To "Petri's Thinking
Aloud" vol.2 "Greeting"
My Japanese friends ask me often, "Are there four seasons in Finland?", and
I always answer, "Of course!" Because, there are the words which mean spring,
summer, autumn, and winter in Finnish like Japanese. But why are there
also four seasons in Finland which locates as far north as Alaska?
When I came to Japan for the first time, it was just the beginning of October,
early autumn. I was very surprised when I got off an airplane, because
I was prepared for autumn with my sweater and coat on. Temperature was
over 30℃ in spite of autumn. It was exceptionally hot in Finland. In Finland
I seldom experience such heat even in midsummer. Japan gave me really a
hot welcome. I was very glad to be back to summer from cold autumn in Finland.
Talking of the seasons in Finland, autumn begins in August when leaves
turn red and begin to fall, and ends in November when it snows almost every
day. Winter is the season when snow lies pretty deep, from November till
April. Spring is a short flowery season, and it lasts only one month. Summer
comes after the full bloom of flowers and leaves, from June till August.
There is a season in Japan which does not exist in Finland, when I think
about four seasons in Japan with such a sense of the seasons. For example,
spring in Japan is summer in the north. The real summer in Japan has the
rainy season and it is unbearable like tropical summer to the people of
the north country. The four seasons in Japan is very different from the
ones in Finland. Nevertheless I*m glad that the calm season, which is called
summer in Finland, comes twice a year in Japan.
<This article appeared in the Asahi Student Weekly>
To "Petri's Thinking
Aloud" vol.2 "Greeting"
