Now that I have experienced the first bit of winter, and have seen some real snow, there are a few things to get used to.
The cold. Well, it is actually not that bad, as I do have some decent clothes and I do my best not to look like a mummy when I venture outside. I tend to make children wet their pants, and the police suspicious if I wear all my winter clothing at once. Firstly, it is way too warm to do this and it makes me sweat a lot. This is not good, because when I get indoors, I than proceed to drip all over the place and make people's furniture wet. Secondly, I look like a mix between a mummy and a terrorist.
The ice.I am having great difficulty to walk normal when I walk on ice. I have observed that Swedes look completely normal, and walk reasonably fast when they walk on ice. How? I tend to slip and slide all over the place. When my girlfriend and I take a walk, she always tends to wait for me, because I am constantly making involuntary changes in the direction that I intend to walk in. This with a combination of me trying to look normal and stay upright at the same time, tends to look rather strange. John Cleese in Monty Python's Ministry of Funny Walks comes to mind. I do seem to draw a crowd of onlookers. I am also convinced that if I had a hat in my hand, people would put money in it, either because they think that I am severely disabled, or because of the entertainment factor.
My first thought was that I had the wrong shoes on. I had a look at my girlfriends shoes, and I was very surprised that her shoes are completely smooth underneath! I was expecting spikes or little suction cups. I also tried to look at the underside of other people's shoes. Have you any idea how difficult this task is? Especially while they are wearing their shoes! I have stopped doing this, because it makes people nervous.
I had a thought, my beach flip-flops are smooth underneath, and they are of a very soft rubber compound. See I am an engineer, and I have to find a reason for why some things work and others not. This normally results in experimentation, and the results are sometimes spectacular...
People of the world, I am sure that my sole purpose on this planet is to serve as a warning to others. The result of my experiment was a spectacular embarrasing disaster.I think that those little trolleys that old people use to help them walk might be a good idea.
When I was in South Africa, some of my friends went to spinning class in the evening.I could never figure out why any sane person would go on a bicycle and peddle his or her backside off, without going anywhere. I now now where it comes from! I have heard that you can get ice tyres for bicycles. I shall go and buy some. The problem is, once I have reached my destination, and I get off my bike.
Well maybe I will just stay on the bike...