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Australian exchange teacher learns the true meaning of cold
Two hot showers daily and a lot of hot chocolate is how Samantha Adams, an exchange teacher from Australia, dealt with the extreme cold snap in Edmonton, when temperatures plummeted to -42°C with the wind chill.
“It’s a dramatic change from what we’re used to,” Adams commented. “My skin is very dry, and my hands feel numb a lot of the time. I’ve never, ever experienced that. Our house is warm and the school is warm, but getting to and from—that’s very cold!”
Before arriving in Alberta, Adams was warned it could get to -40, but the coldest temperature she has felt in Australia was zero degrees, so she had difficulty understanding what cold really meant, until now.
Adams arrived in late December from Brisbane to teach Grade 1 at St. Anne Catholic School, in Edmonton. She arrived when temperatures hovered above zero most days. “For the first couple of days, it was really nice to experience that cold temperature, but everyone was laughing and telling us this wasn’t really cold. It’s been the perfect introduction to this climate. We might have had a really rude shock if it had been -40 when we landed. We were very, very fortunate.”
Adams is heeding the advice of seasoned Edmontonians and dresses in layers, but she worries that her son is following the bad example set by some of his schoolmates of not dressing appropriately for extreme weather. “I’m worried that he’s not warm enough, but he doesn’t seem to feel the cold as much as I do.”
To date, winter driving has been her biggest challenge, not only because Australians drive on the opposite side of the road, but because poor visibility from snow forced her to drive more slowly and to take more time stopping. “I had to clear snow off the car for the first time, which was actually fun!”
Adams has received good advice for winter driving, such as ensuring her car has at least a half tank of fuel in case she gets stuck somewhere. “I love it here and I love the people—everyone is so wonderful. Even if I had car trouble and broke down, I wouldn’t worry because I know that someone would stop to help me.”
Information about the international exchange program is available on the ATA website: www.teachers.ab.ca—under Teaching in Alberta, click on Student and Teacher Exchanges.
