Hold Onto Your Toes
Now that four days has passed here in the land of Swedes, I am finally over the fever that attacked me during my drastic change of location. And as much as I was hoping that Sweden would turn out to be the ¨India of Northern Europe¨, it has naturally turned out to be exactly what it is, Sweden.
Auto rickshaws and their bicycle cousins have transformed into Saabs and Volvos. Every breath of air is so ridiculously fresh that it is almost as equally disturbing as a lungful of Delhi´s thickly polluted version. It is peaceful wherever you go, not much rushing around taking place at all over here. The scenery is simple – a flat landscape where the purest green abruptly changes into the purest blue. You need to wear sunglasses just to look at the grass. Sunset does not come so early, actually, it barely comes at all. Where I am, the sun officially sets at 11pm and rises at 3:30am, however, it fails to get dark in between, the blazing ball of fire always lurking just below the horizon. It is light enough at 2am that you could drive around safely without your head lights on.
Everything is always organized and on time. The trains and buses are simply never late. Everyone waits for the traffic lights to change before crossing the street (and this is not Manhattan, there are seldom any cars approaching at all!), driving faster than 30 mph is considered dangerous and grounds for being committed. There are bicycles everywhere, people of all ages choosing to avoid the unaffordably high prices of petrol. Despite having relatively warm weather for only two months a year, Grandpa Gustavsson and little Bjorn continue to bike around even in the middle of winter. Many a Swede have proudly displayed the scars on their bodies that resulted from mid-winter bicycle accidents.
Even with it being June now it is still cold. Temperatures are struggling to reach 50 degrees during the day, which is the same as 0 degrees to me. After so many years now in hot climates, anything under 70 degrees requires me to pull out my winter wear. It even hailed yesterday, leaving an inch layer of ice on the ground in some places.
But it is summer nonetheless and the Swedes refuse to let something as silly as extremely low temperatures stand in the way of their enjoyment of this warmest of seasons. People are sunbathing in bikinis in the parks, wearing short shorts and sitting outside to eat their meals. I have yet to see one person wearing winter attire, even at night when it drops to 40 degrees. They simply refuse to have their short summer taken away and so the entire nation defiantly denies the cold. As a result, it appears that they really do end up feeling warm in the end, enabling them to actually think it is summer weather and therefore to make the most of the summer months. Meanwhile, I went shopping for a winter hat and gloves and began sewing my own long underwear.
It is a beautiful, atmospheric country. An expensive, beautiful and atmospheric country. It seems that every time I step out into the streets I end up spending $100 and all I have to show for it is an empty muffin wrapper and a tiny packet of tissues. But, the people are kind and warm and down to earth, just what you want in a ´people´. And I say this despite their widely held belief that it is quite normal to cut off ones small toes if they become bothersome after the age of 25.
Tags: Sweden
dbaron
Okay, so they cut off their toes. I have to call Christopher, my Swedish friend, and ask about that.
This change seems polar (pardon the cold weather pun) for you – and therefore so good. Minus the cold of course. I’m glad to hear you’re finding pleasure, if also chills, in it.