Copenhagen | Global Impressions

A major part that made studying abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark such an enriching experience was my host family. Their home is in Dyssegård, a suburb of Copenhagen and a twenty-minute train ride from the city center. The opportunity to explore beyond the city center, and have a purposeful journey as well as excellent people-watching time was an important part of each day and helped me delve into the everyday lives of a diverse array of people in Copenhagen.

While the two listed as my “family” were Jette and Hans-Erik, the others whom I interacted with because of them — including their kids and grandkids, their neighbor Peter, Hans-Erik’s mother, and other family friends — all added to my love for their home and helped me feel welcome in their environment.

Each evening, we (Jette, Hans-Erik and I) would cook together dancing between their blue SVEG fridge and front entryway to make simple, yet interesting dishes. As someone who mainly baked cakes, cookies, and other sweets growing up, my major cooking challenge prior to going abroad was usually trying not to burn grilled cheese. Under their roof, the importance of experimentation and trying something new both in the manner of tasting as well as overall dish creation was expressed.

The various ways they created dishes out of simple ingredients was new to me, and their manner of cooking fascinating. However, it wasn’t the food that made me never want to miss an evening at home, it was the atmosphere. Beyond just cooking, this time was a chance to discuss current events, try to pronounce Danish words, and often get advice about life in a variety of contexts.

One evening, Hans-Erik came home ecstatic with the deal he got on steaks, showing off the twelve packages he bought to freeze and use. I found this particular event hilarious because it also helped me see my own love of a good deal in Hans-Erik’s excitement over the steak. This event of excitement was not rare, in fact, it was pretty regular for Hans-Erik to come home with groceries bought from a supermarket deal, overjoyed at their total cost. Over the semester, I slowly began to understand the European culture of going to the grocery store multiple times a week, in contrast to the usual, once a week, giant grocery trip typically practiced in the United States.

Beyond the physical aspect of living in their home for four months, being taught Danish pronunciations and to distinguish different red wines, my entire experience was shaped by the love and friendliness of their everyday lives. This experience reaffirmed the importance of not only traveling to see the physical aspects of different cities but having real connections with those from such places, if possible. Those evening moments of bonding, from the quiet ones to the ones filled with thunderous laughter, are what I miss the most about my time in Denmark.

Bailey is a Minnesota native and a coffee addict. You can find her wearing spottie dotties (polka dots, as some call them) or talking numerous jumping pictures in her pink Doc Martens. She loves to explore either through traveling in the physical world or through moving picture films. As a senior at Smith, she is house president of Gardiner House and a gold key tour guide.

It was certainly not my expectation to find myself fighting against the wind to take two steps forward walking down the streets of Copenhagen. The image I had of myself in Europe consisted of me in a fashionable winter coat, a sweater scarf stylishly wrapped around my neck and boots for cat-walking down the narrowly built streets and quaint buildings. The reality was quite the contrary. Every morning on the way to class, wrapped in layers and layers of sweaters, a scarf and one magnificent down jacket, two pairs of pants, solid L.L Beans, leather gloves and a fur aviator hat, I still found myself shivering. I say morning because I don’t know what else to call it but in all honesty, it looked like midnight. The first few weeks in Copenhagen, Denmark were the most challenging. Originally coming from Ethiopia where the sun is guaranteed to come out every day and the temperature is most likely just as warm as the day before, I did not look forward to waking up to the half-slushy snow-covered grounds, cloudy skies and people dressed in dark colors going hurriedly about their own daily business. How, I wondered, did the Danes manage to be the happiest people on this planet when living in such horrid weather? I was truly puzzled.

One afternoon as I was walking down the street, I glanced through the glass walls of restaurants and cafes and noticed the pattern of dim lights and candles. As if the darkness outside is not enough…I wondered to myself, but people seemed perfectly content and even happy. I was jealous. The following day I asked my Danish roommate the significance of candles in the age of electricity and the source of this enigmatic contentment of Danes, despite the daily dreary weather. His answer was simply, “Well, we just spend time with family and friends, it’s called Hygge,” accompanied by an attitude filled with pride. It seemed too simple of an answer. I guess living in an economically, intellectually and technologically leading country in the world, I must have expected something like “we all have beach houses in Spain we escape to” to be his answer. However, the answer was something the rest of the world overlooked, something as simple as just spending a bit more time with people around us. In Danish culture, this concept of togetherness and closeness is so ingrained in the people’s mentality and everyday life that it has a name — Hygge.

In the following week, in my Danish language and culture class, I learned about the word Hygge and its significance. The most striking part of this concept is the fact that no Danish person can articulate it into comprehensible terms. Rather I was told, it could generally be translated to mean a feeling of coziness and warmth, though even that definition doesn’t do it justice. Essentially, enjoying the good things in life with good people around, good food, good beer and having long conversations while creating a feeling of intimacy and closeness is Hygge. Our Danish professor Alette summed it up as “the best weapon to fight off the depressing winters”. As for the candles, Danes like to light up many candles around every room in the house to enjoy the warm glow that defies the long dark hours and they light up their own internal candles by being together.

While Eskimos have hundreds of ways to say Ice, the Danes have a single word that conjures up a feeling, action and social atmosphere that exist in our daily lives all around the world. “All languages find a way to say what they need to say,” says Matthew Strum, a linguist. Danes have evolved the language that suits their needs and explains the most crucial cultural practice to them. Out of the 4 months of my stay in Denmark, I spent 3 months shopping for candles along with my groceries and enjoying the company of my friends over long, multi-course dinners and drinks. The weather outside could not matter less and I finally understood why Danes could be the happiest people in the world.

Metasebia Aberra, ’15, is an international student from Ethiopia. She is interested in health issues around the world and particularly in African countries. During the spring of 2014, she enrolled in a biology medicine program in Copenhagen, Denmark that explored drug discovery and development in pharmaceutical industries. After completing her education at Smith College, she intends to pursue a PhD in Pharmacology.

Global Impressions

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