Hygge, Trust and Nudity Fanatics
You may not think of Danes as extremist or fanatical but I beg to differ. I've found Danes to be fanatical about hygge, trust and nudity.
Hygge
The fact I have yet to capture my thoughts on hygge in a post, and it has now been over five months since I relocated, is pathetic. Hygge is the very first word that springs to mind when contemplating the Danish lifestyle. Poorly translated hygge (pronounced "hoo-guh") means cozy in English however this translation seems both too broad and too specific. Hygge refers to a warm state of relaxation. It certainly applies to sitting around a fire with friends or having dinner party or snuggling up with a good book in a beach house (another mainstay) on the North Sea in the summer. The term hygge also applies to things that we'd never call cozy in English. For instance, my bike is hygge and a walk in my neighborhood is hygge. Clearly, it doesn't translate very well, rendering the concept less intelligible to an English ear but no less charming.
What I love about the concept of hygge is how fanatical Danes are about creating it. How does one create hygge? One word. Candles. This time of year the sun rises around 7am and the sky is still bright at 7pm yet candles abound. Just this morning, I went for a run and saw a family enjoying breakfast in their sun room with candlesticks blazing. I had breakfast at a lovely cafe with, you guessed it, a candle on my table. I'm torn between the desire to stock candles for my apartment and not burn it down.
Trust
Are you sitting down? You should be for this factoid. Ninety percent of Danes vote. As a point of comparison, voter turnout in the US is under 60% for presidential elections. To me this shows that Danes trust their government more and believe that their voice will be heard. Hints of a high trust society jump out at me everywhere - there are no security guards in office buildings at night, I don't have a deadbolt on my apartment door, a restaurant suggested I go down to the canal to enjoy the sunset and return their glass later in the evening. Certainly no New York restaurant would let you leave with their glassware but I also can't imagine that happening in San Antonio or Cleveland.
What's even more astounding to me is not just how Danes trust their government and each other but how much Danes trust me (not that they shouldn't, of course!) and other foreigners. I recently got my purse snatched in London. As I reassemble the pieces of my life, I've been floored by overly generous offers to lend me money and, in one case, even a credit card. On the heels of my misfortune in London last week, the high level of trust people have of a random American seems even more apparent. Namely, in the last week I've had two strangers ask me if I'd watch their purse for them while they run to the restroom! I've attentively done so and then taken it upon myself to share my story of having my purse unwillfully taken from me. Nora Ziegenhagen, slayer of unabashed Danish trust in the name of the safety and security of purses everywhere.
Nudity
I think anyone reading this blog knows about my personal fanaticism with yoga. Since moving to Copenhagen I've tried about a dozen yoga studios. They all focus on different styles of yoga and have different aesthetics but one thing holds true at each studio, as soon as class is over, everyone showers in the communal shower. No shower curtains, no partitions. Then everyone stands around fixing their hair and chatting in the buff. No superfluous towels here. While I find it to be a refreshingly honest approach to bodies I still prefer to take my sweaty self home and shower in the comfort of my own apartment.
Given what may be the lack of religious guilt associated with nudity in Denmark versus the US, you may think there would be lots of nude beaches. Nope. No nude beaches. Not needed. You're welcome to go nude on whichever beach you'd like. The only guideline is that anyone without clothing has an obligation to 'show consideration for the sensibilities of others by keeping a reasonable distance from them'. Of course, most opting to go au naturel are under the age of 4, however this isn't always the case...
The weather these days is decidedly autumnal. With the changing of the seasons have come a number of "pop up saunas" on Copenhagen's harbor. The idea is that you go for a quick polar bear swim and then pop into the sauna. Love it. Can't wait to try it. A few days ago, as I was coming back from my morning run, an extremely old man emerged from the water in his birthday suit headed toward the sauna. I chocked it off to a generational gap. Well, yesterday morning, as I was returning from my run, I did my very best to keep my eyes straight ahead as four beautiful men casually stood by the water toweling off. Hello Denmark!
