It is HOW cold?!?!

When I was traveling in 2004, I stayed in hostels.  Quite often, people would end up meeting each other in the kitchen and dining rooms during meal hours as many people were cooking for themselves.  The discussion quite often involved where everyone was from and tended to go back to the temperatures at home.

It is how cold? (Photo credit: smile4camera)

When it was my turn, I tended to tell people they really did not know how cold it got at home and then I would proceed to win the coldest temperature prize.  I would then tell them that in winter we could and would get down to -40C.  Granted, it typically only lasted a week or two at most, but still, it was cold enough.  The Canadian Prairies get cold as we do not have mountains to give us Chinooks and the wind is free to blow everywhere which it does.

Many then asked questions about did we shut down due to the cold (no, but many issues with water main breaks and equipment not working properly), how did we survive the cold (many layers and many people staying home if possible) and then what is summer like (we will get into the +30 Celsius range).

It was quite interesting watching people try to fathom what -40C feels like as many of the travelers came from places that would not get much below 0C, maybe – 10C,  so anything colder was very alien to them.   While many of those who live here wish we would shut down and hibernate in the winter (myself included!) it does not happen.  The other travelers were just grateful that they live where they do.  Personally, it is not the snow that bothers me but the temperatures.   I tend to look like a snowman or some shapeless blob when I get all dressed for the low temperatures.