California Girl in the Cold

0 Comments

Mixed Reactions to Cold Weather from this San Francisco Girl

Ok I thought that I liked the cold, but I guess I just like the cold in the Bay Area. Now I've forgotten what fifty degree weather feels like. Seeing the sun is like seeing a miracle. And apparently this year is a warm year. What did I get myself into?!

Let me start off with the random rain. It's very unpredictable here. One second it's a mildly gray sky and the next it's black and dumping buckets of rain on you. And of course I didn't take my umbrella, so I get wet. Yay, 40 degree weather and wet!

And then the sun came out, and it hurt my eyes because it was the first time in weeks that I had seen the sun. Hence the awkward grumpy picture

I didn't know that my full body could shake uncontrollably within five minutes of getting off a plane, but I guess that's what happens in 20 degree weather. I have now learned that carrying your purse inside your jacket means having to unzip it to get something out. Well, the full body shivers for unzipping my jacket for two minutes has made me forget about my rule of hiding my purse in an attempt to prevent me from shaking like a chihuahua.

That is the face of someone who is shivering and trying to smile at the same time

And now that I've experienced snow, I can't forget it. First, touching it without gloves on is a bad idea. I'm from California, we don't see snow, I got excited, I had to touch it. BAD IDEA! I couldn't move my fingers for a bit because I HAD to take my glove off so it wouldn't get wet. So my fingers turned into icicles. Second, snow happens because its cold out, which means wet things freeze. And you know what's wet? Your breath. Yep, when you breathe through your mouth, you're unintentionally breathing out microscopic globules of spit, which get stuck on you really big and fluffy scarf that is supposed to protect your face from the cold. And since its tiny bits of liquid, it freezes on your scarf to make it nice and cold. The solution is to breathe through your nose, but not when you're sick and stuffy. Cold scarf it is. Third, I don't know how to walk in snow. Nope nope nope. Instead I know how to walk like a baby giraffe that was just born, sliding my way around until eventually gravity kicks my butt. And guess what's wet. SNOW! So my pants get nice and wet for me to walk around it for the rest of the day. I'm really glad that I fell in the snow three times. I guess I was just so excited to see snow that I had to stick my head in it, and my arms, and my legs.

Touching snow. The regret happens two minutes after the picture was taken

But don't let my mishaps with snow let you think that I hate it. Oh no! While people were photographing the Brandenburg Gate, I was excited for the spot of snow on the ground, and the black ice, which I insisted on stepping on to see what it felt like. Its very slippery by the way. And while my legs looked lobster red by the end of the day, I want to see more snow. It's cold, I don't know what to do with it, and I make questionable decisions for my age (you'd think that I was 7), but it's great and I hope to see a lot more of it. Poland you better not disappoint (sorry Mom)!

Still glad to have seen snow, which is why I have the over-enthusiatic smile

I thought I liked the cold, but I was wrong. I like mild weather, in between hot and really cold. And don't get me wrong, I still prefer the cold over heat, because there's nothing worse than being constantly sweaty. But the full body shivers are coming in a close second. I should have listened to my parents warnings.