Winter is Coming (to Northfield)

When I told people back home that I was going to college in Minnesota, the general response was: “But it’s so cold up there!” Coming from the south, I had never truly experienced snow.

My History with Snow

Back in fifth grade, there was a freeze where there were blocks of ice in the ground. I remember being super excited to see “snow” that I had only ever seen in the movies. I didn’t have gloves, so I just used my bare hands to make “snowballs” to play around with. The next day, the ice was gone.

The next few times I experienced “true” snow were during my time in Little Rock. My family moved there from Houston the summer before ninth grade. Since Arkansas is farther north than Texas, we were able to get some snow that lasted up to a week.

My two younger siblings were super excited, because that was the first time that they got to experience snow in person. We didn’t have any proper mittens, so we wore gloves and plastic bags over our hands as a substitute. Also, this was the first time I had ever experienced salting of the roads. I even remember asking my dad why he couldn’t just use table salt to salt the roads after he went into town to get “unique salt.”

Winter Beginnings

You can tell when winter is coming at Carleton. First of all, it’s super cold. Like REALLY cold. Like it-rains-and-suddenly-the-weather-drops-20-degrees cold. Since it’s Fall Term, we are just experiencing the beginning of the cold weather. It isn’t too bad, although you don’t want to let go of the fall weather and you don’t want to bring out your winter wardrobe because you think that’s it’s too soon for that (unless that’s just me).

Has the winter here made me reconsider my feelings about snow? Absolutely. But at least hot chocolate exists to warm you from the sharp, cold wind. I want to enjoy the beauty of snow without the cold weather, but what can you do?

(And, no, I haven’t watched Games of Thrones, but everyone knows that reference.)

Baby Snow Pictures

Chisom is a junior Computer Science major, prospective Japanese and Educational Studies minor from Houston, TX, and Little Rock, AR. While struggling through classes, Chisom sends out weekly emails to the Anime Club (since she’s the president), listens to KPOP, and takes pictures around campus (especially during the fall). Chisom enjoys hanging out with her friends, learning about other cultures, and crafting. Meet the other bloggers!