Hallo zusammen!

It’s me again!

It is the start of a new week! How have you all been getting by? Do you like your classes/classmates/instructors? I know I do. Also, can I just say, wow! This cold weather is really kicking my butt! I don’t know about you, but it has been very difficult for me to adjust. Where I come from, and surely where some of you come from, it never gets colder than around 20* C, so getting used to this freezing weather ist sehr schwierig! It is also very weird for me to see it snow! Although when falling it is beautiful, when it piles up on the side of a schmutzige Straße, it looks like a colorless Slushy that Petrol Stations sell. Incredibly enough, one of my favorite parts about this harsh winter is the ability to see my breath. Being able to see the water vapor in your breath freeze in mid-air is one of life’s simplest pleasures.

Since there are both great and terrible things about this chilly season, I took the liberty of writing a little list to remind us of what we all love, and hate, about Winter.

• :) Weihnachten und Silvester
• :) No hot and sweaty days
• :) A nice hot cup of Glühwein from one of the many stands around berlin. Viellecht der kleine Stand neben der Wittenbergplatz U-bahn-Station. If you have never had Glühwein (or mulled wine in Englisch) think of ein süßer Rotwein mit Zimt, Kardamom, und Nelke, oder Staranise. That first sip makes warmth travel down your throat and throughout your body, warming you right up.
• :) Keine Mücken, Zecken, und Flöhe (this is especially great if you have pets)
• :) Schneeflocken (no one flake is the same) and Schnee
• :) Ice skating on frozen lakes
• and much more…

• :( The harsh, biting cold of winter
• :( Having to wear many layers, and then take them off and put them back on every time you arrive or leave somewhere. And if you don’t take them off, then you spend all your time indoors sweating.
• :( Dry skin and chapped lips
• :( Losing pain and/or pain in your fingers from almost contracting Frostbite (lol)
• :( Limited ability to do physical activity, and therefore (sometimes) weight gain
• :( Almost no sun! For two weeks, I almost forgot what the sun looked like

Now, depending on who you ask, Winter is either the best season, or the worst. But no one can deny the beauty of bare trees, chilled by Winter´s bite, waiting patiently to regrow its´ leaves so they can spread their foliage covered arms in Spring.

Try to stay warm! Bis bald!

– Milan ☄