So, snow.

[gillo]

You'd think it never snowed in England from the reactions to it. On Monday it was very cute to see all the FaceBook squee from my postgrad friends who had never seen it before. At the writing session there were three for whom it was a first - and, I have to admit, it was very touching to see the wonder on their faces.

Comments

[liliaeth]

The radio news interviewed a Belgian guy living in London about the wheather and he was talking about how people were overreacting to the snow, there being only 2 to five cm and already schools, factories and so on were closing ;-)

[gillo]

Yes - we don't get this much even in some years, but the hysteria can be very wearing - and the inability of so many people to drive in a couple of centimetres of snow is annoying.

[liliaeth]

hell we have the same amount of snow, yet our schools wouldn't even considder closing, which I'm sure our kids are very dissapointed with :-)

[gillo]

Yeah - the odd half-day to play in the snow should be every kid's right. You do get more snow than us, statistically, though, because we have the Gulf Stream - Kent gets a lot more than the Midlands too, for that matter.

[liliaeth]

Oh I know we have more days of snow, generally. I mean, we have the same amount of snow outside right now than you do.*g*

Mostly it just means that on the first few days, parents send their kids to school by bus (meaning they're crammed during those snow weeks), and that the rest of us are just really careful as we drive. (and a lot of moped drivers like me end up driving on the streets because those are usually emptier of snow than the bike paths are, which probably annoys the hell out of the cars stuck behind us)

Of course, pretty much most major roads are made snow free by the second a third day, and the rest follow soon after. (it's just the bike paths that you have to be most careful for)

[gillo]

You have more snow days, so it's worth your authorities investing in equipment and your drivers are more accustomed to the conditions. You can go two or three years here without serious snow and ice, so it's always a shock to people when it happens.