Our Very First Winter

Ah winter! Having been born and bred in tropical Malaysia, winter was an alien concept to me, until now. Well, sure, I've seen winter in the movies and read all about it but I had never had the chance to truly experience it.

To be honest, I wasn't so keen on making any acquaintance with winter before I got my driver's license. Walking the kids to the bus stop and waiting for the bus in the cold really wasn't all that fun. But after getting my license to drive, I kind of like it now.

For the first time ever, I got myself a pair of nice boots, some scarves, gloves and other winter accessories. They are quite comfortable and look pretty good on me. I got the kids some really cool stuff too. And they love it!

Granted, the winter here is nothing compared to the winter in North America or Europe. It hardly ever snows or drops below zero degree. Thank goodness for that! A not-too-experienced driver like me will have trouble manoeuvring the car in the snow! Nonetheless, it's still cold, especially for migrants who have come from a tropical country such as moir.

Another thing to get used to - it starts to get dark by 5pm. And by the time it's 6pm, it's pitch dark! No wonder day light saving was introduced!

Well, it's going to get colder. I've read some reports saying this may be the first real winter in Melbourne for years! Just our luck, when we first arrived, it was the hottest and driest summer in the history of Melbourne. Now we are about to experience what could possibly be the coldest winter in years.

I'm not complaining - after all, there are only 3 months for each season. So I'll just enjoy my first winter and look forward to spring in the next couple of months.