It got colder and snowed for me

I was a little upset that it was getting kinda warm....-3 degrees just about, because I wanted to leave Lulea in some seriously Northern Sweden weather. So when I got up this morning and saw that it was -11.6 I was overjoyed. Then before the church service at about 7pm, it was -13.8 degrees. Even better. And now its the coldest temperature I've encountered as far as Lulea is concerned, cos Kiruna was almost -18.

Well it is now a whopping ..........

This is when even double gloves don't cut it.

It's so strange how I hate the cold in Singapore, but totally love it here. It's a nicer kinda cold up here, just a few hours away from the arctic circle.

surprise ice!

I got home from connect group a few minutes ago. As I was changing out of my pants I heard something fall out of them and make a slushy crunch sound on the floor. I look down and saw that I had collected chunks of snow in the cuffs of my pants from my walk home. I'm gonna miss the random things like this. I'm sure of it. =)

Surprise Ice

Living In A Winter Wonderland!

Okay, I know the title is corny...but really, Lulea is so beautiful all covered in glistening white snow. It is getting a lot colder though. It was pretty much averaging zero degrees to -2 all the time until this morning. I woke up at 8am and the first thing I did was to check the thermometer in the living room. It was -8.8 degrees! So I figured it was still early and things will warm up in an hour since i only had to leave at 9. So at 9, just before leaving home I went to check again and it was -9.2! So much for positive thinking. I decided to ditch the bike and walk to school instead because I was bundled up pretty well, which meant I would have less manoeuvring capabilities. Well I slipped and kinda fell on the way to school but I was quick to react and saved myself from a full on fall, so all was okay. And I was walking fast, so I broke out into a small sweat too!

After class, I bumped into a Swedish schoolmate, Alex, and we were chatting for a while. I said I was about to go home and he had nothing to do so he walked me home and I invited him in for coffee and ice cream. We ended up chatting for more than 3 hours and as he was leaving he said that we should coin a new word ' hanging-in' (indoors) which would be perfect for this kind of weather cos its just too cold to 'hang-out' (outdoors). I thought it was cute coming from him.

Well besides just 'hanging in', a whole bunch of us decided to take a trip to a ski slope about a one hour walk away...yes we walked in the cold...
By the time we got there I could not feel my toes but that did not stop me from getting into my trash bag and sliding down the hill! I also rolled around in the snow a bit and made a snow angel!
Oh and with snow comes snow sculptures! But my neighbour Katalin thinks that snowmen are so boring, so here's what she made on the ledge of her balcony...
A Snow Sheep! Too cute right?!

But not all is fun and games...Grocery shopping is not fun in the cold AT ALL. Given the ridiculous bus timings here, missing a bus means waiting 40mins in the cold for the next one. And when you shop for 3 weeks at one go, it is really hard to carry everything then your fingers have gone completely numb from the weight plus the icy weather. Anyway, we played charades from Vishnu's iPhone while stranded at the bus stop. Here's Bryan and I looking like a bunch of shady hobos.

But as always, I get by with a little help (and warmth) from my friends!

"If only I could turn back time"....well now I can!

Daylight savings kicks in tomorrow guys, so as if a 6 hour difference isn't bad enough, from 25th Oct, it will be a 7 hour difference. I have already turned back my watch, phone and laptop in true, kiasu, singapore spirit. I was a bit worried if my flight timings will chnage but the other europeans told me not to worry and stop being silly. "Don't you do that in Singapore?", one asked, much to my amusement.

Anyway, it's not a welcome change to me, as I thought it was bad enough that the sun set at 4:30, and now...it's setting at 3:30. WAH PIANG EH!

It's so strange, this darkness thing. I only woke up close to 2pm today because I only got home at 2:30 after last night's Hawaiian and i had not slept the night before, so I was just flat out exhausted. So I wake up have brunch with the girls in my flat cos everyone slept in today...and then I sit down at my desk and notice that it was already dark by 5. Which meant I a total of 3 hours of sunlight. Not cool mother nature, not cool at all.

But what I wanted was a completely different experience from Singapore, and I sure and getting one. =D

Det Är Köld i Luleå Nu

It is cold in Luleå now. Last night I went over to Vishnu and Bryan's house in my PJs and a thin pullover, like I always do, since they only live 3 houses down, and once I was past the second house I started to feel really cold. My head was telling me "turn back now!" but I was too lazy, so I tried to cautiously jog over since the ground was icy and slippery. I was so happy to be indoors when I got there and then I was afraid to leave after. Bryan told me it was supposed to snow that night.

This morning I woke up at 8am to do my laundry (and try to study Swedish) and it was -3 degrees. So i put on a thicker jacket and walked out only to find my bike covered in little frozen water droplets and a very very thin layer of snow on the ground. The ground was really slippery too. Usually there are guys who come around and put gravel on the ground so we don't slip as much, but I left home before they came today so I almost fell about 3 times.



The days are getting shorter too...the sun comes up at about 7am and it begins to set at 4:30pm, so by 5:30 its already dark outside. Its so strange because I start feeling tired and like I want to go home, and I check my watch to find it's only 6pm!

It's really strange in the North of Sweden, because they get a summer and a long winter but their spring and fall is almost non-existent. In spring, everything blooms suddenly in a week, then it's summer. As for fall, everything is normal and suddenly the trees go bare at the same time and the icy chilly winds and snow come.