When I came to Western, I had no idea that the winters would be this severe. Coming from LA, I had never experienced a ‘real’ winter- it would dip into the 50s in January, and that was the sum of our cold weather. There were still the palm trees and the endless sunshine, and the beach, obviously. What a brutal winter, right?
My first year here, I had to buy all brand new winter clothes. Boots, and big jackets, and gloves and scarves. I had brought my (super light) jackets from home, and now that I’ve been through a few London winters, I kind of laugh at myself- I was so naïve to think that my denim jacket would be fine in the snow!
For the past two years, London has had the worst winters it’s had in a long time. (What a nice welcome!) In that time, we’ve had a whopping ONE snow day. So even when I couldn’t see out my front door, and the city buses weren’t running, the school expected my tush to be in a seat. How garbage.
The worst, worst thing about winter is being sweaty inside and freezing outside. Today, I got to class, and my nose was running, I was sweating under all of my layers, and my face was red and both hot and cold. I almost fell like 8 times on my walk to class, and I was grumpy and miserable. How do people look socially acceptable in the winter when the weather is terrible outside but the heat is on high inside?
When I went home for winter break, I went to this big outdoor mall by my house. It was December in Los Angeles, so that meant that everyone around me was wearing their UGG boots and puffy jackets. Never mind that it was a balmy 60 degrees and the sun was shining- it was December in LA! I was so excited, I got to wear a tank top and soak up my Vitamin D.
I think that having terrible weather for so many days out of the year makes me more appreciative of nice weather. And next time I think about moving somewhere, the weather (and proximity to Trader Joe’s) will play a much more important role in my decision.