Ålesund Doesn’t Care About Your Christmas List

Somewhere in the Norwegian coastal town of Ålesund, last week’s wind decided that people had been upright for long enough. The footage of locals attempting to cross the street—and being essentially redirected by the atmosphere—is one of the more honest depictions of December I’ve seen this year. Bodies angled at forty-five degrees, shopping bags functioning as sails, the whole scene accompanied by cheerful laughing rather than panic. The Norwegians apparently find this funny. They would.

There’s a particular kind of equanimity that comes from living somewhere the weather has genuine opinions about you. You either develop it or you move. The people in that video have clearly made their peace.