There's no such thing as bad weather

After meeting the ward members, I was invited to have dinner with Christian and Elisabet Karlsson, a family in the ward who just recently moved back to Norway after getting an MBA at BYU. They have three strapping boys, Mats, Mikkel, and Magnus. I had a great time getting to know them and seeing their house in Slemmestad, hoping that we might be able to find a place of similar size when the family moves over to join me.

I noticed, as Elisabet was giving me a tour of the house, that they had no heaters upstairs, and I asked them how they kept warm. She said they bundle the kids well, and that, actually, she sleeps with the window open, as do many other Norwegians! I got a kick out of the idea. It just goes right along with the viking toughness that they are known for. It also kind of makes sense. I've been sleeping under a down comforter like most of them do, and it is just so darn hot that it's sometimes hard to go to sleep, so I can see why it might be easier to sleep under a thick warm blanket and lower the room temperature.

While I was there I got to join them for a local neighborhood tradition they have of conducting a torch-lit march from one end of the neighborhood to the other, followed by a round of gløgg (wassail-like drink) and pepperkaker (gingerbread cookies). It was really great to see the community getting together and celebrating Christmas like this.

Before we went out, Elisabet donned her full-body snowsuit and was telling Kami (over Skype) how great they are for playing with the kids. She told us about a saying they have in Norway, "There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing."
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