I went to dinner a couple of weeks ago with some Danes and some Germans. Someone said how the Danish dream was to sit with your friends and be comfortable (they have a special word for this, 'hygge', it is an art form in Denmark.) I said sometimes it seems like the American dream has been buried under consumer goods from Wal Mart. Someone said that the Swedish dream was a perfect midsummer celebration, dancing around the maypole, eating strawberries, flowers in your hair. I asked one of the Germans what the German dream was. 'There is no German dream,' he said, 'that's the problem.'
hygge sounds good to me. How much will one hour cost?
ReplyDeleteOh it'll set you back about one bottle of Gammel Dansk ('Old Danish') and a couple good stories. Stories involving farms and farm byproducts are always a hit.
ReplyDeleteAfter spending the past weekend with relatives, I think the American hygge is to watch football until you watch it in your dreams. This is what I found necessary to spend time with my dad.
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