Never have I ever experienced winter in my life. Growing up in an all-year-round sunny country, I am used to going around just with a thin layer of clothes everywhere. But there I was, shivering as I was on my way to my class. It was tough. My feet hurt a little bit, my ears and nose were red, and my hands ooh boy I dare you to touch it. They were as cold as ice blocks. The first winter came actually with a little feeling of Disney like movies. It was magical. It was one of those normal afternoons, until I heard Okta called me, ‘’Helen, come here! It’s snowing!’’
Pic. SourceI rushed from our common room to my room and joined her by the window. We looked at each other and couldn’t hide our excitement. We jumped happily and decided to go down and played a little bit with the snow. It was my first time touching real snow. The fake snow that I touched at Singapore Botanical Garden didn’t spark that much joy. It was quite enough to answer my curiosity, but just that. The snow was cold and had a texture just like when you grated an ice block. Haha I felt like a kid. But I wasn’t the only one. As my dormitory was an international students dormitory, there were quite a number of Asian, African, and also Hispanic students in our dormitory. Coming from the county without winter, I saw that it was probably their first winter as well.
In just a few hours, the snow went down and poured our dormitory parking places. I looked down from my room and it was already filled with students. The snow war had already started. They ran around and played the snowballs hit and run. It was too tempting not to be played. So, I went down and played along. But, the magic of snow didn’t last forever, just in two weeks, where it started to melt, things were not going so pretty anymore. It was hard to walk without watching your steps. I fell down once because it was so slippery, plus your shoes would be wet if they are not waterproof.
Moreover, I learned that winter is depressing if you are alone, far away from home, and when it has been going on for weeks. The sun was already setting down at 3-4 PM and went up at 8-9 AM, which means you wouldn’t be able to see the sun at all if you have class from 9 AM until 3 PM. Luckily our faculty hosted a party just before Christmas for the students and also teachers. With that, I could experience the feeling of togetherness while I was being miles away from home.
@ Faculty Christmas Party
It was finally Christmas, and the dormitory was quite empty since the students went back home (the Ukranians and Russians mostly) and the others decided to go elsewhere. I decided to do the same. I decided to do a little bit of travelling with Trang by plane just one way, since the one way ticket to Milan was cheap, and then followed by bus to Italy then Austria before going back to Lodz. It was our second trip after the East Europe trip and we were excited for it! Christmas here we come!
@globustrotterin 
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