Author: Line West

Hygge for Foreigners

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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 …

Happy as a Dane Reporting Live from Denmark!

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This is the most exciting post I have probably ever written! One I have been dreaming about being able to post one day: After a fun and exciting 12 1/2 years in America – my family and I now live in Denmark. It hasn’t been easy to get to this point and there are still lots of challenges involved with relocating our family but we made it and I can now give you current updates on Danish culture and share with you hidden gems only the locals know about. On this past year’s journey I have come to realize that visiting Denmark is a whole different story than actually living here. For over ten years I was a tourist in my native country and I could fill my visits with fun and all the best Denmark has to offer. Now, that I live here I feel like an immigrant seeing things from the outside. I realize how tough it is to be a foreigner in this little country where the majority is so alike that …

Calm December with help from Nature

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If you are like me, you are currently stressed out over Christmas and how fast December goes. How does this happen every year? Thanksgiving is over and before you know it, it’s the middle of December and last chance to buy presents online in time for Christmas. It not only makes me stressed but also sad because shouldn’t December be the month of hygge and joy with family and friends? The strange thing is, that while a calm and enjoyable December is what most of us wish for, that is not what we usually get. Is it because we want the perfect Christmas so much that we push ourselves so hard to make it perfect that we don’t have time to enjoy it? Like when you want to fall asleep but can’t because you’re stressing over it? It is definitely hard to slow down with work deadlines, all the shopping, class parties, cookie exchanges, gifts for teachers, bus drivers and family. While I’m no master of chill and calm, my Danish culture does lend me …

Danish Children’s Carnival/Shrovetide Buns

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Originally posted on Happy as a Dane:
Today February 27 is “Fastelavn”/Shrovetide in Denmark. It is a children’s carnival based on pre-lent carnival traditions of the Roman-Catholic church from before Denmark became a Protestant nation. Children dress up, beat a hanging barrel filled with candy (similar to a pinata), eat sweet buns (“fastelavnsboller”) and also get a so-called “fastelavnsris” (twigs decorated with candy, feathers, paper flowers and home crafted masks, see images here Fastelavnsris photos). A lot of this tradition has to do with getting rid of evil powers since the Danes say that “we beat the cat out of the barrel” and originally there was a poor black cat inside. Now there is just an image of a black cat on it. The children stand in line with a short wooden bat and take turns beating the hanging barrel. The child who beats the bottom out of the barrel becomes Cat Queen and the child who get the whole barrel down is the Cat King. Anyway, for adults the main thing is the sweet…

Give Thanks to Earth!

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Many native people across the world have rituals and ways of thanking Earth. They are aware that nature is a gift not to be taken for granted. Robin Wall Kimmerer has written a beautiful book Braiding Sweetgrass full of essays that express an inspirational love to our Earth. As an Environmental Biologist and a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation she combines indigenous wisdom with her scientific knowledge. It is an uplifting book with no lifted fingers just an eyeopener and “hymn of love” to all the beauty around us. Earth Day could be a good day to think of a way to connect with nature and perhaps even develop a ritual of gratitude for nature’s gifts, be it the sun salutation, gardening or going for a mindful walk in nature. The New York Times has a beautifully illustrated explanation of climate change for children. Click the link to check it out! https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/04/18/climate/climate-change-future-kids.html

Play – therapy for the mind and soul

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Originally posted on Happy as a Dane:
“I never want to grow up,” he (Tommy) said determinedly. “Me either,” said Annika. “No, that isn’t something to strive for. Grown-ups never have fun. They just have a lot of boring work, stupid clothes and calluses and taxes.”?(….) “They don’t know how to play either,” said Annika. “Ooh, that you are forced to grow up!”?(free translation from Astrid Lindgren’s?Pippi Longstocking in the South Seas, 1948) Last night as I was reading Pippi Longstocking to my children we came across this great passage where the children, Tommy and Annika, tell Pippi that they never want to grow up because adults aren’t fun and don’t know how to play. To this Pippi replies that growing up isn’t something to strive for and then she offers the children some magical pills to prevent them from ever growing up. This may just seem like a funny statement because growing up is, of course, something to desire and adults always know best. But do we really? Do we always know what is…

The Beauty of Imperfection

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On a Winter walk through a Danish forest, the beautiful sight on the photo above suddenly materialized in front of me. A moss overgrown broken tree limp in a little pond. It was stunning in all its imperfection, a composition no human had planned or constructed, with so many details open for imagination and awe. Nature’s originality left me surprised and breathless in a way that a perfectly manicured yard could not do. This made me think about the beauty of imperfection, the realness of it – because nothing is ever perfect. Like humans. I don’t think anyone would describe themselves as perfect. Most of us would probably feel misunderstood, not fully seen, if anyone called us perfect. If someone called us perfect we would feel that they didn’t see our flaws, downs and failures? Would they really know us, or just see what they wanted to see? Does anyone even want to be called perfect? I doubt it because if people see you as perfect they don’t see the real you. They only choose …

Midsummer Eve Bonfires and Witches

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Originally posted on Happy as a Dane:
Sankt Hans Evening (St. John’s Eve) bonfire on the beach in Tisvildeleje, Denmark, 2013 ? Last night the Danes celebrated Sankt Hans Evening (St. John’s Eve) with bonfires and witches! This was originally a pagan celebration of summer solstice and the magical shortest night of the year but after the introduction of Christianity it also became the celebration of John the Baptist’s birthday which is supposedly today June 24th. There used to be a lot of superstition related to this night. Mean witches were scared away and sick people went to holy springs hoping their illnesses would be cured on this night where light was stronger than darkness. As a symbol of chasing evil forces away Danes burned a hay witch on top of the bonfire – a practice that is still very common in Denmark! Danes jokingly say that on the evening of Sankt Hans: “the witches are being sent off to Brocken” (the highest point of the Herz mountains in Germany). Interestingly, this pagan/Christian tradition is…