Your First Winter - Just for Laughs!!

[parker24]

My husband is from TN. If there is half an inch of snow, the whole city (Nashville) goes into panic mode and schools shut down, people are stampeding into Walmart for "emergency supplies".......

However, my husband usually just sat there going "Seriously?" He used to live in Iowa for a few years with his adoptive family and it SNOWED there. Up to his chest usually was how high it would get. (He's 5"9', a full 6' taller than me!) So Canadian winters, he was looking forward to.

He was NOT prepared for the temperatures though! The whole -20 with wind thing was shocking to him the first Christmas he came here! It was hilarious to watch him get up, put on a hoodie and look at us weird, putting on long johns, hoodies AND a coat. One step outside and his teeth are chattering!

Now he knows better, hoodie, coat, long johns (also known as long underwear) and hat and mitts! He's almost Canadian!

 

[LauraCanada]

Last year it was my first Canadian winter after 3 years of Australian "winter". Ok, the difference was huge! lol In Sydney (AUS) winter means +10 degrees when it gets really cold lol

I live in East of Toronto and I have to say last winter was pretty mild. In southern Europe was colder than here 8) and most of my Canadian friends said I brought the Oz weather to Canada

When I decided to move to Canada my dad told me if I could survive to my first Canadian winter it would have been an amazing proof of love towards my Canadian fiance...well I did it! lol

To be honest, I think I am lucky to live in this area...it doesnt really get too cold, especially comparing with other areas of Canada.

Good Luck to who is going to experience their 1st winter! Think positive, in 6 months it's gonna be warmer

 

[Janna3D]

Lol. Im from Southern CA, and I love the snow and the winters here. Do I like shovelling it, driving in it, or being out in the snow? NOoooo!!! But I love plopping on the couch in front of a warm fireplace sipping hot cocoa and looking at it. I tell my friends and family back in LA that they've never experienced the true warmth of a fireplace or a real hot cocoa till they've had one during a Canadian winter.

I also love the white Christmases here!

Canadian summers, on the other hand...oh how I hate thee. I'm used to the dry heat!!

 

[Franzi]

I'm German, so I'm used to the winter and snow. My image of Canada was that there was ALWAYS snow on the ground, all year long so I was actually surprised how HOT it gets in the summer. I don't mind snow around Christmas, but that's about it. I just don't like how late and short spring is here. My birthday is in March, and I'm used to the leafs on the trees being green and the first flowers to bloom.. but not anymore I'm living in the Toronto area btw. No major snowfall yet *yay*

 

[shells]

That's one of the reason why Vancouver is the most expensive Canadian city to live in.. It rains a lot, but never goes below -18 (and it's very rare too). Last winter the forecast said it was going to snow heavily, but it never did. Even if it snowed, the rain always comes and wash it away pretty quickly.

 

[spaceraceone]

I do not mind the temperature and the snow alone but OMG does it get windy in Toronto - I am guessing it is all because of the proximity to the lakes - one season I went through 4 umbrellas - they just would blow inside out!


That would be one of my wishes if I was granted some - make the wind stop!

 

[Canuck20]

Great subject thread. Love reading the stories. I was born and raised in Northern Ontario so I am used to our winters obviously. It was always humourous to watch American cars in the summer with skis on the roof rack and the temperature was 30C.

 

[sunsun]

My first winter was December 2011 in Ontario and in February 2012 there was -18 plus wind chill may be around -28 but just only 1 day .....Since I came from South East Asia with 32 C and I could survive in Canada winter ;D.... I don't like snow because I hate to remove snow from my car and house.... I love Spring and Fall....I don't like Summer because it is too hot. It is worse than South East Asia and Australia summer.

 

[achander]

WOW!! I'm shocked to see so many comments to this thread. Guess it's nice to share a lighter moment among all the tension and waiting

@TSauretBaxter - I hope you are not in High Level, cos it said in the news its -35C there. I guess you must be in Fort Mac

@parker24 - If you think TN acts funny to the cold, listen to this. I lived in Houston, TX before i moved to Canada. This one time in 2009, i was at work and it started pouring (i mean rain). It started at around 10am...by the time it was 11.30am, my boss told me i am free to go home.
I was like, what do you mean? he said I don't want you to have trouble getting home. I said, what do you mean? He said Look outside..Lol....that was the best moment ever (especially since i moved to Houston from Indianapolis where it snows like a mother).

