雪が溶けない、ということはもちろん、気温も毎日氷点下で、１月の中旬に雪が降りはじめてから３週間ほど毎日氷点下１０度以下を維持していた。この気温も私にははじめてのことで、もうすでに南国テキサス州に戻りたいと泣き言をいいたくなってしまう自分がいる。
氷点下１０度以下というのはどのぐらい寒いのか？想像がつかない方々にお伝えすると、外に出てすぐは、ー５度と同じくらいに感じられる。だが、それが１０分、１５分と外にいると顔や手、つま先などがじんじんとしびれてくるような痛みにかわる。「凍傷」という言葉が頭をよぎる。「まさか、こんなことで凍傷に？」という疑惑。そして、それに続く恐怖感。
玄関のドアを開けようと手袋をはずし、鍵を出そうと手をポケットに入れる。手がしびれる痛みでおどろき、思わず手をひっこめる。ポケットの中に何が？鍵しか入ってないよ？．．．そう、鍵の金属の部分がおそろしく冷たくなっており、その冷たさがあまりにもびっくり、な冷たさなのだ。
泣きたくなる気持ちがおわかりいただけるだろうか。
雪は細かい粒子のパウダースノーである。スキーやスノーボードなどのスポーツには最適かもしれないが、「家族みんなが入れるようなかまくらをつくってあげるよ！」とフィンランド出発前に子供たちにした約束がむなしく記憶のすみをかすめる。雪だるまも雪合戦もできない。
こうなったら楽しむしかない。そりでも買ってきて子供たちと楽しもう。
追記
この原稿は数週間前に書いたもので、今週の天候はだいぶよくなった。摂氏１度から−３度の間をいったりきたりしている。−１３度に慣れると、−３度でも「あったかーい」とうれしい気分になる。慣れとはおそろしいものだ。
I am glad to hear that my previous article could tell you a
bit about how it is like to live in Finland’s winter. I would like to add a little more about my thoughts for
winter in Finland.
Not only snow stays on the ground forever, but also the temperature stays below 0 degrees in Celsius (32 in F). It started to snow from the
mid-January, and the temperature stayed under -10 degrees in Celsius (14 in
F). This cold temperature is a new experience to me. It is so cold that it made me start to wonder how many
days left till I can go back to sunny Texas.
I would like to try my best to explain how cold -13 degrees
in Celsius (8.6 in F) is like. I somehow decided to go outside with kids to play in snow on one day. When you
first go out, it almost feels like -5 degrees in C (23 in F), but 10 minutes passes, 15 minutes
passes, then your face, hands, and toes starts to become painful – these are
numbing pain with pins and needles.
“Chilblains” – this word starts to flash in the back of my mind. Then anxiety and doubt – is it really happening to me?
At the doorstep trying to get back into the apartment, I
reached my hand into a pocket for keys.
Something stung my hand in there and quickly took my hand out. I started to wonder, “What is it in my
pocket? I thought I only had keys
in it…” Yes, the metal part of
keys has gotten so cold that I felt some stinging pain when I touched it,
totally unexpected.
Now you know the reason I am so amazed how cold it is!
The snow had been so fine that we hadn't made a
snowman or snowballs. It would be really great for snow sports like ski and snow
boarding, though. Then, suddenly,
a promise we made to our kids came back to my mind. We promised our kids that we would make a big igloo that
fits the whole family in it when we move to Finland… It does not seem like we can make it come true at this
point…
Oh well, we will go get a sledge and have fun with kids now.
Additional comment:
I wrote the draft of this article a couple of weeks ago. This week, it has been warmer! It is about 1 to -3 degrees in Celsius
(26-33 in F). Once you get used to
the temperature of -13 degrees (8.6 in F), -3 degrees (26 in F) makes you
appreciate it very much - it feels so warm! Getting
used to something produces a surprising effect.
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