January 23, 2022
Coping with winter is really fun!
For this blog I will not talk about my experience with the Swedish weather and coldness, but I will talk about how you can handle and enjoy it at the same time.
Linköping is in the southern part of Sweden. Winters here are long, cold, and dry, with sub-zero temperatures lasting several months. There is also much more snow here. However, I am still saying it is manageable. You can keep yourself warm and busy to not mine the coldness and darkness. For me, coming from middle eastern and northern African country I would say it was not easy at all. But what helped me a lot was making myself busy most of the times. Also, I used to do outside activities to help me cope with that weather.
Here is some advice to how to keep yourself warm and busy in the Swedish winter:
1- Always go outside for a walk, jog, run: to have a daily routine is so helpful and made me easily cope with the winter. I used to go for 30 – 1 hour walk everyday not only to cope with winter but also to stay healthy and to improve my mental health as well. Walking in the Swedish nature helped me a lot to clean my mind, to think better, to have better mood, and to be more productive. In Sweden there are a lot of places just around the area you live to walk or do your favorite sport. So, they are always free, available, and just close to you.
2- Cook a warm and nice meal: as I mentioned in an earlier blog, cooking is like a therapy where you can just get out all the negative energy you have while you are cooking. So, in my opinion when you cook for yourself a very nice and warm meal that would help you improve your mood, and it is kind of appreciation for yourself. One of the best things is to cook with your friends as that will help you feel like you are with your family.
3- Talk to someone: it is always amazing when you talk to someone about what you feel and what are your thoughts and what you have in your minds. That helps a lot in letting out all the negative energy and make you feel you are not alone.
4- Beside your studies, you also must have fun, so watching a movie or series from time to time is really enjoyable. I always have something like that in my routine with a cup of tea or hot chocolate.
5- Vitamins and immune system boosters: these things are very essential to include vitamins in your day and drink a homemade immune system booster. I found this tip is important because it made me always healthy and strong to cope with the coldness.
6- Call my family: For me this is so important because when I call them, I always feel warm and happy. I call my family daily to chat with them about what I have been through the day, what am I doing and checking on them. This tip alone makes me feel better and never mind the darkness and coldness, especially when I make jokes about these topics with them.