In 2011 - There was one day where we had sleet on the roads, and next day in the paper/news/internet it said there were 600+ accidents that day LMAO!! Love it

 

[Isometry]

hahahaha..I love the last part. Well i live in Edmonton, we got our first major snowfall first week of November. It was 25cm
I was driving at a whooping 15km/hr

So my co-worker tells me he was in Edmonton few years back in the winter, one time the temp was -40C but with wind chill it felt like -55C..I was like f**k you!! He said "yup, that's exactly what i said"

I'm also in Edmonton! I grew up in southern Florida, then lived in Atlanta for a few years, and this is my first winter. Thoughts:

-My husband claims it doesn't usually snow that much. I think he's lying, as every time I came up to visit before moving he'd be all, "Don't worry, it's not usually this cold in August. (September/May/June/etc)" "There's not normally this much snow in February.(April/November/etc)" etc. I make fun of him for it.

-Drivers are TERRIBLE. So are pedestrians! I hate it when it's still dark out, and someone hits the button on one of those mid-road crosswalk things, and then immediately steps into the road, forcing me to slam on my brakes on ice and hope for the best. I also had to stop the other day for a 5-person family crossing at a stop sign, one person at a time.

-Do residential streets ever get cleared or is it solid ice (on what's turned into a one-way street due to cars parked on both sides) all winter? I would like it to not be solid ice. I would also like a car with 4wd, but I suppose I can't have everything.

-Why are my eyes cold?

-"Warm snow"?. If there's snow, it's not "warm"

-My new winter boots are AWESOME. Turns out my sneakers aren't actually "winter shoes", despite only having had to use them for winter before.

-My mom, who grew up on a tropical island, regularly emails me to tell me that it is cold and I should stay inside and be warm! On a related note, my mother-in-law, who is Canadian, said that driving in the winter is dangerous and I should stay home til the snow melts in the spring. Do people actually stay inside all winter? That would drive me crazy, also then you wouldn't be able to go to work.

-Poutine seems to be a really good winter food. Maybe that's why it's not a thing in the US, despite Americans having invented the hot brown.

-Availability and quality of produce, especially peppers and especially hot peppers, kind of sucks and has gotten a lot worse as the weather's gotten colder. One good thing: The dollar stores sell minced chili peppers in jars, which is surprisingly good for adding heat to things.

 

[Canooknic]

Isometry you just made me choke on my tea!!

The snow has been a bit annoying this year, last year we only had a couple of snow-fall days and then a week of bad weather around March (I think it was March, I've tried to block it out!)

Our streets are being cleared as I type this (it's very loud and quite annoying considering it's going to snow again!). Last year we lived right near our police station so our street was on the top of the priority list, now we live near a golf course our priority is waaaaay down the list!

I have a pair of winter boots (my 'spice girl' boots as my fiancé calls them) but I still try to go out in my sneakers and then get home and complain about how wet & cold my feet are! Especially in slush-season when everything starts melting - I hate that more than snow!!

My soon-to-be mother-in-law (from England) genuinely believed that we would just hibernate from November to April....literally never leaving our homes until the snow was gone! She asked where we store all our food!!! Bless her.

It does get better, you will become immune to your eyeballs freezing too !! ;D

Welcome to Edmonton xx (I'm in Stony Plain)

 

[jerry84]

Absolutely right! I definitely don't miss the UK traffic!!

I was in UK this past summer, I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE ROUND ABOUT BUSINESS. People had their cards parked on the side-walk!

 

[kitchener_inland]

Last year it was my first Canadian winter after 3 years of Australian "winter". Ok, the difference was huge! lol In Sydney (AUS) winter means +10 degrees when it gets really cold lol

I live in East of Toronto and I have to say last winter was pretty mild. In southern Europe was colder than here 8) and most of my Canadian friends said I brought the Oz weather to Canada

When I decided to move to Canada my dad told me if I could survive to my first Canadian winter it would have been an amazing proof of love towards my Canadian fiance...well I did it! lol

To be honest, I think I am lucky to live in this area...it doesnt really get too cold, especially comparing with other areas of Canada.

