I sincerely, truly believe that any person who has been here for more than a year thinks that it is fun to scare new first-year kids about winter. Whether you meet an advanced student at the bus stop waiting for the bus or wish them a Happy Birthday over a text message, the conversation during the Fall semester will always steer towards how soon it will be winter, aka, “winter is coming”. Well, I would always nod along and take their well-meant advice on what to do!
Now, it does not get as cold (as it does in Illinois) during winter in the city where I was brought up, and there is hardly a perceivable change of season in the city where I spent the last 5 years of my life. So, I had been waiting and wanting to see winter ever since I came to the US. Snow, I had never seen, except for snow-covered mountain peaks from a distance while trekking or visiting hill stations in the lower ranges of the Himalayas. On one hand, I bought my down-filled jacket, boots and other accessories at Macy’s to stay safe during winter, but I was also waiting for it to snow. I could not wait for the time when I would wake up and everything outside my window would be white and I would call my parents up, all excited and chirpy.
My first experience with snow was no less exciting than expected. I was ecstatic and walked all around campus in the snow, sipped coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts on Green Street, took pictures on the Quad and *almost* slipped on the sidewalk despite being warned to be careful while walking on snow. I didn’t build my first snowman until later in the winter, but I did finally do it. Oh, my freezing hands after building that snowman! And the carrot for his nose would just not cut through the snow ball. But then, I was able to wrap my numb hands around a warm mug of hot chocolate.
Sometime in mid-January, I flew from New Delhi to Chicago. In a matter of 20 hours, I went from +15 °C to -15 °C (59 F to 5 F, sounds more dramatic in the Celsius scale!). This sudden change in this temperature ended up being a terrible situation. Add to that the window next to my desk in my lab had some holes which allow cold wind to rush in (my advisor made a thermodynamics homework problem on how to solve this). But, I think we can blame the short-term dislike towards winter on the jet-lag. And then, a week later, I was back again, walking in a snow blizzard :)
Does it get gloomy during winter? I seemed to do fine for the months that I was here. But, during winter break, I too went home. A couple of my friends have told me that this city was not so inviting during that time. Maybe I will stay over a winter break for research and then see it for myself. I do remember once when I checked the temperature on my phone, it said ‘dreary’. I still have a screenshot of that. It did not feel like something I wanted the weather app to tell me.
As I just realized in a great epiphany last week, I will now be a second-year graduate student. Do I think I will scare the new students about winter? Maybe, maybe not. Will I still look forward to my second winter? Yeah! Or am I just saying that because it is comfortable enough to sit in the air conditioned room with the temperature set to 68 F? Not really. Although summer might be fun and allows you to laze on the Quad in the sun, I am very much looking forward to winter, and can’t wait.
