinner, and we had a delicious meal they had cooked and wine, whilst the conversation flowed and I slept on a mattress on their floor in the living room. With my backpack in tow I was welcomed at different people’s houses, and I floated around Copenhagen, in a trance of happiness. Except maybe for when I had to make my way to Emilie’s via public transport…and her directions included, and yes I quote;

“Get off at stop Aegirsgade and walk back a bit to the blue sign”

“Walk back a bit”

As I’m sure you can imagine, there I was, lost in Copenhagen with no means of communication, backpack in tow, in a strange student-housing area, in the dark, with the simple directions that I was to “walk back a bit”.

Let’s just say I arrived late for dinner that night.

Simplicity in Denmark

But I’ve found it so easy to feel at home here, and after two nights at Heidi’s, Andreas was over for dinner, just like old times in Boston. Heidi will cook, we’ll play music, Andreas will complain about the song choice and then we’ll do the dishes. At one point he took something out of the fridge and I said; “what did you take out of our fridge?”

And then slapped my hand across my mouth whilst Heidi giggled.

“Our fridge”

I had literally just invited myself into her home and claimed it as my own. Maybe I had overstayed my welcome. But, lucky for me, Heidi lives alone and had nothing but kind things to say about my presence, saying how she enjoyed having a roommate who made her tea and was able to stay up late chatting. And me, I couldn’t have been happier in our tiny Denmark community, perfectly at home, with prolonged episodes of hygge.

With Nicolai. Lol at his face.

Nothing but blue skies in Denmark

Kronberg

Hygge

The happiest nation on earth

I’ve just boarded my first flight in a little while from Amsterdam airport, waving Serena off at the gate. It’s now moments later and I’m laughing at the incident that happened at the security checkpoint. I left some scissors in my carry-on luggage. Not only did the security personnel smile politely and ask me if they could scan my bag again, but after it beeped a second time, but then with a hesitant smile she regretfully informed me that oh dear, but something wasn’t quite right in there. I swear she spoke to me like a doctor would to a child, when describing in the nicest way possible that something is wrong. She then politely asked if it weren’t too much trouble if she could check my bag, and then told me what she was doing every step of the way…to which I must have looked rather ridiculous because I was standing there dumbfounded. When she found the scissors she simply smiled, tilted her head and said “hmm, might be better to leave these out next time, hey?” and then replaced them and wished me a pleasant flight, and sorry for the holdup.

She let me onto the plane with scissors in my hand luggage.

If this was America I would have been burnt at the stake for even attempting such a thing.

Unbelievable.

That wasn’t even the best thing about my flight though. The best thing was, Nicolai was waiting for me at the gate, and after so many countless flights I’ve taken in the last 6 months, it was the best feeling in the world to walk out and have somebody with open arms smiling, ready to take me home. The first thing I saw when I stepped out in Denmark was;

“Welcome to the happiest nation on earth”

The Danes boast about being the happiest people in the world, and the country is apparently very healthy, happy and tranquil. Despite the recent giraffe killing and dolphin massacre, that is. Nonetheless, Nicolai was at the airport to pick me up, and I was absolutely thrilled to be there. He whizzed me through the streets, getting lost in the process of course, and it was amazing how quickly we slipped back into old patterns…I suppose old habits die hard, because Nicolai hadn’t changed a bit in the last two months, and all his quirky phrases and mannerisms came back to greet me. I’m staying at Heidi’s for the next couple of nights, and when we rolled up, Andreas was also there to greet me. A wonderful Danish reunion was had, and my heart was bursting with love and appreciation for all these Danes that I met at college, who have now been so generous as to welcome me into their homes and their country.

Signature Little Mermaid statue

Royal Residence

Trying to get a cheeky shot with the guards

Heidi and Andreas took me around, and our days passed with tours of Copenhagen, experiencing life like a Dane. There’s a couple of things to note firstly about Denmark, but the primary take away message is that they’re all a little backwards up here. Maybe it’s a Scandinavian thing. Take this for example, they’re part of the EU, but they don’t have the Euro. Their money has HOLES in it. Actual holes in the currency. The traffic lights go from green > orange > red AND ALSO red > orange > green. Nicolai has been my personal chauffeur and has been driving me around constantly, but he almost causes road accidents on his own, without the help of confusing traffic lights. And the Danes speak weird. They have different letters in their alphabet, and I can’t read as much Danish as I could Dutch. It’s frustrating. And, unlike German, they don’t close their word sounds….so instead of ‘Copenhagen’ they pronounce it like; “Koben-hau”. Odd. And also, whenever Nicolai or Heidi are on the phone, they always END their conversation with something that sounds a lot like “hey”. They end with the beginning.

Andreas and Heidi

Despite these new adjustments, time here so far is awesome. I am loving catching up with all the Great Danes from school, and living the ‘student’ life here is cool. It’s super comfy at Heidi’s, life is simplistic, the atmosphere is chill and hey, Denmark is the happiest nation on earth.

Andreas being happy

Danish Viking