Good Luck to who is going to experience their 1st winter! Think positive, in 6 months it's gonna be warmer

hey, Laura

you sure make it tempting for us to visit Australia now I wish we had plus 10 here winter time lol. not that I don't like winter (we ski sometimes) but it gets too long sometimes :

let me tell you guys about my first experience, I'm from Kurdish part of Northern iraq, and I remember the first winter I was invited by my good Canadian friends for Christmas and everyone was so eager to ask me how I felt about my first winter in Canada and how scary it felt lol, because naturally when people think "iraq" they think OMG super hot weather, dry and no snow. but they were quite surprised when I told them with my broken English that where I come from actually snowed more than southern Ontario haha. most people get surprised when I tell them that. i'm from the northern part of iraq (kurdistan) in the Kurdish region and there are high mountains/rivers and it snows a lot during winter times but the temperature doesn't get as low as -40 like it does sometimes in Canada. I do know one thing that the snow feels different here, the snow feels powdery here while the snow where I come from feels heavier and more flaky, but that could be due to colder temperatures maybe? also winter doesn't last as long as it does here except in the mountain peaks.

anyhow people who are driving in the winter for the first time should watch out

 

[kitchener_inland]

I'm also in Edmonton! I grew up in southern Florida, then lived in Atlanta for a few years, and this is my first winter. Thoughts:

-My husband claims it doesn't usually snow that much. I think he's lying, as every time I came up to visit before moving he'd be all, "Don't worry, it's not usually this cold in August. (September/May/June/etc)" "There's not normally this much snow in February.(April/November/etc)" etc. I make fun of him for it.

-Drivers are TERRIBLE. So are pedestrians! I hate it when it's still dark out, and someone hits the button on one of those mid-road crosswalk things, and then immediately steps into the road, forcing me to slam on my brakes on ice and hope for the best. I also had to stop the other day for a 5-person family crossing at a stop sign, one person at a time.

-Do residential streets ever get cleared or is it solid ice (on what's turned into a one-way street due to cars parked on both sides) all winter? I would like it to not be solid ice. I would also like a car with 4wd, but I suppose I can't have everything.

-Why are my eyes cold?

-"Warm snow"?. If there's snow, it's not "warm"

-My new winter boots are AWESOME. Turns out my sneakers aren't actually "winter shoes", despite only having had to use them for winter before.

-My mom, who grew up on a tropical island, regularly emails me to tell me that it is cold and I should stay inside and be warm! On a related note, my mother-in-law, who is Canadian, said that driving in the winter is dangerous and I should stay home til the snow melts in the spring. Do people actually stay inside all winter? That would drive me crazy, also then you wouldn't be able to go to work.

-Poutine seems to be a really good winter food. Maybe that's why it's not a thing in the US, despite Americans having invented the hot brown.

-Availability and quality of produce, especially peppers and especially hot peppers, kind of sucks and has gotten a lot worse as the weather's gotten colder. One good thing: The dollar stores sell minced chili peppers in jars, which is surprisingly good for adding heat to things.

lol ithat sound bad! i've never been to Edmonton but everyone says its crazy cold and lots of snow. southern Ontario in Kitchener where I am is sunny and +5 although right now, it feels a bit warmer though. not bad at all so far and no snow anywhere on streets or side walks. from the comment sounds like there is snow fall and cold in Edmonton already?

 

[Rusty53]

My wife's first winter is now. She is from Thailand where she had never experienced anything remotely close to zero. I think she may have felt plus 14 a couple of times in her life. Her first winter in Saskatchewan is an experience to behold. She is over 40 so this is not like a child adapting but I have to tell you it is wonderful.

It is wonderful to see someone experience snow for the first time in their life. She loves it. We live in a townhome where my driveway is shoveled for me by the condo. Well not anymore, my wife is out there as soon as it snows cleaning the driveway and is really enjoying the outdoors. Mind you we have not had any minus 30 yet. She says that the cold air feels so nice to breath and she likes it way more than the humid hot air in Thailand. The best part was the first day when we got a dumping of snow she phoned me at work to tell me that she had been outside all morning and had made a "MANSNOW". I love it!! Her "MANSNOW" as she called it was more of a sculpture as opposed to a traditional snowman. Over the course of the next week we had a mansnow, a ladysnow, a dogsnow, amonksnow and a buddha snow appear in my front yard.

It is so wonderful to see. I keep thinking that she could be complaining about the cold everyday, but she is not. She is embracing winter. It is almost like experiencing winter through the eyes of a child. If I knew how to post pictures here I would.