Brr-lin

Europe is cold.

That shouldn't come as news to anybody.  Europe is in the northern hemisphere and contains such remarkable countries as Great Britain a.k.a. We-Get-Sun-A-Few-Weeks-A-Year-Land (note: I confirmed this with a British person at my hostel, although he honestly admitted he didn't mind the lack of sun.  Not sure whether to chalk this one up to the British stiff upper lip mentality or not).  Having been reading about portents of SNOW and MORE SNOW for the U.S. this past week, I thought I'd post an update about a place that actually got snow: Berlin.

I'm currently holed up in a lovely little hostel in Berlin as I search for an apartment/job/purpose in life.  The first few days of my stay proved almost pastoral: the world warmed up, the sun came out, the air smelled fresh and clean.  The city seemed ready for spring.  Then, two days ago, the weather switched course very abruptly.  In the middle of the night, snow began to fall, and when I woke up, the world had been covered in white and the balmy March temperatures had plunged to a cozy -6 C (that's 21 F for people who haven't lived abroad).

I have to hand it to German snow.  I wasn't living in a blizzard here; the snow honestly looked like something out of a movie, it fell in such a measured and delicate way.  But on the other hand, the snow did not stop.  It kept snowing beautifully for hours, for the entire day, well into the next morning, well into that day.  As I write, it seems to have taken a slight break, and a friend of mine says that the weather forecast says the snow is done.  But the snow still managed to coat the streets and cars and buildings with a thick layer of white, thick enough that the government summoned the adorably tiny snow plows to clear the city streets.

So, yeah, sorry to the East Coast USA friends who didn't get snow.  Europe apparently stole it from you although if you really want it, maybe we can arrange some kind of trade agreement.  In the mean time, I'll be digging out my gloves to build tiny snow-people and drawing smiley faces on windshields. Tschüss!