Suddenly it's winter

It came on so suddenly. Back in November I pulled out my snow boots and gave them a little polish to prepare for what I thought might be another frosty December. Low and behold, Christmas was quite mild, rainy, but around 10° or so. January was also quite ok. Clouds and rain, but still surprisingly easy.

Then there was a drop. From one day to the next it was below 0, and there was talk of snow. Then last weekend it came. The "Siberian Cold," has apparently blown its way across Europe, record low temperatures have been set in the last week. Since snow is still somewhat of a novelty to me (and I don't drive a car), I find it nice to look at. I must admit, those early morning trips with the train are less than stellar-being greeted with -14°C (6° F)  is not the ideal way to start your Monday morning.

I thought a gratuitous picture post was in order.

The negative temperatures are carrying on into the week. I'll be listening to my "beach" playlist and trying to think warm. Have a cozy week!

Word of the week : Brückentag

Brückentag: long weekend

Happy Halloween to you! Here we're fresh off the time change, which marks the beginning of the "dunkle Jahreszeit," or dark season. Sunday you woke up at your usual time only to find that it's actually an hour earlier than usual. After winding your clocks and watches back, you notice it will start to get dark rather early, as it will be until next year when we change back (or rather, forward).


Regarding last week’s word (Ferien) I mentioned the holidays observed here in (*parts of) Germany and tomorrow is one of them, Allerheiligen or All Saints. Besides a holiday there’s one other thing most people enjoy, a long weekend. There are a couple holidays here in Germany that fall either on a Thursday or Tuesday and a lot of people (myself included) request the work day (Monday or Friday) between a holiday and a weekend day off to form a sort of bridge, if you will (fun fact: Brücke means bridge). Today the streets are a bit more crowded and shops are a bit more full as those who would normally be in the office or on the go have a free weekday to cruise around and enjoy a leisurely stroll through the town. Since tomorrow is an actual holiday (*in NRW) you can bet that most shops will be closed (in fact some of the smaller ones are even closed today), so there’s a bit more action than there usually is on a Monday afternoon.


It happens to also be my personal favorite time of year here in Germany, where all the leaves are beginning to fall. I find the last week of October and beginning of November to be the epitome of Autumn. It’s the golden time, usually lasting three or so weeks, where the weather is crisp, not cold, the hillsides are colorful, not baron, and you actually feel the seasons changing. In a few weeks all the trees will be bare and it will just be that pre-winter period where it gradually gets colder and you’re just kind of waiting for the first snow to fall. But right now is a beautiful time, and I bet some American readers might feel a slight tinge of jealousy knowing that tonight in Germany (well, in most German states anyway), those who do wish to celebrate Halloween will not have to worry about getting up early for work tomorrow.

To close, some pictures of the trees here, because I'm from southern California and palm trees don't change colors so actual Autumn weather, to me, is a beautiful thing.

Have to try the ropes course next time around.

The Sunshine Theory

I’d like to start with a few weather statistics about Aachen and my hometown.

In San Diego the average monthly temperatures ranges from 14.1°C (57.3°F) to 22.5°C (72.5 °F), although late summer and early autumn are typically the hottest times of the year with temperatures occasionally reaching 32°C (90 °F) or higher. San Diego has on average 150 sunny days per year and 120 partly cloudy days (probably most during the “May gray, June gloom” period). The average precipitation is 300 mm (less than 12 inches) per year. On average, San Diego sees some 40-50 days with precipitation per year, with the longest dry period (no rainfall) being 196 days. I guess it’s pretty obvious that there is rarely snowfall in San Diego.

Aachen on the other hand, is a bit different. There is no real average temperature as it tends to change based on the season. In January it can be anywhere from 0 to -5°C (32 to 25°F). In the peak of summer (July-August) it is in the 20s, sometimes 30s°C (70s-80s°F). On average Aachen has about 60-70 sunny days per year and receives approximately 200-300 mm (8-12 inches) of precipitation per month, or about 140-150 wet days per year with the longest dry period being only 36 days (without rainfall). Aachen can also receive up to 50 days of snow per year.

Why am I discussing weather? Well my friends Andy and Emily were cruising around Germany/Holland over the last week and made the trip to Aachen to hang out for the day. Here they are enjoying a late night pizza after arriving Wednesday evening.

 

I must also say that in the last week Aachen has enjoyed absolutely gorgeous weather. Almost cloudless skies and warm and friendly temperatures that make you think it’s the middle of July, not the end of September. From what I understand, they arrived in Frankfurt last Friday, which is around the time this spell of beautiful weather began. I got to thinking about how fantastic this weather Is and couldn’t help but wonder if there is some correlation between the nice temperatures and the Californians who were visiting. Back in April, which is a notoriously finicky month when it comes to weather in Aachen, my mom came to visit and we enjoyed the two nicest weeks of weather Aachen has seen so far in 2011 (in my opinion). No joke, it was like summer came two months early. We even had to go shopping to buy her some lighter clothes because she packed too many sweaters! It didn’t even rain until the day before she left! I told her she was getting a false impression of German weather, but hey, it was so beautiful who cared?

Look at those smiles! Sunshine tends to bring out the smiles in people here. So I couldn’t help but notice that in these periods of unseasonably wonderful weather, Aachen had visitors from southern California. It’s a typical joke to say “We brought the sunshine with us.” But honestly, you start to wonder if that is in fact what happened! I have this theory about good weather in Aachen. Whenever it’s sunny and warm, most people will do whatever they can to be outside. Just walking through the city you see all the outdoor cafés and restaurants filled with people sitting in the sun, probably one of five people is walking around with an ice cream and any time you talk to someone one of the first things you comment on is how lovely the weather is and what you have been doing to take advantage of it.


Here we are atop the Lousberg. Sidenote, after I politely asked (auf Sie, of course) a gentleman basking in the sun to take a picture, he asked me (also auf Sie) where we come from as is often the case that Germans usually notice when I speak that I'm not German and ask where I'm from. I told him we're from the states, he asked which one, I said California and he said (in English) he was a professor of liquid mechanics at taught at Yale in the 1970s. It's a small world after all!

 

Having grown up in a region where sunny days are the norm, and cold is any time it dips below 60°F (15°C) you tend to take good weather for granted. I even know of southern Californians who say they enjoy rainy days (probably because of the novelty) and even wish for more of them in a year. Moving here has made me appreciate the potential in a good sunny day. When you spend an entire month with clouds and rain, and suddenly the sky opens up and you can feel the warmth of the sun on your skin, there is just no way to describe how great it feels! My mom and I enjoying some beers at the Öcherbend (a fair in Aachen)

Friday is meant to be another fantastic day here in Aachen so I am on my way out to enjoy it now. But in order to further corroborate my theory about the potential of Californians to bring friendly weather to Aachen I will need more of you to come visit, preferably during the months of November-March! Have a sunny weekend!