Brrrrrrrrrr

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…
Okay, it’s true: I’m English and I love complaining about the weather. Lately, my friends back home have been moaning about the cold. I have been sympathetic of course, my culture asks me to do this, but inside I am wondering if moving to Berlin was such a good idea after all.
Our friends here have started wearing big winter coats. And scarves. Gloves have now come out too and hats are commonplace. Not those cute fashionable hats, but big woolly ones with pompoms attached to the top. I have seen ear flaps and at the market fur is everywhere. It is the beginning of November. Too early for all of this, surely?
It seems only days ago that I was on the balcony, sunning myself before dashing off to swim in the outdoor pool. Now friends ask if it is our first Berlin winter. They say it as if it is something terrible, something harsh, something not all people survive.
A new acquaintance mentioned he is going to Spain for the whole winter season, as it’s miserable here. He isn’t going for weeks yet – is this not winter right now? How much colder is it going to get? People have started talking about how this is rumoured to be the worst winter yet. How in Berlin there are two seasons: summer, then winter. And winter is much, much longer. It is the topic everyone is obsessed about. We are learning how to survive: Don’t leave the house. Buy in bulk. Have house parties so people come to you and you can stay indoors. Find hobbies that keep you safely tucked away inside your home. Move your bed closer to the central heating. Buy more layers. A hot water bottle will be your new best friend… They are preparing us for something formidable, and I’m scared. I’m not ready. I don’t like the cold. It seems even England is warmer than here. I might be moving back home sooner than planned if this continues…
Right now, it is zero degrees. I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry. Have I moved to Siberia? When will I be able to come out of hibernation… I moved to Berlin in order to connect with my family’s history and discover what (if anything) makes me half-German. Plus Berlin is amazing. Now I fear I will be sitting indoors hiding, waiting for the frost. Waiting for the snow. Waiting for the blizzards. I guess at least I will be able to complain about the cold and the dark. The English in me is looking forward to that a lot. Plus there is an ample supply of mulled wine here, so maybe I should count myself lucky?