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| Winter in Annefors, last years view from my kitchen window.. |
Yes,
Swedish winters are colder than winters are for most of you. Yes it's also
darker then in many other countries. The suicide stats are well... Kind of true
but not entirely so. We are 30th in the world per capita according to Wikipedia
(not a great source, I know). Anyhow, sad as that is, today, with minus 5
degrees Celsius, snow covered grounds, glistening treetops and a bright winter sun;
I was reminded on why I love the Swedish winter!
I walked to
the train at around 6.30am this morning, still completely dark outside. All the
cozy streetlights with an air of early 1900 about them gave a nice glow to the
deserted streets where I was plowing forward with the snow crunching underneath
my shoes.
On the train between Uppsala where I study and Stockholm the sun
started to rise and I got to see a bright white landscape, wrapped in an enormous
coating of snow passing by outside my window. Getting off and hustling to
Uppsala University I caught a ride on a friends bike. The bicycle lanes had
been brushed with sand, and despite the cold it was a nice ride. During lunch
we took our coffee outside, sat down and let the early winter sun warm our
faces. Back home, right now, there are candles lit all over the apartment. A
large casserole of Kalopps (Swedish meat stew) based on moose is puttering away
on the stove. A glass of red in hand, my favorite possum socks from NZ on my
feet I'm planning away for a winter wonderland weekend. Tomorrow we are going
for a long walk out to Djurgården with the rest of Stockholm. We're going for “Afterpulka” (pulka means toboggan) at Djurgårdsbrunns värdshus. We'll be in skiwear
in their lovely laid back chairs, enjoying the music, sun and good food. Simply
embracing the Swedish winter, the way it should be embraced.
So don't be afraid of the Swedish winter, it's actually kind of great!
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