One thing that might surprise foreigners either visiting or working in Denmark is how hard it is to get to know the Danes. If you start a casual small talk with a Dane on the street or in the supermarket line, chances are they will give you an extremely short answer – maybe even just a disapproving look – and hurry on with their day. Generally speaking, Danes don’t small talk. They don’t smile much to strangers either, or at least not when the weather is cold and grey – which is quite often.

So, if you are a foreigner visiting or working in Denmark you might start wondering: “How is this possibly one of the happiest countries in the world?” I think the best answer to that is that Danish happiness isn’t the excited kind of happiness like that of your birthday or Christmas but rather it is a feeling of contentment.

Danes like to keep to themselves, their closest family and friends. They are nice and social but primarily with people they have known for a while. Someone once told me, that Danes have been given a hand of five “friend cards” at birth. Most Danes fill that hand up during their childhood and then there isn’t room for more friends. This is an exaggeration but the point is, Danes like to know people really well before they open up (unless you get a few drinks in them 😉

Those few trusted friends and family members are usually the only ones they are comfortable enough to hygge with. So if you are visiting Denmark, expecting to experience all that world famous hygge, you might have to readjust your expectations. Hygge is mostly private and reserved for the safeness of home and a few close people.

_{left: homemade peanutbutter cookies and coffee in cup from lerler in Humlebæk, upper right: Årstiderne in Humlebæk, lower right: Eremitagen in Dyrehaven North of Copenhagen}

But not to worry! I will give you some ideas on how to bring some hygge into your life and home. So if you are dreading those dark, cold wet Fall and Winter months ahead of us, learn from the Danes and their long experience with surviving the dark months. It might be hard for someone with no Danish background to understand what this hygge involves but as a native Dane who grew up with hygge I can give you insight into how we Danes have hygge in our homes which is where it mostly happens. In the months to come, you can follow me on my own journey to get more hygge in my life to withstand the cold darkness.

And if you are curious to venture out and experience more than The Little Mermaid, Nyhavn and Strøget, I will post lots of ideas on how you can experience all the charming and hyggelige cafes and places that can be hard to find if you are not from here or haven’t lived here for long. The best part of it all – most of it is super easily accessible by train, all towns are very walkable and we have bicycle paths crisscrossing all over this beautiful landscape. In my opinion, bicycling is the best way to truly experience the Danish countryside, of really being there, not just watching through a window. So please follow me on this journey of (re-)discovering the natural beauty and culture of Denmark 🙂