Over the past couple of years, I’ve come to understand that for many people, this “snow” thing is a phenomenon. This is absolutely foreign to me. Even though I’ve lived both in Western and Eastern Canada, and the Eastern USA, I’ve always lived in a place where winter meant cold weather, red noses, and snow.

As a kid, the day that I got to see my own breath puff out like smoke from my mouth was an incredibly exciting day. It meant that winter was here and that meant snow. For some areas, snow means adventure and fun. Snowmen, snowball fights, sledding, and don’t even get me started on the unique joy that only a Snow Day can bring!

For those of you who haven’t experienced these things that snow brings, I sincerely apologize: you’re missing out. But I’m going to explain it to you.

Snowman: this is a unique creation, something that can only be created with the right type of snow. It has to be a wet, heavier snow that you can pack into a good ball. A snowman is also best when it’s created with friends. If you have a good group of people, you can make a really big snowman and everyone else in the neighborhood and at school will be jealous.

Snow-Angel: For this, you have to be prepared to lie down in the snow. That means you’re either wearing something that you don’t mind getting wet, or you are completely decked out in snow pants and coat. To make a snow angel, you lie down, and then spread your legs and arms out, waving them up and down in the snow a few times. Then, you need to get up without messing up your angel. The easiest way to do that is to have a friend help you up.

Snow Brush/Scraper: this is not something that you create, but if you’re bringing your car to school, this is something that will be essential to have in your car. As soon as winter hits, you will have to get in the habit of scraping your cars windows, which are covered in frost on a good day, and snow and ice on a bad day. This can take 15-20 minutes, so make sure that you leave the house early enough to still get to school on time.

Chinook: This really doesn’t have much to do with snow, but it has everything to do with winter time in Calgary. This is a warm wind that hits for a day or a little more, melting the snow, and making it feel like spring. This is why you will see people walking around in T-shirts in the middle of January. The problem with a Chinook wind is the fact that it doesn’t usually completely melt everything. It just starts the process, and then what ends up happening is we get a lot of slush and water that suddenly freezes again into solid ice.

Take my advice: While it is nice to hole up inside with some hot cocoa on cold, snowy days, don’t miss out on the adventure and fun that awaits you. Build a snowman and cream your residence brothers and sisters in a snowball fight.