Winter survival lessons

I am so happy it's February, I just can't tell you. I'm also proud that I have made it through January, the coldest month of the year, and the coldest month of my life. The Mongolians have been telling me, soon it will start getting warmer. But in my mind, I'm already telling myself, "It's February! It's definitely warmer outside already." It's kind of a little mind-game I play with myself to try to psyche myself out into believing that -15 is way better than -20. Truthfully, the weather is not warmer yet, but I will be exultant when it starts to reach back up to zero. How sick is that?!

I've lived and traveled in "cold" climates before, but nowhere else on earth I've been to compares to Mongolia. Yes, Canada is a pretty good comparison, but there's one major thing my friend Todd has access to in Calgary that I don't: skywalks. I have: sidewalks. Anyway, I'm not intending to complain, rather I thought I would share with you some of the lessons I've learned that have helped me survive this coldest winter of my life.

• Standard silk or cotton longjohns don't cut it. You have to wear thick, double-layered, lined longjohns that make it difficult for your jeans to fit over them. This has limited the number of wearable pants for me to about 2, at least when I go outdoors. It also has the effect of feeling like you're walking around in ski pants all the time.


• My old method of scarf-tying is inadequate. In England, I could wear a regular slip-knot style around my neck. Here, everyone wraps them around the neck and lower face multiple times. It's very Christmas Story.

• Plenty of body lotion and lip balm must be applied frequently throughout the day. Otherwise, my skin starts to look and feel like fish scales, and my lips crack in the corners.


• Sometimes skating is better than walking. Snow and ice are rarely cleared from the streets and sidewalks, so it's easy to slip. You see a lot of people (and especially kids) skating along in their shoes. I'm not going to jinx myself by telling you that I haven't slipped yet. I'll wait until winter is over.


• Only go outside to run errands in the afternoon, the warmest part of the day. Early mornings and evenings are painfully cold. It's hard to even breathe in through my mouth without immediately coughing, unless I have a scarf covering my mouth.


• Eat less. Being inside most of the time, I'm less active and it's starting to show. I've started doing a yoga/pilates workout that someone gave me on DVD.


• No point in wearing any makeup. I have to cover most of my face when I go out, and after about 5 minutes outside, tiny ice droplets and water collect on my eyelashes. I figured that out the one time I wore mascara and arrived at church with black stuff smeared all around my eyes.

Well, of course I could go on but you get the idea. Perhaps the most important thing I've learned is that Mongolians are tough people. I have gained a new appreciation for how difficult it is to live here. Maybe that's why there are only 2 million people in the whole country! When temperatures can drop to -40 in the winter and exceed 100 in the summer, that is rough. And the funny thing is, they all say Spring is the worst because of the sandstorms!! Geez. I can't wait.