The Montreal winter season has truly arrived. There is snow and ice everywhere, the wind hurts your face and everyone is complaining about the weather.
Even though we’re all probably wishing for the summer sun and OAP, here are a few tips on surviving the weather and avoiding this:
1. The Penguin Waddle
This sounds ridiculous, but it works. Keeping your center of gravity on your front leg rather than splitting it equally between your legs will keep you from slipping on the ice (or at least keep the falling to a minimum). If the penguins can do it, you can too.
2. Dress Appropriately
This seems very obvious, but it is very important to get a hat or hood, so your ears aren’t cold, warm gloves to keep your fingers from freezing (you need to be able to write or type when you get to class), shoes with grip, so that you don’t fall and can walk through the snow, and invest in a warm winter jacket. The winter jacket does not necessarily have to be a Canada Goose as there are many other brands that sell cheaper jackets that keep you just as warm such as The North Face and Arc’Teryx. Alternatively, you could layer your clothing and/or buy thermal clothing to keep warm. Fleece lined tights are always a good way to keep your legs warm under jeans, or a skirt or dress if you really want to wear one.
3. Hot Beverages
Another great way to keep warm is with a hot beverage. Whether you’re a coffee, tea or hot chocolate kind of person, you can warm up your stomach and your hands with a hot cup of whichever beverage you prefer. The cold weather gives you the perfect excuse to make (or buy) one of these beverages as you head to class, home, or curl up in bed with a book or a movie.
4. Underground Tunnels
Know your underground tunnels because they are your friends! There are a quite a few tunnels on campus and even though they’re not the nicest looking tunnels, they can get you where you need to go without having to face the winter wonderland outside. There are tunnels between McMed and Stewart Bio, Leacock and McLennan/ Redpath, Wong to Rutherford Physics and Trottier, and Schulich/ McConnell Engineering/ Adams to Otto Mass. You can find a more detailed explanation here. Additionally, there are undergound tunnels connecting the malls on St. Catherine Street from The Bay (St. Catherine and Aylmer) which joins into Promenades Cathedrale, Complexe Les Ailes, Eaton Centre and Place Montreal Trust, all the way to the American Eagle (St. Catherine and Peel). Just because it is cold, does not mean you have to give up shopping!
5. Make the best of it
Yes, the winter is cold, but there are so many activities you can enjoy or only do during the winter. Don’t stay in and sulk. Go ice skating, go to Igloofest, or even have a snowball fight! There are so many ways you can have fun in the winter. Doing fun things will definitely make the cold days more bearable. Here are a few more.
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The winter may be long and cold, but it doesn’t have to be miserable. Enjoy the winter while it’s here.
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Images and GIFs obtained from:
http://i.imgur.com/EiiLuck.jpg
http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s–XzGnJCsJ–/c_fit,fl_…
http://secondhandchallenge.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/tumblr_m7ue9nxcvj…
http://treasure.diylol.com/uploads/post/image/491200/resized_winter-is-c…
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