By İrem Naz Duymuş (AMER/III) & Eda Emekoğlu (AMER/III)
nazduymus@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
eda.emekoglu@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
Hygge
Lately, I’ve been spending more time at home. Cold days, quiet evenings, soft lights, warm drinks. Instead of feeling guilty about it—as I used to—I decided to embrace it. Normally, I would imagine myself losing my mind during this uncertain and loose period before my Erasmus journey. Waiting, not knowing what comes next, has always made me restless. But this time, I chose something different. I decided to learn how to slow things down.
Thanks to my slightly increased screen time—somewhere between endless scrolling and late-night posts—I discovered hygge, a Danish lifestyle philosophy that focuses on finding comfort in simple moments. In Denmark, winters are long, dark and cold. Days are short, sunlight is limited, and staying indoors becomes almost unavoidable—much like the three or four winter months we experience in Ankara. Instead of fighting these conditions, people choose to adapt. They turn isolation into intimacy and silence into peace. My checklist was complete: cold, isolation and silence. So let me share a brief hygge movie-and-series marathon report.
If you’re a fan of legal dramas like I am, you should check out the new season of The Lincoln Lawyer. Although the iconic Harvey Specter from Suits remains unmatched in charisma, Mickey Haller comes surprisingly close—and this season places him right at the center of the story.
Speaking of charisma, one gentleman immediately comes to mind: Benedict Bridgerton. As my second-favorite brother in the Bridgerton household, I have high expectations for the fourth season. As I’m writing this piece, the second part has not yet been released, but I hope we’ve been given something more than another Cinderella story by the time you’re reading this.
For rom-com lovers, People We Meet on Vacation has already become a modern classic—one that has taken over the internet. For those who prefer a slower and more nostalgic kind of romance, The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk offers something entirely different. Recently adapted into a series and advertised widely across cities, it divided audiences. The visibility brought in a broad spectrum of viewers—all eager to watch, interpret and evaluate.
In the meantime, as the Winter Olympics kept the world busy with icy ambition and the kind of rivalry that makes even the ice melt, ice sports echoed their reputation through popular series. One example comes from figure skating: Finding Her Edge was adapted from a book and carries the unmistakable spirit of our teenage Wattpad years. Many viewers criticized the series for using artificial intelligence to enhance the actors’ faces during skating scenes. Once it was revealed that the leads were not professional figure skaters, the decision did not seem entirely absurd to me; however, it did make me wonder about the possible future use of AI in films.
And, to be completely honest, my hand kept reaching not only for new releases but for an old comfort series: Yalan Dünya. There is something effortlessly joyful about it—a kind of humor that does not try too hard and characters that feel familiar rather than manufactured. In your own hygge marathon, do not feel pressured to watch something new; you can always return to the classics, to the comforts that make you feel at ease. I only wish we still had Turkish productions that felt this light, witty and genuinely fun—stories we could enjoy both in daily life and during our quiet hygge evenings.
