Since my arrival in Ottawa, Canada last September, pretty much every Canadian I met did not fail to warn me of the impending winter months to come⊠I heard countless horror stories about the arctic temperaturesâ how it gets so cold that your eyelashes freeze together, your gum freezes as soon as you put it in your mouth and that all youâll want to do is stay cooped up inside your little dorm room for days on end. What concerned me the most was the fact that my university opens a special âlight therapyâ room on campus during the winter, which students are recommended to use to alleviate their symptoms of SAD.
All this worried me. But having (almost) survived the Canadian winter, I feel I can say that this country actually embraces their frosty season in a very distinctive way! The gloomy trend of the âJanuary bluesâ known to all back in Britain does not even exist across the pondâon the contrary, this dreaded first month of the year is instead a very cheery one for CanadiansâŠ
Despite the -20*c to -30*c temperatures, it seems like people try and do as much as they can outside in the snow. Students rush to the nearby slopes to go skiing and snowboarding on weekendsâthere was even a mini ski slope constructed in the middle of my university campus! Iâve also been witness to the very strange phenomenon of âsnowshoeingâârunning around with tennis racket type things stuck to your feet⊠something I canât say I have jumped to try!
Â
Festivities in the snow also pop up everywhere. âWinterludeâ is put on in Ottawa where everyone flocks to skate along the Rideau Canalâ the worldâs largest naturally frozen ice rink! Whilst Iâm wobbling along on the ice, every Canadian seems like a professional figure skater having ice-skated since they were teenyâŠ
[pagebreak]Â
A weekend trip away to Quebec Cityâs âWinter Carnivalâ in Eastern Canada opened my eyes to all things icy. Drinking ice cocktails in a hotel made (just about) entirely of ice, streets lined with ice sculptures and walking through a pristine ice castle was like a trip back to my dreamy childhood imaginings of the North Pole.Â
Canadianâs even eat off the snow! Being the touristy international student that I am, Iâve come across the funny little Canadian winter tradition of âmaple taffyââ hot maple syrup poured onto snow and then twizzled onto a lollipop stick. I can definitely confirm that Canada does indeed live up to its stereotype of a country full of maple syrup lovers!
Nonetheless, despite such fun and games, the cold has definitely been a bit of blow. Out running along the canal the other day I came across a squirrel frozen stiff mid walk (poor little thing), Iâve definitely had hypothermia a couple of times (once skiing, which resulted in an impromptu purchase of ski socks on the top of a mountain) and Iâve had many little scares thinking my hair is prematurely grey only to realize that a chunk of it has frozen! So, yes, remaining indoors with a cup of tea and Netflix has seemed a very tempting prospect for more than just a couple of timesâŠ
And being out here in this continual igloo has also turned my normal sense of logic completely upside downâ Iâve realised that a day that reaches -5*c feels almost tropical to me now, where once upon a time back in England, I wouldnât dare to step outside my door and face such a âferociousâ temperature. I think that as a consequence, this time next year in Exeter youâll probably see me walking around campus in a T-shirt during the winter months⊠I hope Iâve painted a vivid enough picture of the artic temperatures that my friends back home seem utterly bemused about and that I was so brutally warned against. As a matter of fact, the Canadian winter has been lots of fun. Nevertheless, I am very much looking forward to returning to the mother country in a couple of monthâs time where I will once again be able to feel my hands and feet!
Pictures: my own, trianotherday.com, coupdepouce.com