Let it Snow

So last Monday Brighton experienced a once in a decade snow storm. I guess I have good timing. Sunday it began to snow and over night it snowed four inches. Four inches is more than a dusting, but St. Louis received eight inches last week and everyone still had to go to classes, as far as I am aware.

With only four inches on the ground, all the buses stopped running, no trains were running from either Brighton station or Victoria's in London, and the London tube shut down. Nora (one of my fellow WashUers studying here) said that the board at Victoria's which usually shows the schedule for departing trains was just completely blank. Classes were canceled because people couldn't get to the campus for work.


Just comparing the four inches here with the right in St. Louis, and the difference in reactions was pretty hilarious. I mentioned this someone I met Tuesday and she said that Northerners (in England) always make fun of Southerners because, "They can't deal with a bit of weather." I liked the way she phrased that.

But actually the snow day was pretty exciting. I woke up to my flat mates screaming about the snow and taking pictures, the darlings. Everyone went outside for snowball fights and sledding. The snow also produced a lot of creativity, mostly in the form of substitute sleds. The land around campus is mostly hills, so there was a lot of choice sledding spots, but most people didn't bring sleds to Uni. So they improvised. I used a trash bag, but the more innovative substitute sleds include a stripped down ironing board, fridge doors (but I wonder how they put them back, or if they just ruined their fridges), mattresses, cooking pans, and I even saw someone hauling a kayak up the hill. Who has a kayak at Uni, I wonder? All in all, it was a fun day.