- Santa lives in Finnish Lapland on the Arctic Circle. In Finland it's hardly ever warmer than this.
- You mean that? Are you from Finland?
- Sure I am. Born and bred. But what did you just say this place is?
- This is Shenzhen in China.
- I know something about China but Shenzhen? Never heard of it before. But anyway, this seems to be a huge place. When it gets cold and there is some snow on the ground in Finland I really want to sit on chimney tops. It's warmer there. But here, how can I ever reach any chimney top? They are so so high up there in the sky. ..What sort of buildings are these? I'm feeling dizzy again.
- Finland?... Snow?
- You didn't answer my question about these high buildings.
- Sorry... Skyscrapers. These are skyscrapers.
- They sure scrape the sky. You've got that right.
- And you don't have to fly all the way up there. Just take an elevator and you are up there in no time at all.
- That's convenient. However my friend Rudolph could fly me up there.
- He could?
- Yes, he is one of the reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh loaded with presents. Together with his fellow reindeer he flies from place to place in a slip of a second. And they really don't need any aircraft to do so.
- Awesome!
- But Finland, where is it? And snow, what is it?
- Finland is in northern Europe. Our winter weather is definitely much colder there. That's why we can have some snow (that is, small frozen raindrops) in winter. It covers the ground, bushes and tree branches and so the landscape becomes white. But is it here too an early winter now? Doesn't feel like winter to me.
- Yes, it's winter here now.
- What's the temperature now?
- Does that matter?
- Well, our best summer days are like this in Finland. Then it's around + 23 Celsius.
- Our summer lasts something like 5 months and it's hot then. But when it comes to the temperature, it's all the same. No big change, so it's irrelevant. But the thing is it seems to be the humidity then that is more challenging to foreigners. It makes them sweat like pigs every day.
- It must be hotter then than in the winter.
- Well, it's a bit warmer. But is that that important, after all?
YOU ARE READING
Weigh Out Way-In
General FictionThere is an unexpected turn in the story that drastically changes the course of events and, in the long run, even the lives of those involved. Magpie, the first to be involved, suddenly finds himself in the world so unlike his own. Will he find his...
