Brrrr...

The weather. One of my biggest concerns about spending the year in England. For someone who gets cold in the moderate climate of Santa Cruz, the idea of spending 9 months in a place with real seasons was daunting. I prefer 35 Celsius thanks, not 35 Fahrenheit. It hasn't been that cold yet, but we're getting there.

The truth is, it really hasn't been too bad so far. For the first couple weeks I was able to get away with jeans, a long sleeve t-shirt and a warm sweater or sweatshirt. Of course locals would be walking by in shorts and tee's or short skirts and sleeveless tops for girls. But I wasn't trying to compete, I was just happy it wasn't snowing yet. We have even had lots of sun.

In the past few days however, it has started to get much colder. Now during the days I have to go outside in a long sleeve shirt, a sweater, and a heavy sweatshirt or vest. In the evenings a jacket is a must. I think the average high in the days is around 50, with generally partly cloudy skies. In the nights it is normally in the mid 40s. It hasn't got to the point of long underwear, gloves or hats yet, but it won't be long I'm afraid.

The rain hasn't been as bad as I anticipated, so far at least- knock on wood. I think my whole time in England (3 weeks) it's rained probably about 7 days. 33% is pretty low. I have learned however, that a storm can come from nowhere. Imagine a completely sunny day- cold of course- but not a cloud in the sky. You go into your lecture and then emerge an hour later, not into that sunny afternoon, but instead into a pouring rainstorm. You learn quickly to always carry an umbrella.

Funnily enough, the locals rarely seem to have umbrellas. For living in a country where rain is always a possibility, its baffling how little of the population seem to be prepared for this. I don't know if it's optimism, toughness, forgetfulness, or just en vogue to be soaking wet, but umbrellas really are pretty rare.

While I'm freezing and cowering under my umbrella, the locals still insist on wearing what seems like shockingly out of season clothes. People also love to tell me that I've seen nothing yet, and that it will soon get much worse. For example, during a recent football (soccer) match, I was still on the bench midway through the second half, and itching to get into the game. Not because I was dying to play, but because I was dying of cold! My teammates all seemed to get a laugh out of this, and asked me how I was possibly going to survive the winter. The answer is, in Pasadena. I'll be home for one month during December and January, on Christmas break, ideally missing some of winter's worst. Hopefully I can soak up enough warmish weather to get me through February and March upon my return.