Hygge
The fact I have yet to capture my thoughts on hygge in a post, and it has now been over five months since I relocated, is pathetic. Hygge is the very first word that springs to mind when contemplating the Danish lifestyle. Poorly translated hygge (pronounced "hoo-guh") means cozy in English however this translation seems both too broad and too specific. Hygge refers to a warm state of relaxation. It certainly applies to sitting around a fire with friends or having dinner party or snuggling up with a good book in a beach house (another mainstay) on the North Sea in the summer. The term hygge also applies to things that we'd never call cozy in English. For instance, my bike is hygge and a walk in my neighborhood is hygge. Clearly, it doesn't translate very well, rendering the concept less intelligible to an English ear but no less charming.
What I love about the concept of hygge is how fanatical Danes are about creating it. How does one create hygge? One word. Candles. This time of year the sun rises around 7am and the sky is still bright at 7pm yet candles abound. Just this morning, I went for a run and saw a family enjoying breakfast in their sun room with candlesticks blazing. I had breakfast at a lovely cafe with, you guessed it, a candle on my table. I'm torn between the desire to stock candles for my apartment and not burn it down.
Trust
Are you sitting down? You should be for this factoid. Ninety percent of Danes vote. As a point of comparison, voter turnout in the US is under 60% for presidential elections. To me this shows that Danes trust their government more and believe that their voice will be heard. Hints of a high trust society jump out at me everywhere - there are no security guards in office buildings at night, I don't have a deadbolt on my apartment door, a restaurant suggested I go down to the canal to enjoy the sunset and return their glass later in the evening. Certainly no New York restaurant would let you leave with their glassware but I also can't imagine that happening in San Antonio or Cleveland.
What's even more astounding to me is not just how Danes trust their government and each other but how much Danes trust me (not that they shouldn't, of course!) and other foreigners. I recently got my purse snatched in London. As I reassemble the pieces of my life, I've been floored by overly generous offers to lend me money and, in one case, even a credit card. On the heels of my misfortune in London last week, the high level of trust people have of a random American seems even more apparent. Namely, in the last week I've had two strangers ask me if I'd watch their purse for them while they run to the restroom! I've attentively done so and then taken it upon myself to share my story of having my purse unwillfully taken from me. Nora Ziegenhagen, slayer of unabashed Danish trust in the name of the safety and security of purses everywhere.
Nudity
I think anyone reading this blog knows about my personal fanaticism with yoga. Since moving to Copenhagen I've tried about a dozen yoga studios. They all focus on different styles of yoga and have different aesthetics but one thing holds true at each studio, as soon as class is over, everyone showers in the communal shower. No shower curtains, no partitions. Then everyone stands around fixing their hair and chatting in the buff. No superfluous towels here. While I find it to be a refreshingly honest approach to bodies I still prefer to take my sweaty self home and shower in the comfort of my own apartment.
Given what may be the lack of religious guilt associated with nudity in Denmark versus the US, you may think there would be lots of nude beaches. Nope. No nude beaches. Not needed. You're welcome to go nude on whichever beach you'd like. The only guideline is that anyone without clothing has an obligation to 'show consideration for the sensibilities of others by keeping a reasonable distance from them'. Of course, most opting to go au naturel are under the age of 4, however this isn't always the case...
The weather these days is decidedly autumnal. With the changing of the seasons have come a number of "pop up saunas" on Copenhagen's harbor. The idea is that you go for a quick polar bear swim and then pop into the sauna. Love it. Can't wait to try it. A few days ago, as I was coming back from my morning run, an extremely old man emerged from the water in his birthday suit headed toward the sauna. I chocked it off to a generational gap. Well, yesterday morning, as I was returning from my run, I did my very best to keep my eyes straight ahead as four beautiful men casually stood by the water toweling off. Hello Denmark!
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