• Menu

You Know it’s Way Too Cold in Canada When…

Temperature in Ottawa on Wednesday January 23, 2013
The temperature in Ottawa on Wednesday, January 23, 2013

We’ve been going through a very cold spell in Ottawa. I know, it’s January and this kind of weather is expected but I was still shocked when I read the temperature on the thermometer outside that morning: – 30°C.

And that is without the wind-chill factor.

Of course, since I’m now a true Canadian, I then proceeded on going out for a walk, as usual. I bundled up well: winter coat, gloves, and a scarf covering my mouth and nose, and I was just fine.

Okay, my nose was very red when I got home and it took me five minutes to feel my fingers again. And a hot shower to warm up.

But I can brag about it. “Oh yeah, bit chilly today… meh, went for a walk.”

Seriously, you know it’s too cold—even for Canada—when:

1)      You can’t spot a single person wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Yes, believe it or not, there is always a Canadian somewhere who is rocking the shorts and t-shirt look when temperatures are hovering around zero degrees. When you see Canadians wearing thick winter jackets, you know it’s actually cold.

2)      If you take off your gloves for just a couple of seconds—say, to find your keys in your bag—your fingers instantly become numb and painful.

3)      Your hair freezes. And so do your tears.

4)      The mailbox is frozen shut. Feel free to ignore the bills inside, after all, you did try to pry it open with the keys, right?

5)      Even the rabbits and the squirrels outside look cold. And the guy walking his huskies on the bike path behind our place mentioned his dogs didn’t want to go out because of the cold—I mean, we are talking huskies here, a dog breed that originated in north-eastern Siberia!

6)      The touch screen on your iPod Nano doesn’t respond (may also be caused by frozen fingers—see point #2).

7)      If the temperature gets any colder, it won’t show on the thermometer.

8)      There is a lineup at the Flight Center outlet in the mall. It screams “get-me-out-of-frozen-hell-fast”.

9)      You consider wearing another pair of socks on top of the two pairs you are already wearing.

10)   You can’t leave the groceries in the car because they may freeze.

Someone please, make winter go away!

Share this article!
Zhu

French woman in English Canada.

Exploring the world with my camera since 1999, translating sentences for a living, writing stories that may or may not get attention.

Firm believer that nobody is normal... and it’s better this way.

View stories

Leave a Reply to Zhu Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

27 comments