Snow Day
I was preparing to go to bed at shortly after midnight when practically all my classmates started posting on Facebook that Monday classes had been called off because of the snowstorm. (I guess they couldn't wait to share the good news, LOL.) It's my first snow day ever and the first time in a long time that...
1. I have not had classes because of bad weather - as you know, it's been a while since I last went to school;
2. Classes/work has been suspended before I even left the house - back home, unless it was really, really bad (and given that Filipinos are used to natural disasters), classes and work wouldn't get called off until after you were already at school/in the office, at which point you were already &%$# stuck where you were and couldn't enjoy the time off. I used to totally hate it when that happened, although when I started working and living near where I worked, it wasn't so bad.
* I once got stranded in grade school on a Friday and I will admit it traumatized me pretty badly. Over the years I've learned not to freak out when whoever's supposed to come get me isn't there on the dot, but I think I still go to more or less any lengths to get home and dry. For example: while commuting home during a storm, the FX wouldn't go any further and the driver made us all get off at a stop that was still a ways from my usual destination. Instead of using my head and calling home to see if they could drive down and get me, I walked along Ortigas from Ever Gotesco to Valley Golf. Part of the trek involved slogging through floodwaters (and risking leptospirosis), as well as balancing on the high center island dividing the road holding my bag over my head. The brand-new pair of stockings I was wearing did not survive.
* The longest I remember being off school was a week, after the July 1990 earthquake. I left all my things in the library on the day of the quake because I got caught up in the rush to evacuate the grade school library (AKA the LRC). Naturally, I did not dare to open my lunchbox after I retrieved it upon the resumption of classes (it had an uneaten ham sandwich in it).
* One day in 2006, classes and work were called off well in advance (i.e., before we had left the house) because of Typhoon Milenyo. The rain was pouring and the winds were blowing LIEK WO, but enigmartin41 and I left the condo and schlepped through the bad weather to watch a movie and visit open stores in the malls in the vicinity. (I told you Filipinos are used to natural disasters, LOL). Unfortunately, when we got back, the power in the building had failed - and I wasn't about to climb stairs all the way to the 32nd floor :-p Good thing my mom's friend lived in the area, and they had power and put us up for the night.
Also, it's hard to believe that the weather is bad today because I can't hear the precipitation coming down. Back home, I used to judge the weather by the loudness of the rain/wind/thunder and the height of the floodwaters. The snow's piling up, but you can move it aside. You don't get soaked the minute you step in it the way floodwater does (unless you step into some really yucky, dirty, slushy snow, I guess). But of course I'm saying all of this from the comfort of my desk chair - I'm sure it's a different story if/when I'm outdoors in the snow trying to get somewhere.
If you are in an affected area (and if you aren't, I envy you), stay warm!