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<\/p>\nDo you have Nordicity in your skin? Whether or not they were born in our extreme latitudes, each individual has a very personal response to offer. Experiencing, embracing, and welcoming winter is a new form of balance. It is almost tempting to say that a new lifestyle has established itself in our daily lives. Say hello to Nordic cuisine, the gentle taming of the elements, and an awakened look at our environment. However, is the time when we \u201cendure\u201d winter really over? The snowflakes don\u2019t slide off each of us in the same way. Here are the different perspectives of two women on their relationship with the white season.<\/p>\n
It was on a flight to Ouagadougou that I met Ariane in 2016. With a twinkle in her eye and her head brimming with plans, she was setting off to explore the more exotic latitudes of West Africa. The promises of the sun and heat attracted her, a way to soften the worries of an existence experienced at 100 miles an hour. She kept running for years, bouncing from one work project to the next. Then, one day, she said goodbye to Quebec to rebuild her life on the island of Bonaire in the south Caribbean. That was two years ago. Now, the expression \u201cthe pleasures of winter\u201d is permanently behind her.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents weren\u2019t fans of winter sports; it was never more important than that for me,\u201d she told me from her patio, which looks like a tropical jungle. \u201cI\u2019ll even tell you: it\u2019s more beautiful in a photo than experiencing it in the flesh!\u201d She may be a native of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, but winter never stuck to her skin. Beyond the cold, there was the stress of a daily routine that is much busier than the rest of the year. Clearing the snow off her driveway right after waking up, scraping off her car, keeping her eyes glued to the slippery road, morning after morning\u2026a challenging season for a busy woman.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince I\u2019ve been here, I no longer wonder how I\u2019m going to dress. It\u2019s a whole lifestyle that I left behind,\u201d Ariane confided to me, the shores of Venezuela on her horizon. \u201cIt brings me peace of mind; winter was a stress factor for me. I come to Quebec for Christmas, but I don\u2019t miss anything\u2026\u201d At 40, she is inviting inner peace and simplicity into her life. It was in Bonaire that she met the man who would become her husband, energized by new challenges under the sun. \u201cI prefer to be active while working rather than shovelling!\u201d she quips with one last wink.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What did Floriane and her family want? To escape the monotony and gloom of the French winter. \u201cWe had always tried to appreciate the joys of winter in France, but the cheerfulness was lacking at home in Nantes. And then, the season was so short, it was hard to make the most of it given the distances to reach the Alps to go skiing, for example.\u201d By moving to Quebec, the word \u201cwinter\u201d took on its full meaning for Floriane. Her quest for winter led her to settle down in Quebec City, where the pleasures of the snow are within reach for months.<\/p>\n
\u201cWinter is long, that\u2019s for sure, but it always seems too short to me every year. There\u2019s so much to enjoy and experience!\u201d Floriane exclaimed, snowflakes already filling her eyes in July. The whole family is really sinking their teeth into this new lifestyle. Every snowfall and every bit of free time are excuses to embrace the cold season. For them, hivernotherapy has become a way of life for half the year. \u201cI\u2019ve lost count of the places to have fun in the city, even if it\u2019s just a walk in the heart of a wooded area, landscaped or not. For me, there\u2019s wonder in every corner of every branch!\u201d<\/p>\n
Collecting original experiences like ice canoeing, Floriane takes advantage of weekends and back-to-school times to transform her daily life into dozens of little moments that form the lifeblood of her new existence. Contemplating the frozen river, the white coat that covers the surrounding landscapes, the happiness of a crack- ling fire and a hot chocolate upon returning home\u2026 France is a long way off. \u201cI\u2019m already looking forward to diving into the snow again soon.\u201d Winter? Floriane and her family can\u2019t get enough of it!<\/p>\n
Each year, our senses are invited to readjust to a brand-new environment. Beyond this annual cycle, it is really our profound vision of winter that is changing. It is no longer a question of enduring: the era of Nordicity has arrived. More than just a season, winter is a gate- way to a new lifestyle, almost a rite whose name remains unspoken.<\/p>\n
It is somewhat thanks to Fran\u00e7ois and H\u00e9l\u00e8ne, my host family in Thetford Mines, that I have become this defector, moving from the Breton rains to the acres of snow in Quebec, 15 winters later. Little by little, they have softened, been tamed. In this suddenly silent world, my ears are now caressed by the sound of ice floating in the river, a solitary bird in the distance. My Nordicity was built over time, with great shots of caribou, trips to the arena, snowshoeing in the woods, and mornings with a shovel in hand. It will always be with me; I have taken root in the snowbank. Because Nordicity is now my heritage, proudly shared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Do you have Nordicity in your skin? Whether or not they were born in our extreme latitudes, each individual has a very personal response to offer. Experiencing, embracing, and welcoming winter is a new form of balance. It is almost tempting to say that a new lifestyle has established itself in our daily lives. Say […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":46855,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1974],"tags":[6113,6112],"class_list":["post-46715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-nordicity","tag-winter"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stromspa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stromspa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stromspa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stromspa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stromspa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46715"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.stromspa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47162,"href":"https:\/\/www.stromspa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46715\/revisions\/47162"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stromspa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stromspa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stromspa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stromspa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}