This year, I’ll be experiencing my first real winter–ever.
I say real because I never lived in a place where it snowed. I grew up in the Philippines, a tropical country located in southeast Asia. There, we had two seasons: Tag-init and Tag-ulan which, I’d say, closely resembles the summer and spring in Northern America.
Tag-init wasn’t just warm, it was usually sweat-inducingly hot. The other half of the year,tag-ulan, we get a lot of rain ranging from the afternoon drizzle to a terrible typhoon that floods multiple cities at a time. No that isn’t an exaggeration, if anything it might be a bit of an understatement.
From the Philippines, I moved to Southmost Texas (right by the Mexican border) where it was often just right; sometimes a bit too humid; occasionally chilly when there is a cold front. And by chilly I mean between 50 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit. It sometimes frosts but it didn’t really snow.
Earlier this year, I moved to Canada–northern Alberta, no less. I arrived just as the winter was leaving, and I thought that was COLD.
The past week, the temperature was consistently in the negative 20s, except for one day when it warmed up a little at a low of -11 C. It was definitely quite an adjustment. I didn’t even know how to properly dress for the cold. I didn’t even own winter boots or winter jackets.
Back in the Philippines, I didn’t even own a hoodie or a jacket! I only ever wore light sweaters when I’m in a cold air-conditioned classroom. Even when I was in Texas, boots felt like they were only worn to look fashionable, not for keeping yourself warm or trying to keep your toes from falling off!
Here’s a few things that I used to consider optional or even unnecessary but have now come to really appreciate:
- a humidifier
- lip balm
- scarves, gloves, hats: I used to think they were more for fashion than function. WRONG.
- REMOTE CAR STARTER: Saved me from freezing while the car desperately tries to defrost and warm up.
How’s the weather been treating you? From what I’ve been hearing, it’s only going to get colder here (because it’s not really quite winter yet)! Any tips and tricks for surviving the winter without having to look like a bundled up marshmallow all the time? And what are your winter must-haves?
I seem to be moving to colder places everytime. Where to next? Alaska? The NORTH POLE? 🙂
Yikes, it’s already that cold?! Usually it waits until January or February before it starts getting that cold around here! Minnesota is usually a bit more cold and gets more snow than Illinois, so I can’t complain too much. Especially since we have no snow and it’s currently 49*F outside! That’s the coldest it’s been yet so far!
I’m not a big fashion person. Especially in the winter. I’d rather be warm and looking like a marshmallow than freezing but looking cute. 😉
Definitely buy the absolute highest quality items you can afford. I like North Face and Columbia brands, but they’re expensive. Coats run usually $300+ but totally worth it imo. They’ve always kept me much warmer than similar jackets I’ve bought at department stores. Puffy coats are supposed to be really warm since they’re filled with down but I’m not a fan of how they look so I steer clear of them. I say just buy a super warm coat and then pick the prettiest color one they have. That’s my winter fashion advice, haha
No wait, I take that back. All you need is this: http://9gag.com/gag/6023323 😉
When I start being self employed, I’m so making that my winter uniform! haha.
Yup and only getting colder! I heard from somewhere that we are gonna get one of the coldest winters this place has seen in 50 years! Lucky me! haha. Can’t wait til I visit the states again and complain that it’s too HOT, when everyone else from there is freezing. LOL. But yeah, I thought it wasn’t going to snow this much until maybe late December, but if I remember correctly, the first snowfall was sometime in October! It was insane!
I value function over fashion too but one thing I hate though is looking frumpy! And it seems that every cozy jacket I ever try on has that effect. I got a winter jacket (in bright pink! LOL!) that’s good for up to -40 C and it’s been pretty good. Probably one of the best 200 bucks spent ever! 🙂
Wow! That is COLD. I’m in Indiana and we’ve had very mild weather so far… I think it’s still going to be 40-50’s this week. I really hate winter, so I’m hoping we don’t have a really bad one this year!
When I lived in TX, people would be wearing long, heavy coats at 50 F and even I thought that was COLD! And since I never lived in a place where it snowed before, I thought winters would be fun. I also thought winter clothing look fancy shmancy and fun. But no one told me I’d have to prepare myself for -40 C! haha
Hei, for some reason your comment on my blog doesn’t show up 🙁 I just got it via email. Anyway, It’s getting less dark now when the snow starts falling. In the morning it gets bright at about 10am and goes dark about 3-4pm. The temperature stays around -5 to 0 celcius degrees during day time. I think Canada ain’t much warmer 🙂 craving for sunlight!
that’s been happening lately! Less and less people seem to be able to see my comments! As far as i know though, it only happens with blogspot blogs. But I still can’t figure out what’s causing it. Anyway, yup warm here at all. @ -10 people get excited because it’s “warmed up” lol. and yes I’m crazing some sun and heat!
Ahhhh! I hate to tell you it gets worse. If you get to cold just hop on a flight to Vancouver you’ll be nice and warm in a just about an hour and a half.