Today, the temperature is 75 degrees Fahrenheit, with sun and a blue sky in San Diego. The temperature is 57 degrees Fahrenheit, with clouds and rain in my hometown of Aarhus. One of the biggest differences between living in Denmark, and living in California, is the weather. In San Diego, there is sun all year around. In Denmark, we are very lucky if we have sun and summer for just one month. In Denmark we have four seasons: winter, spring, summer and fall. During winter, we have snow, in spring, we have green leaves, and during summer, if we are lucky, we hit 75 degrees Fahrenheit with sun. But most of the time, we have rain, and in fall we have orange and brown leaves and it rains almost every day. The best investment you can make moving to Denmark, is a rain jacket. One of the reasons I love living in Denmark is the changing seasons. I couldn’t imagine Christmas without snow, winter jackets and mittens. My favorite season is spring, because everything gets green and we finally see the sun again. In Denmark, the most popular conversation topic is the weather, and people always say that if you can’t find anything else to talk to people about, you can always talk about the weather. Danes often complain about the weather. My Danish friends have already sent me a lot of Snapchats of themselves being sad standing out in the rain in Denmark. During the winter in Denmark, it actually gets so dark and cold that many people suffer from winter depression/seasonal affective disorder. More than 5 percent of the population suffers from winter depression every year. People suffer from winter depression because of the falling temperatures, and the missing sunlight during fall and winter. I get how one would get depressed about the weather in Denmark. I felt much happier waking up to sun coming inside my window every morning, than another rainy day in Denmark. The weather in San Diego can’t do anything but make you happy, and I think the sun does something to people. I met a surfer from Belgium in Mission Beach the other day who told me that he moved to California 10 years ago, and that he never wants to return to his home country. He loves the weather in San Diego too much. I see why people love the San Diego weather, and I could easily be convinced to stay here forever. Mathilde Rousseau Bjerregaard is from Aarhus, Denmark. She is an editorial intern with San Diego Community Newspaper Group. Contact her at [email protected].
