Weathering the winter 

UofR student sheds light on lessons learnt in winter 

chinedu ezeala, contributor

I first came to Regina in 2023 during the fall term. At that time, the weather had begun to get cold and windy, much more than I had ever experienced in the tropics of Africa where I came from. When I met people who had been here for a while, they always asked me if I had experienced the winter yet. When I said I hadn’t, they would tell me to brace myself. 

Their warnings led me to begin to feel a bit of apprehension. True to their word, as the days went by and fall gradually gave way to winter, double-layered clothing began to feel inadequate. No matter what, the cold always found its way through to my skin. Shivers and chattering of teeth were my body’s reaction to the cold. Whenever I was outside, I walked in a hurry to get to my destination as fast as possible. 

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” a man told me when he saw me struggling with the cold. “Winter is still coming.” 

“If this is not winter,” I thought to myself. “Then winter will be terrible.”  

Days turned into weeks as I waited for the first true sign of winter. Then, finally, the first snow fell. I had never seen snow fall before except in movies. It was a beautiful sight to behold. Roads and sidewalks and places that used to look dirty turned white and beautiful. 

Of course, admiring the snowfall was best done from the safety of a house or a car. As soon as I stepped out, I felt the cold wind slap my face and my body temperature drop. As beautiful as the sight of the snow was, I was concerned about the decrease in temperature, and I wondered how I would cope. But that was just the beginning. Gradually, the snowfalls became more frequent, the temperature dropped lower and lower, and those who had prior experience of the winter began to dish out advice to newbies like me who hadn’t faced a winter like Regina’s yet. 

“Beware of frostbite,” I kept hearing. 

“What’s frostbite?” I asked myself.   

Dictionaries only gave me a definition – not a preview – of the experience, so I had no idea what it felt like until I experienced it. 

One day, I needed to get onto a connecting bus in order to get back home. When I was standing at the bus stop waiting, I had to check exactly where the bus was on my phone. 

Using Transitlive meant exposing my fingers to the unfriendly cold, and the more I pressed my phone, the more difficult it got. I could have stopped, but then I wouldn’t know the exact time my connection would arrive, so I kept checking. By the time I was done, I could not feel my fingers anymore. I was in pain. I wondered whether checking the bus was worth it after all. I had never felt that kind of pain except when I had whitlow a long time ago. It was terrible. 

Thankfully, the bus came and I got on. I avoided having my hand touch any surface, as it made the pain worse. As soon as I got home, I went straight to my room and dove under my duvet. For hours, I waited for the pain in my fingers to subside and the feeling in them to return. 

Knowing better now, if it were to happen again I would just have to soak my fingers in warm water to get relief faster. It has never happened again though. I consciously made sure of that. 

It’s because of experiences like this that I share my major lessons on Regina’s winters. You can weather the winter if you know what to do, and then do it. During my last winter, I learned a few tips that I now live by. 

I began to dress for the weather, not for fashion. It didn’t matter to me anymore if my clothes could be admired by onlookers. Instead, I wanted to be safe. Other people’s opinions on my fashion sense took the back seat. No matter what I wore, I always topped it with my winter jacket. I made sure to wear two or three layers below the winter jacket. I also ensured my extremities were always well covered whenever I went outside, especially gloves for my fingers, and covers for my ears, face and head. 

I got an additional heater in my home to supplement the central one, which was a wise decision because as the temperature dropped, the central heater became overwhelmed and there was nothing my landlady did that made it any better. In the end, the extra heater came to the rescue. 

I avoided eating cold things in order to preserve my body heat. I made sure to cut off any unnecessary commuting and avoided leaving my home unless it was absolutely necessary for work or school. I used Transitlive to monitor my buses. 

Winter is coming! Winter is coming! Winter is coming! 

If this isn’t your first winter, you already know what to expect, but if this winter will be your first, then take the advice that I was given and brace yourselves!