Every January, I too get hit with blues. The questions run through my mind, in no particular order, "should I really live in Sweden, it is -17 celcius and it got dark at 4:00 PM"; "people are so cold, they won't raise their gaze to make eye contact, rude or freezing?"; "it just snowed again, why!?". Well, you get the picture. Without fail, every January I have dreamed of selling all my possesions and moving to Asia where I imagine life is uncomplicated and sunny.
However, the rational me always trumps these dreams. February comes and that perfect winter day arrives with crisp blue skies and the temperature hovers around 0. People begin to emerge from their own winter blues and life picks up again.
If you are in the middle of a January low, let me remind what is great about Sweden.
1. Great place to raise children. 150 USD for a full time day care spot where the children go to Museums and plant flowers in their own little garden. Our taxes subsidizes the difference of the real cost and our fee for daycare.
2. We have a social welfare system that takes care of us if hardships shall fall on us such as illness, loss of a job etc.
3. The summers when we have sunlight for the majority of 24 hours.
4. Access to healthcare for all, regardless of income or pre-existing conditions.
5. Pure water. Everyone drinks water straight of the tap. Not to be taken for granted.
6. We are a high tech nation. Internet is fast and reliable. Our electrical infrastructure is solid. No frequent power outages.
I will leave the rest of the list to you. What do think is great about Sweden? What are your secret tools to get through January?
