First Winter in Canada (2)
By Zoe Kawei

The country where I originally came from was of tropical climate varying from 24 degrees Celsius to 30 degrees Celsius all year round, an island in the South Pacific, Papua New Guinea. You can imagine how I adapted to the
Canadian climate.

My first winter in Canada was when I was in grade four in 2004. It was recess, and every student was to go outside to play and socialize. As soon as I stepped outside the school building, the chilly winter air caught me off guard. It seemed to pierce through my purple and pink neon jacket like an icicle. I had no hat to keep my head and ears warm, so I used the hood of my jacket to cover them. Unfortunately, much to my dismay, the wind kept blowing it back, so my attempts at keeping warm were in vain. I remembered a little cubby in the wall where kids went to shelter from the cold, so I quickly raced there to warm myself. However, when I reached the cubby, it was packed with other kids trying to keep warm as well, and I reluctantly moved away to search elsewhere. I decided to wait near the front doors to
make an effort to catch a bit of warmth. (This only worked when someone from the inside would come out, such as a teacher, thus opening the door and letting heat escape). I recall looking around the school grounds and the other kids looked as if they weren’t freezing their faces off. They were too busy having a blast playing four square or tag to notice how frigid it was.

Finally, to my relief, the bell actually went off. That had to be the longest twenty minutes of my life. I stepped inside, and embraced the warm heat. After, when I got to class, the teacher was so kind as to let me keep my hands, which were numb because of my lack of mitts, over the heater, as she continued teaching. This was my first winter experience in Canada.