No. 5 When Autumn comes....

Life in Sweden

No. 5 When Autumn Comes....

1999/10/28

At Sigtuna, an old small town in the suburb of Stockholm

Now, in Stockholm, it seems to be already the end of the Autumn. The leaves of the trees are already red and yellow, and they started to fall when the wind blows.

On one weekend, I visited Sigtuna, an old small town located in the suburb of Stockholm. This town is one of the most favorite place to visit in Sweden. There are old small wooden houses with cozy atmosphere. The town is located in front of Lake Meralen, the same one in front of the City Hall of Stockholm. It also has several of historical ruins of ancient churches.

At the shore of the Lake Meralen

The temperature here is cold enough in this season. It already goes below zero at night sometime. Weather is fine or rainy, but usually it does not rains heavily.

Some of my Swedish friends looked very sad in the end of September when it became obvious that the Summer was totally gone and Autumn had come. I was really surprised to see that even those cheerful people looked a little bit less vigorous.

Now they seems to be totally recovered from the "transient seasonal depression", however I heard some people suffer from "Winter depression", which is supposed to be caused by the shortage of sunshine. One Swedish doctor told me "phototherapy" (exposing the patient with strong light) is effective, so it seems to be the sunshine is really involved in this syndrome.

As for me, it seems like that I am resistant for this change of the environment, at least currently. Many friends threatens me that the November is the most tough season, however I think I will be too busy to get depressed.

The feelings against the season Autumn seems to be very different between Sweden and Japan. In Sweden, it seems like Autumn has some negative image in general, however, in Japan, it is a favorite season for many people. The reason may be that Summer is too hot and too humid in Japan, and people feel relieved when they are gone. At the same time, we enjoy a lot of seasonal delicacies (we call it "Shun") like fruits, mushrooms and fishes, and I personally love Autumn for this reason. In Sweden, one of my friend told me that they also walk into the woods to pick mushrooms, however it seems like that they are not as crazy for seasonal specialties in the Autumn. Yes, Cray fish is very popular between Swedish people, but the best season is end of August, which might be said end of Summer, not Autumn.

Leaves of the trees are beautifully colored

If it is fine weather, the Swedish Autumn is very beautiful. Clean and fresh airs, beautifully colored leaves of the trees, a little bit weak sunshine, however there are many cloudy days which make people a little bit less vigorous.

In front of the Karolinska Institute at NOVUM

However, my concern is already the cold Winter. I am not sure how I can manage it, as it is said the temperature will go down to minus 20.

P.S. Recently, Swedish scientists reported that they have identified the same "matsutake" mushroom (pine mushroom) which is a typical autumn delicacy and is extremely expensive in Japan. More in formation at the website below.

http://www.mykopat.slu.se/ex/Niclas/matsutake.html

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Last Updated 1999/10/28