Winter in Scotland is ... cold!

So many folks warned us about moving to Aberdeen, Scotland. Everybody said it's going to be cold, dark and wet.

"It rains a lot in Aberdeen"

"There's no sunlight in Scotland, even the carrots are white in color because there is not enough light ..." (Laurent)

I suppose I shouldn't complain too much about having cold winter since I was told many times before. I came here anyway, maybe because I'm not afraid of the cold, or maybe I thought that I'll get used to it eventually.

My winter experiences so far:

1. Notice the white stuff on the car - those are frosts - I have to scrape these off the car almost every morning and sometimes in the evening too.

2. I can only listen to the radio in my car on the way to work and back - this is because my CD changer is located in the boot of the car and it does not work during winter.

3. There is sunlight! (Laurent, I haven't found any white carrot yet) In fact, the view everywhere is fantastic when the sun is out. However, the sun does not rise in the east and sets in the west - it just stays in the south all day ... at our eye level. The idea of riding into the sunset is nice, but driving into the sun ...? The sun rises at about 9 am in the morning (if not cloudy) and sets at about 3 pm during the shortest winter days.

4. Yesterday when I drove to work, the temperature was 0 degree Celsius. This is actually common and not that bad ... as long as I have the proper clothing. Like the Norwegian saying: " There is no bad weather, just bad clothing". Apparently good clothing is a relative thing. If you see me outside, you'll probably find it's hard to recognise me cause I will be bundled up. But you'll find that there are a lot of Scottish who seems to wear badly for the winter ... would you bare your legs in freezing weather? To my amazement, some Aberdonians do!

5. Along with the cold, there is the "bugs". Outbreak of flu occurs every year during winter months. This winter we were not spared - started with Mik, her mom and finally me. This time we did not bother to see the doctors. In the UK the doctors do not believe in prescribing medicine and antibiotic for flu. They say take a rest, drink lots of liquid and let the flu runs its course. Along with flu is usually the cough. We were in Aberdeen Music Hall in December and when the crowd supposed to be silent, it was filled with symphony of coughs instead. So, it is better to avoid getting the "bugs" in the first place. This can be achieved by locking ourselves in the house all winter long ... or get flu immunization shot starting September every year. (I recommend the latter)

I'm still not used to the cold.