What a joy to arrive in Sweden just before Christmas and be welcomed by not only farmor and farfar, granny and grandpa, but also by snow and some proper winter. It has been a wonderful couple of weeks we have spent in Sweden, and I plan to share some impressions in the next few blog posts as I have time to collect my impressions, edit my photos and write about it all. For now, I am still just filled with the magic of cold white winter and will reflect a little on the concept of coldness.
When I moved to Japan, I often thought of winter as a normal Swedish autumn or spring, and I was amused by everyone talking about it being so freezing cold when it was 5 or even 10 degrees Celsius outside. I usually dress on the warmer side so for me it was difficult to understand what they were talking about. As the years have gone by though, I have come to sometimes feel a chilling cold during Japanese winters even when I imagined there would be no possibility that I would freeze. I have been wondering what this is, am I dressing differently? Is the winter air different in Sweden? The wind? The closeness to the ocean? Or am I just getting soft?
Coming to Sweden in late December we were met by cold temperatures and for me it was like going back in time to my childhood, feeling one with the elements, enjoying seeing the condensation when exhaling, enjoying feeling the cold air bite my cheeks. Of course I have been properly dressed, quite differently from what I would wear in Japan but still, even when we have had downwards of minus 20 degrees while playing in the snow I have not felt the same kind of coldness (although I guess my toes would not wholeheartedly agree…) as I would have done playing in the park a wintery 8 degrees day in Japan (when I would have felt the chill creep in trough every existing opening in my outer garments).
If I had to guess, I would say it is both my clothes and the humidity that are to blame for my freezing in Japan. Going through the old things I still have in Sweden, I took a trip down memory lane to the time when I was studying at the university of technology in Gothenburg, a Swedish costal town known for its rainy humid winters. I met my younger self drinking tea coming home from a bone-freezing bicycle ride in a light winter’s drizzle – how easy it is to forget some unpleasantries yet remember others, but that is a topic for another time.
For now I want to say thank you snow, for showing up to great us when we came. Lately it is not a given to experience one month of snow in the part of Sweden where my parents live. I feel so fortunate to have been able to have a proper winter with my family and I am so happy both my son and wife also have loved being out in the cold, playing the snow.
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