M: When I say I live in Sweden, people always want to know about the seasons.
W: The seasons?
M: Yeah, you know, how cold it is in winter, what it's like when the days are so short.
W: So what is it like?
M: Well, it is cold, very cold in winter, sometimes as cold as 26 degrees below centigrade. And of course when you go out, you wrap up warm. But inside, in the houses it's always very warm, much warmer than at home. Swedish people always complain that when they visit England, the houses are cold even in a good winter.
W: And what about the darkness?
M: Well, yeah, around Christmas time there's only one hour of daylight, so you really look forward to the spring. It is sometimes a bit depressing. But you see the summers are amazing. From May to July in the North of Sweden, the sun never sets. It's still light at midnight. You can walk in the mountains and read a newspaper.
W: Oh, yeah, "the land of the midnight sun".
M: That's right, but it's wonderful. You want to stay up all night, and the Swedes make the most of it. Often they start work earlier in summer and then leave at about 2 or 3 in the afternoon, so that they can really enjoy the long summer evenings. They'd like to work hard, but play hard, too. I think Londoners work longer hours, but I'm not sure this is a good thing.