Norwegians have a special word for anything that makes you feel good, at peace, nice, comforted etc.
It is the concept of coziness or hyggelig.
The word hyggelig can be used in a phrase that roughly translates as ‘nice to meet you’ but is more generally used as a common adjective to describe anything nice. It can be used to describe a feeling as well as things.
In practice, hyggelig goes beyond words. It’s a way of life.
For me, it’s a 2 hour coffee break with a friend during which neither of you feels the need to touch your phone. It’s silent train ride with a nice view. It’s wearing a warm scarf and holding a hot coffee when it’s windy and cold outside. It’s cooking and sharing a meal with other international students.
I’ve been spending a lot of my down time going for walks and bike rides around where I live. There’s something so peaceful about the landscapes I’ve come across. It’s this majestic stillness and quiet that I’ve decided is an inherently Norwegian (perhaps Scandinavian) thing which goes along with the word hyggelig.
All coziness aside, my life as a student in Norway is finally picking up. I have exams starting in one month and some final assignments to finish. Lately, I’ve been feeling stressed about my final exams because I have some courses in which 100% of my grade is based on the exam!! Dun dun dunnnn. It’s something I’m not used to, but also, having just an exam to worry about for some of my classes has given me more time to travel around Europe and Norway which I am happy to have.
I can’t believe that I’m four months into my year-long exchange! My two dilemmas:
- How fast time flies
- Having an inconsistent routine
I’ve always thought of myself as someone who gets bored of routines, but I have to say, a part of me misses having a predictable weekly and monthly schedule. I’m having an amazing time on exchange, but one of the hard things (and this has been surprising to me) has been keeping my energy and enthusiasm while balancing school with travel planning, socialising, friend visits, school events, exercising and eating well.
I feel like I’m scrambling to balance all of these priorities which I can balance so well while I’m at home. It’s frustrating. While on exchange, travelling inevitably becomes an important priority because I’m in a new place and I want to make the most of seeing new parts of the world. Sometimes I question (and I feel bad about this) whether or not travelling is more important than school work. And sometimes, ok maybe most times, I act like it is.
I’m at a point now where I feel like a need a week-long break from it all (am I allowed to complain about travelling too much? Is this not the dilemma that every exchange student faces?).
Wish me luck in my quest to finish all my schoolwork while checking off my travel bucket list, and not butcher my GPA in the process!
I think that this weekend I’m off to a good start. I will present a group project and submit a report on Thursday, then I leave for Italy early Friday morning with good friends for a final weekend getaway before exams.
Life isn’t perfect but it sure is good.
-V
