This cold weather lark takes a bit of getting used to. I knew it wasn't going to be nice temperate British weather but I had thought that the snowier-than-usual winter that we've just had in the UK would go some way towards preparing me for St John's. I was wrong.
As Liam has already pointed out, this city doesn't seem to be made for the pedestrian, with most pavements consisting of either huge hills of snow (redistributed from the roads), or treacherous ice-runs. The latter makes our regular milk run fairly 'interesting' as the person in the corner house never grits their section. How very un-neighbourly.
There are hidden dangers on the pavements. The worst being the compacted ice under the snow, which is often very lumpy, and can see your legs flying out in odd directions just when you think it's a nice crunchy safe bit. I have a fear, and that fear is that I will slide on the ice and my protruding leg be run over by a huge 4x4. This is, of course, fairly unlikely, particularly as Canadian drivers seem to be a lot more considerate, but it doesn't stop me worrying.
We have developed a few coping strategies, though, one of which is a sort of semi-skating manoeuvre that's particularly good for flat icy runs, but less good when any kind of slope is involved. Given that St John's is almost entirely made up of slope, this is therefore a problem!
We have been trying out various ways to get to campus in order to isolate the optimal route as regards distance and treacherosity. The most hated one of these so far is down Bonaventure Avenue. I can safely say that they (in the style of Greenland) have marketed it misleadingly. It is a fairly steep slope, a major road, and lacks any kind of supporting device (such as fence) to prevent you sliding uncontrollably downhill or into oncoming traffic. It is in no way fun or pleasant, though it is certainly an adventure, of sorts.
Worse than this, though, was my Downtown experience last weekend. We were out on an explore (I wanted to find my local yarn shop, which turned out to be an epic journey). On the way the heavens opened and we experienced our first proper NL rain. It was torrential. The fact that it was warm enough to rain, however, did not prevent all of this rain turning into ice. The pavements were bad enough, but stepping onto one road I discovered it was one giant ice sheet. Though I stood still on the edge of the road, I found myself sliding down the hill and had to do some ridiculous manoeuvres to propel myself across the road without falling on my arse. It was fun with a very small "f" (as my parents would say).
Today I am hoping to have experienced the last of the 'fear'. On our way to campus this morning we stopped at a drugstore and purchased 'clickers'. I don't know what the official name for them is (perhaps a 'traction device'?; there's a brand called
YakTrax but I don't have those), but they are a marvel of modern science. As soon as I put them on over my boots I felt an overwhelming sense of wellbeing as my tension and panic subsided. It was kind of how I felt last Friday when I finally got myself a proper outdoor coat rather than relying on the trusty old Birmingham University hoodie I'd been wearing in -11 and wondering why I was a bit chilly.
I'm actually now looking forward to the walk home. Now all we need to deal with is the wind.
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