Are you from Asia or other two seasons countries? If you have never experienced a very low temperature that makes your body freeze, your bones ache, your eyes tear, your teeth hurt, and other uncomfortable feelings effects of the coldness we never have before. Then let me tell you about my first experiences of wintertime in Northern Europe or more specifically in Scandinavia.
My family and friends asked about my first winter experience in Scandinavia, as an Asian who is from a South East Asian country, what I have learned and experienced to welcome winter seasons, first and most important is physical and mental preparation, then followed by proper winter outfits. Why is it important?
I have never experienced or seen snow in real life and I do not let myself be afraid and not be ready for the winter. The off-the-wall experience comes, let’s take it up.
Physical and Mental preparation
As it will be your first wintertime experience, taking care of yourself physically and mentally is necessary. The reason is your body needs time to adapt to the cold, eating healthily and taking vitamin D and multivitamins is a must, as you won’t get much sunlight for your body, working out at home or the gym, or walking, running, cycling and any kinds of exercises. Check your weather applications if you do outdoor activities. I walk around the complex and go to the gym, to avoid putting more weight on during this season. Having a fit body is one of the preparations, and also increases your immune system. Getting a cough, runny nose, flu, and a bloated stomach may occur quickly at this time as well, if you have sensitive teeth, go to the dentist so your teeth are covered by chemicals, and you need skin care products too as your skin is less moist during winter. Mental preparation to welcome the winter season is when you are excited and curious to feel and to see the snow for the first time or maybe to hold it, to feel the coldness, these feelings help you to boost your good mood.
Winter outfits preparation
Yippee !!! Shopping time !!! Physically and mentally prepared, now you need to get ready for the proper winter outfits that will save you from the coldness and avoid the bad effects of being cold outside. Are you a homebody? Then online shops are the best way for you to look for outfits, you can compare the prices, the models, materials, and so on and remember as well if they have a good refund and return policy or if you prefer to go around and purchase it at the stores it would be so much fun too. Once the winter outfits are complete such as stockings, long johns, winter coats, boots, thicker socks, winter hand gloves, winter ear warmers, and scarf then you are ready to go outside. Making a snowman and decorating it or making snowballs and throwing it to your friends or family, taking a lot of pictures, and sharing your happiness. As Scandinavian said “There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes”
Moods experience
Once your physical, mental, and proper winter outfits are well-equipped you are ready to experience the dark cold wintertime with joy, happiness, and grateful feelings. Some people may have miserable, sad, sorrowful, unhappy, stressed, and many other sorts of feelings called winter blues or seasonal depression. The only word you can say the first time is just a “Wow” and jaw-dropping too. Try to grab the snow on your hands or do silly things like put your tongue out to feel the snow in your mouth before it drops on the ground. So amazing. Finally, you can feel the snow on your hands and around you, and the cold winds blow onto you, giving the sensation of an itchy tickly feeling, touching gently on your face, ears, hands, or even feet, exciting, awkward, happy, and many mixed emotions.
Panoramas
What does the surroundings look like in the winter? Mostly white, when the snow comes and grey because of the fog and no sunlight, and also most of the trees have no more leaves left after the fall time, and no green looks from the lush bushes or trees. The white views are all over you giving the peaceful, comfort, and serenity. Snow covers the ground, trees, buildings, streets, and cars. You can see bird nests on the trees and are wrapped in snow, which is an incredibly beautiful view. The leaves of the trees such as pines, yew trees, Emerald green, and bushes remain on the branches. the vibe is a white Christmas mood. If you are lucky to get sunlight during winter time, it’s a chance to take many pictures and videos as memories, the pictures and video outcome would be much better with brighter colors than the fogging dark white views pictures. No doubt.
Food, Fruits, Cookies, and Beverages
When winter comes, the fruits and vegetables available on the market also undergo changes, winter vegetables, and fruits can be found on the market a lot which makes our menu and daily consumption change depending on the supply in the market. For fruits and vegetables from the previous season, we find less and less often on the market, even though they are available, it is possible to import or from the greenhouses which makes the price more expensive.
For fruits, apples, and oranges are more dominant and the berries family is rare to find, and for vegetables, Brussels sprouts, kale, red cabbage, beetroot, and some seasonal mushrooms are easy to find as well and Christmas cookies such as ginger cookies, sugar cookies, drömmar, knäck, seven kinds of cookies, etc also we can find it easily at supermarkets.
Events happen in winter
Winter season starts in December and ends in February when we celebrate Christmas and New year´s eve when supermarkets, restaurants, and stores start decorating Christmas stuff. They serve and display mostly typical Christmas. At supermarkets in Sweden and Denmark, salt-cured, unsmoked ham and pre-cooked hams are typically used for making a julskinka the special Christmas ham meal, red beet salad (rödbetssallad), red cabbage (rödkål), anchovies with sour cream (gobbröra) and for the Chrismas special drinks, we can find julmust, glögg (spiced red wine) which is warmly served, beer is provided at supermarkets too. Before Christmas, the event we experience is Advent weeks, during these weeks we can see stars’ lights are hanged or placed and candles lit along the window frames in the house making the surroundings look more beautiful, rousing, and fun.
Time cycles
During the wintertime, you feel like the days are shorter, sunrise happens later around 8.30 am, and sunset occurs much earlier almost 4.00 pm also the moonrise happens around 9 pm, and the moonset is almost at 11 am. This sunrise and sunset cycle rotation will change from time to time, close to springtime the sunrise comes earlier almost 8.00 am, and the sunset disappears later almost at 5.00 pm, and this happens to the moon cycle as well. Something new for me, the sun and the moon cycle are different in the countries located at the equator.
Birds feeding
I can see many bird foods are sold at supermarkets from suppliers with abundant stocks. Why do you think they sell plenty of bird foods? because once the snow covers the ground then bird has difficulty finding the seeds and foods they need, and in the wintertime, some trees stop producing fruits for birds as well and insects that live in trees or the ground are even disappeared. Poor birds. We can help to feed them by providing food in front of our homes, then we can still hear the chirping birds.
Firewood
Most of the houses and apartments in Scandinavia are heated by district heating and are very well built and insulated also some houses also have masonry stoves with their chimneys as a heating system for their rooms or have a steel wood burning place with glass or another non-flammable material for the house is popular nowadays. With this kind of heating system, we need firewood. Some stores and supermarkets sell it in a bundled package, and if you live in the village or nearby forest, it is simply to collect the fallen branches as stock for your house. Commonly the wood types for firewood are maple, hickory, apple, walnut, cherry, oak, ash, birch, and most fruit trees.
In the end, do I like winter? Yes, I am a person in the winter “like” group. I still can enjoy and have fun in the winter weather, and when the surroundings seem so tranquil, and calm, I can feel myself with my thoughts and imagination.
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