Cold, Colder, Edmonton...

After long emotional preparation, which among other things consisted of the constant weather updates from my father, they were now at the door: the coldest days of my life. A brief look back at my previous experiences didn't make me particularly confident, I had never endured much colder than -15°C until now (which by the way is just about the average temperature during the winter months here). At least the cold announced itself as 'moderate' at first. The weekend was sunny with still pleasant temperatures around -25°C, just warm enough for a walk as long as you don't stand still. By the middle of the week, things started to get uncomfortable. Starting with the preparations to leave the house. I present my outfit, from top to bottom: hat, scarf, 2 pairs of gloves (fleece and ski gloves, works wonderfully), several tops (long undershirt, top, softshell jacket, sweater, fleece, down jacket), 3 pants (long underwear, jeans, and snow pants) and last but not least 2 pairs of socks and winter boots, which I luckily got here. It's a miracle that I could still move at all. So warmly wrapped up, I finally faced the outside temperatures of up to -40°C and what can I say: I survived. And it wasn't as bad as I feared at first. You can prepare much better for cold than for heat. However, not all of my German fellow students, whom I have met here, shared this opinion. A few quotes: 'It's the most disgusting feeling when the inside of your nose freezes.', 'I have never worn a hat in my life, until now...' and 'My eyelashes freeze in this weather.' I have to say, the most annoying thing was having to get rid of about 2/3 of my clothes after my way to the university. But not many can say they have experienced and survived winter in Alberta.