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Ah, winter. It's arrival is signified by the return of the Pumpkin Spice Latte and the imminent Christmas carol soundtrack that is all too short and repeats every hour during your marathon study sessions at Starbucks. Every year around this time, I find myself cursing the fact that I have to wear socks after months of flip-flops and flats, and in turn cursing my parents for bringing us to this place that turns into a windy freezer for eight months of the year. "Why," I will ask, "did you leave the gorgeous and temperate climate of Cape Town for Edmonton, of all places." To which they usually point out that I am safe to walk around by myself and have yet to be held up at gunpoint in this icebox known as Canada.

...

Point for Rodney and Sharon.

Anyways, back to handling winter in Edmonton. While there obviously are things that I despise about it, I can't help but get secretly excited at the coziness factor that it brings on. There's something extremely comforting about, while ridiculous, dressing yourself in sheepskin boots, a jacket that could double as a sleeping bag, or a backwards fleece sweater that makes you look like a smurf. Sitting in front of a fire (or the fireplace channel, I suppose, may be used as a substitute), you can cozy up on the couch and watch the snow fall while drinking your (insert favorite hot beverage/wine here). I'm not sure if it's actually really enjoyable, or we convince ourselves that it is so that we feel better about hibernating inside, but either way, it's not half bad. Winter: the season of paradox. We complain when it's too cold because we can't go outside, but we complain when it's too warm because we can't hold enough snow for a good ski season. Ah well, I guess were used to it by now. But it's fun to complain anyways.