Oh hey, winter finally showed up

I know you wouldn't believe it from my posts so far this year, buy I really do still live in Germany (although I do pretend that I live in Edinburgh when I visit). I've been surprisingly busy in the past couple of weeks. Taking spontaneous trips, planned trips, starting new tutoring jobs, and even occasionally lesson planning.

And all the while, I've been enduring sub-freezing temperatures. In fact the entire continent of Europe has kind of turned into a giant ice cube these days. And for someone who spent about 80% of her life south if the Mason-Dixon line, going into our second week with highs in the 20s (that's about -5ºc) is slightly disorienting. And while in Hamburg this past weekend, seeing people ice skating on frozen ponds was basically mind blowing.

Eventually (and possibly due to peer pressure), braved a walk across the frozen water myself!

Of course, I was terrified of breaking through the ice, Little Women style, the entire time...

But the point is, it's cold! So, if you don't mind I'm going to go hug my radiator and pretend I'm at the beach until further notice!

That time it felt like Georgia in Germany

Let's start this one off with some new vocab: Altweibersommer. 

It means Indian Summer. Or for those of you who had a more politically correct upbringing, it's that time in the fall, after the weather has started cooling off, when it suddenly get's really warm again. 

 

For the past week (and it's predicted to continue for a few more days, at least!), we've been having unseasonally warm weather up in Dortmund. On top of that, the skies have been crystal clear without a cloud in sight. I can honestly stand outside in the warm September sun, close my eyes, and be transported to Georgia.

Cologne, Germany - September 2011

Fall is, without a doubt, my favorite season in Georgia. There is this sweet spot, starting as early as the end of September and going as late as the end of October, where it stops being 1000 degrees, the humidity decides to take a break, the leaves start changing, and the warmth of the sun is combined perfectly with the cool breeze of the changing seasons. If it were always October in Georgia, I would never miss the other seasons.

Piedmont Park, Atlanta, GA - October 2008

Athens, GA - October 2009

   

The season is also associated with a lot of great things which always make me look forward to it. The Oconee County Fall Festival (it is not officially fall until I've had some fall festival kettle corn), the endless Saturdays spent tailgating with friends, settling into the routine of school while it's still new and enjoyable (something that is seriously lacking from the never-ending, dragging semester in spring, where the changing weather is a constant reminder that it's almost summer and your still stuck inside studying). Fall is the build-up to one of my favorite holidays: Halloween, and it gives way to my absolute favorite: Thanksgiving. 

 

All in all, it is the perfect combination of all the good things Georgia has to offer. 

 

So when I go outside on days like today, when I close my eyes and breath in the crisp autumn air, all I really want is to open my eyes and be in Georgia.

Centennial Olympic Park, Atlanta, GA - October 2008

what can I say... Fall makes me feel poetic.

That one week it was actually summer in Germany

Ever since mid-April when it started getting warmer in Germany, I've been telling anyone who would listen about just how much hotter it is in Georgia. "You think this is hot? By this time in Georgia we could be frying eggs on the road"/ "It's humid outside? This is nothing compared to Georgia. Child's play, really. Unless you have trouble distinguishing between the outside air and the pool, it's not that humid" / "Speaking of pools, the water in our pool in Georgia is warmer than the actual temperature in Germany right now." etc.

I would like to say it was only bordering on obnoxious, but really, it probably went far beyond any imaginary line that should have stopped me. 

At some point in June I began to think that maybe I was giving Georgia too much credit. Sure, it is an extremely hot and humid state that, come end of July and August, tends to give Hell a run for it's money as most unbearable place ever, but did it really live up to all my trash talk? 

The answer, an incontrovertible yes, was made clear during my visit home in July. Yes, Georgia's weather was every bit as miserable as I remembered it. The 90ºf (32ºc) pool water felt like a sweet relief compared to the 100ºf (37ºc) air. 

So you can imagine how much of a shock it was coming back to Germany where the temperature did not get above 60ºf (15ºc) for the first 2 weeks of August. 

But some how, last week, the planets aligned and a miracle happened. For almost an entire week, Germany saw real summer temperatures consistently reaching into the 90s (30s). Finally, about 4 months after it came to Georgia, summer finally arrived in Germany.

I got to wear my summer clothes, sunglasses everyday, ice cream never tasted better, we even went to the pool. 

But then, as soon as it had come, it was gone. A mere week later it went from 95ºf (35ºc) one day to 55ºf (15ºc) the next.

When I complained to a friend, "how can it be this cold in August?!" he responded "we had Summer last week, what more do you want?"

While it has worked its way back up into the beautiful 70's (20's), I don't think I will ever take Georgia's insane summer weather for granted again. 

Things I Forgot I Missed, part 3

Remember all those times that I said the weather in Germany isn't as depressing as people say it is? Well, I'm not quite ready to swallow my words yet, but even after a few days of under the Georgia sun, I realized how much Vitamin D I was missing in my life (or was it UV rays?).

I still maintain that the German weather is not nearly as horrific as people would lead you to believe, however, I didn't realize what little effect that harmless German sun had on me after being conditioned under the brutal Georgia sun for almost 15 years. Sure I got to wear my sunglasses and I even bought some sunscreen, but all that was child's play, really, after I saw the tan* I got in my first weekend of laying by the pool back home. 

I know that when you live there, the heat and humidity of the Georgia summer (read: April through September) can feel unbearable and over the top. In fact, it doesn't really matter where you come from, the heat and humidity of the Georgia summer is unbearable and over the top. But after battling through a June with highs in the 50s and [maybe] 10 full days of sun, I gladly welcomed 3 weeks of sweating just from standing outside and the need to reapply 50 spf sunscreen every hour. 

And, of course, even the worst summer day in Georgia can be made tolerable when hanging out with these two beach bunnies, who fight the harsh conditions with some sweet swim shirts and a good ol' fashion bucket hat. 

*in the world of a ginger, tan just means that I've gotten so many freckles they're starting to grow together. 

misconceptions.

So, I feel like everybody has this idea of Germany being constantly gray and depressing and there is just never any sun. I would have to politely disagree with this notion. Perhaps it is the only the region I'm living in. But, aside from the well deserved rainy days and occasional bouts of cloudy weather, I would have to say that Germany is waaaaaay more sunny than I expected. 

**

One of my students told me that he wanted to move to the US because the weather is nicer (we won't even go into that obvious generalization). And his proof was that it was raining outside when he said this. However, his rainy day validation was totally unwarranted as it was sunny and gorgeous both the days before and the days after said statement was made. 

Anyway, I'm back in Forchheim for a few days with Patrick and AJ before we're of to Vienna! Lots of good stories from Munich... none of which you get now. Sorry!! 

**Celsius, people

Now that's just cruel.

These are real-life statuses and tweets from Georgia:

"OMG, I feel like laying out by the pool today!" 

"Chaco weather is here!"

"Working on my Chaco tan today"

"Going out without a jacket for the first time since November"

"The weather was so beautiful I ran 3 miles!"

I know it's not meant to be mean, but seeing every other update about how beautiful the weather in Georgia is, is just cruel. Over in Forchheim, we've descended back into the depths of winter, not reaching temperatures above freezing these days. 


Let's compare:

Forchheim...

Georgia... 

There might be a lot of things that I love about Germany, but I can't deny that I really miss the mildness and brevity of a Georgia winter. 


The snow was nice. And it was even nicer that it doesn't bring the whole world to a grinding halt. But I'm conditioned to winter ending at the end of February, so winter in March might be a real struggle for me.