That someone was a Stanford University PhD who wanted to study residents' mental health - and their lack of seasonal depression - and the connection to Norway's long winters.
"At first, she was asking 'Why aren’t people here more depressed?' and if there were lessons that could be taken elsewhere. But once she was there, 'I sort of realized that that was the wrong question to be asking,' she says. When she asked people 'Why don’t you have seasonal depression?' the answer was 'Why would we?'
It turns out that in northern Norway, 'people view winter as something to be enjoyed, not something to be endured,' says Leibowitz [the researcher], and that makes all the difference."
The article goes on to describe what she found out. It's worth the read.
Read the article here.