I Was Made For Sunny Days

    I'm from San Diego - America's Finest City. It's beautiful, temperate, exciting, temperate, fun, temperate, lovely, and temperate. One of the most famous things about San Diego, outside the zoo, is its amazing climate. I was born and raised in an average year-round temperature of about 70 degrees. I wear flip flops in winter and I never have to carry an umbrella.

Ah, home....

    Then. I came to Korea. The average temperature in the winter here is approximately 25°F (not including the wind chill factor, mind you) and it snows an average of 28 days a year. Now, to those of you who are winter weather veterans from the midwest, this may not sound like that big a deal, but to someone who gets cold when it's 60 degrees out, it was quite a shocker. 

Brrrr!

    Okay, don't get me wrong. I've been to the snow, I love to snowboard, and I've made winter visits to places where "cold" is an understatement. But I have never lived in it..... So, that being said, this post will be dedicated to the observations, grievances, questions, and comments I have compiled after having spent some time in an inclement climate.

What I've Learned From Winter:

1. Snow is pretty. Walked-on, driven-over, pushed-aside, shoveled-up, smooshed-down, muddy, mucky, melty, yucky, icky, sticky, goopy, gloppy, drippy, sloppy, slushy, sludgy black snow-mush is not.

Yuck!

2. Don't be a wuss. It's not cold until your fingertips are so frozen that the touch-screen on your ipod won't respond to you touching it, your camera lens freezes open while you're taking a picture, and your lip gloss won't squeeze out of the tube because it's turned to molasses on the walk from the bus stop.

3. Snow sounds quieter than rain when it falls on the ground, but louder than rain when it falls on your umbrella. Why is that???

4. If it's cold enough, you can see the breath coming out of your nose. This makes me feel like an angry bull. 

Me on cold days

5. Do not be fooled. Ice on the sidewalk, covered in snow, is still ice.... and you will slip.

6. In the winter, it is warmer when it snows than when it does not. A good reason to love snow.

7. If you forget your mittens or your ear warmers when it is less than 25 degrees out, you can also forget about having feeling in your fingers and ears upon arriving at your destination.

8. I would rather suffer the bruises to my ego when I waddle around like a penguin, than suffer the bruises to my booty when I slip and fall on the ice. Go ahead. Stare.

Yup. That's about right.

9. I like mittens. This is because, unlike gloves, they warmly snuggle all of your fingers together at once. (Plus, they add dramatic effect to my penguin waddle....)

10. Korean girls do not care that it is cold, nor that it is snowy. Short skirts, tall heels, and sheer nylons are still seen everywhere.

11. Wicked cold weather = wicked lazy Laurie. I haven't been more than 5 minutes from my house since before Christmas.

12. Layers. Suck.

"I can't put my arms down!"

13. Never assume that the ground is directly beneath the snow because when you take a step that puts your leg shin deep in snow, there is no way to look good while trying to get it out. Don't ask how I know this.... just trust me.

14. Just because it is freezing outside, doesn't mean the heating dial has to be turned to "Inferno." I would like to be able to ride a bus, walk through a shopping mall, or eat a meal without feeling like I've slipped into the seventh circle of hell.

15. Stockings under pants is horrendously uncomfortable. I'd rather be cold.

16. Loogies and vomit* freeze just like water, so if you accidentally step on one, you won't get it stuck to your shoe, however you might slip and fall on it.

17. Icicles are way cool.

Outside my kitchen window

18. The wind is a tricky trickster that can and will find and exploit every exposed patch of skin.

19. If you drop your ice cream cone on the ground in winter, you can come back tomorrow, pick it up, and resume eating right where you left off.

20. If you go outside when it's cold, your nose will run. Always.

Last.... and most importantly....
Although there is much that I like, I can confidently say that I was made for sunny days, and not for the cold. I think the snow is nice and all, but I will take sand in my toes over frozen toes any day!

Right where I belong!

*This is only relevant to those living in Korea where the sidewalks are littered with loogies and vomit.