Sweden looks like a scene from Narnia most days. It really is a beautiful place. The sun is now setting at 3pm and is pitch black within the hour. Now that the snow has fallen though, it seems lighter out. And the Swedes of course have figured out how to cope with the darkness (especially up North where there’s no sun in some places, and even midnight sun). There are candles, or electric candles) in almost every single window, or a lamp, or my personal favourite – paper stars. I love the stars. So even when it’s dark in Sweden, it never seems dead. And even the city center is decorated and there are twinkle lights above the streets. My bike ride to campus is sometimes difficult with the snow when it builds up and I get stick in other peoples’ tracks, but the lakes are frozen and snow has built up on them and so everything is white.  And so eerily quiet. I can even see the snow crystals individual when they land on my jacket, because they don’t melt immediately as they usually do in Oregon. I thought I would maybe be sick of the snow by now, but every time it snows I will still run to the window and sit and watch the snow fall for a while. I also think that it makes the cold a little more bearable – it’s a dry cold rather than the wet and cold we get in Oregon. This snow stays dryer than the Oregon snow I’ve experienced.

Around the lakes after the first snowfall.

xxx Maren