Surviving extremes with koselig, sabai, and balance.

Daily writing prompt

How do you feel about cold weather?

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I love cold weather. No. That’s not right. I love the feeling of being warm and cozy, which is only possible with cold weather.

When I was teaching English in Thailand, I’d try to explain what it was like where I’d been living in the United States. I had recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison which is, well, cold. I studied Thai language for a semester or two and for some reason language classes are often first thing in the morning. I tried to describe trudging up Bascom Hill in the snow and ice to make it to Thai class on time. I wore heavy boots and multiple layers, a scarf wrapped up all the way around my face so that only my eyes were visible. I’d describe to my students how my breath would condense on my eyelashes and scarf and then freeze. Entering the warmth of the language building, it would all instantly melt, leaving my face, scarf, and hat slightly damp.

Sometimes, as I was describing this to them, a slight breeze might cut through the tropical heat of the open air classrooms. Sabai. Sabai. A study in contrasts.

Here are the two languages I’ve felt pulled to learn more about recently: Thai and Norwegian. Perhaps my ancestors are trying to tell me something. Maybe they’re warring it out, both trying to make claim space on my tongue, in my brain. It doesn’t bother me. There’s room for both and all.

For a while, I lived in Minnesota, which has an outsized Norwegian influence. It makes sense, the climates are somewhat similar. As much as I love both places, it’s mostly because of the summers if I’m honest. Like I said, I enjoy the feeling of “koselig” in cold weather. And I like to knit. I enjoy a steady fire, warm drinks. Candlelight. But it’s also easy to forget that what comes with the cold and koselig is the dark. There are times in both places — Minnesota and Norway — where there’s almost no sunlight for long stretches at a time. It’s hard. Really, really hard.

But so is the heat of Thailand, sometimes. And the flooding.

So I guess it makes sense that I live at a latitude somewhere between those two extremes now — not too far from the latitude where I was born. And perhaps pleasing to the ancestors on both sides.

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