The Danish Way Of Life Essay

Our family, friends and the environment, around us have an influence on the kind of life we live and this can determine who you would become in the future. The more exposed you are while young, the more mature you become as an adult. In the essay “The Danish Way of Life” the author Jamie Gullen contrasts her experience in New York (NY), while she was aDIS student in Copenhagen, Denmark. In Copenhagen, Gullen narrates how the cultural difference between the United States and Denmark enabled her to discover that she was a very caring person and always wanted to help others. In Copenhagen, Gullen learned about the word “Hygge”. Hygge is a one-syllabus word that Gullen makes us to understand it describes how the Danish people lived their life (Gullen, 283).
Gullen believed that traveling to Denmark made it possible for her to discover that she had Hygge. Hygge demonstrates more important to love for human life, and showing appreciation for family and friend (Gullen, 283). Although Denmark is an English language western country and has a close relationship with the U.S. Gullen makes us understand that these two countries have fundamental cultural differences. In New York where everything is in a faster paste. Parents in NY expect their children to be career driven and highly motivated succeed. No one in NY has enough time to share a good dinner, but care more about their paycheck and lucrative job. Though Gullen learned about the definition of Hygge, she truly experienced its true meaning of love for family and friend than money when she travels to a small town call Kolding in Western Denmark. In Kolding Gullen discussed more intimately with the natives and realize that the people in Kolding value work as a means to an end not as a prestige as those in NY did (Gullen,