Out In The Cold

I stepped off the train.  Masses of people waited to greet their arriving family and friends. My host was not among them.  I headed down the stairs to the train station’s main hall. My host was waiting there. His first comment was about my clothing.

 When I left Wroclaw, I put on long pants and brought a sweater along with me. According to my host this was woefully inadequate. Yet, I wasn’t cold. I found the mild chill of the 10 degree weather invigorating.  My host couldn’t believe this. He insisted that I take a spare coat when we arrived at his car.

We arrived at his apartment. He commented on my manner of dress. “You are wearing summer pants and shoes” he admonished.   I was raised in southern California. I’d never heard of clothes being designated for summer or winter.  He informed me about the differences. Apparently, winter clothes have thicker materials.

After a quick dinner, I met with younger representatives from the organization which gave me my scholarship.  Some of them were exchange students.  Others were Polish.  Overcoats were an absolute necessity. When one student forgot her gloves it was a major crisis.  I only had a sweater.  Over the course of the evening, many asked me if I was cold. They seemed not to believe when I told them I was not.

I returned to my hosts’ flat.  We discussed the cold over Lithuanian vodka. Speaking Polish, my host and his wife insisted that they help me buy some winter clothes. I told them that I had warmer clothing. It just wasn’t cold enough to use it.  They also didn’t believe me. How could anyone want to subject themselves to any lack of heat?

Whatever climate you are raised in determines your attitude toward winter.  In warmer ones heat is the enemy. Upon entering any building you immediately feel a blast of cold air. The opposite is true in cooler regions. The heat is stifling. I felt like I was in a desert when in my hosts’ apartment.

My host gave me a sweater when I left Lodz. He insisted that I could not possibly be warm enough. I boarded the train; blast of heat hit me. I was down to a t-shirt within five minutes.

 I haven’t turned on the radiators in my own flat. The heating began on about a month ago at my university.

 I was on my way to class last week. Two of my fellow students met me as I entered the campus. One was from Brazil. The other was from Canada. The Brazilian and I weren’t wearing coats.  The Canadian was shocked that we could survive the weather.

We crossed into a building and the heat hit us.  By the time we’d reached the classroom we’d started to complain. “I’m going to die in this country” My Brazilian counterpart said “November in Poland and I’m sweating!” The Canadian had no problems.

Many claim to be acclimatized to the region where they live.  This is true. But, not in the way people think. The temperature you were formed in makes you more critical of its existence. More tolerant of it’s opposite.