Illusion of Words

The Weather

I never quite understood the obsession with weather forecasts and reports until I came here. Back home, you didn’t need to look at the weather forecasts. It was either sunny, cloudy, or rainy. And the temperature never changed all year long. But here it’s a different story. I find myself somewhat ‘obsessed’ with checking the weather forecast especially before leaving the house. It’s very vital to know how much to put on - something that you never thought of in the tropics, where jackets and anything remotely warmer was hardly needed except in air-con rooms.

Also, it seems that there are quite a bit of ‘weather advisories’ all the time. Ice storm/ winter storms are the common ones in winter. Schools close then, which is the good part. Tornado warnings are supposed to occur sometime too, although I have not seen one, and hope not to, because they are far more deadly than the other storms. Today, there was a windy weather advisory, which I found kind of weird. Although truth be told, it was very windy and occasional gusts made you feel like you were going to get blown away. Of course, in this flat, barren land, the winds wouldn’t have anything to stop them. Have I mentioned the ugliness of this place? No hills or mountains as far as the eye can see, just a flat piece of land and trees. So I suppose the wind could literally blow its way through without any problems.

Just something which has nothing to do with the weather: it is obvious that Americans like to use pencils in school. I remember in primary 6, teachers were gradually weaning us out of using pencils - which was a tool for little kids. We were growing up, going into secondary school; therefore we needed to learn to use pens - the grown-up writing tool. I think there was a certain sense of pride back then: I could use pens and feel more adult-ish. Now, I feel cheated. Almost everyone uses pencils, as can be seen on the roll that is passed around. Me? I still use pens, a habit formed out of a different culture. And never using any correction liquid when mistakes are made, opting instead to strike out the mistake messily - another habit formed out of a school that forbade the use of correction liquid (in anticipation of the vandalism that would have otherwise occured).

Posted in Weather |