2 T-shirts, 1 hoodie and a heater

After some observations, I've figured out that on the metro to my university instead of stopping at Blindern, I can get off at Forskningsparken so that afterwards I don't have to walk much to the buildings of my lecture and seminar rooms. This of course means more stops, longer way and more time if I follow the opposite route- from Forskningsparken to Mortensrud, but when it gets colder I'll be happy being on a metro feeling like I'm indoors. I suppose most people don't realise how important the climate is and how it might affect us. The 3 years in Norway, especially the last 3 months in Oslo, have taught me some harsh lessons: 

1/ I know people have said to live in a hot country is worse, because you can't really do anything about it, whereas when it gets cold you wear warm clothes, but the fact is, the cold is worse than heat, because, a, sunlight is good for our bones, b, in heat we perspire, c, cold weather makes one always sleepy, tired and languid, makes one lose energy and not wish to do anything, d, hot weather can be annoying, sometimes causes faint or headache, but the cold is always, always painful, e, the cold doesn't only affect our habits (for example, people here stay home whenever possible) but also has some impacts on mood and personality (depressed, melancholy, cold, unenthusiastic, lazy, distant, etc). 

"There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing" (Norwegian or Swedish saying) is a stupid self-consolation. I don't need to go through winter in order to feel like summer is paradise. At all costs, I still prefer Saigon's climate to Kristiansand's or Oslo's, because I grew up in heat and during my 15 years in Saigon I was hardly sick, but here, with my body not built for the cold weather, I'm sick all the time. Sick like a dog. 

2/ Wearing some clothes and a jacket isn't enough. One must always wear gloves- our hands get numb and it will be very painful when it's cold, I've experienced feeling nothing between my fingers, at times as though my hands are no longer a part of me, and one must always have a hat, because a head exposed to cold weather, especially to the wind, is very likely to suffer a headache. 

3/ Never, ever, make a wrong decision when it involves the traffic route. There are several different ways to travel from the National theatre to my apartment, for instance, and today I made a wrong decision. In fact, in good mood, I didn't carefully consider my options. And paid a high price, a very high price: waiting for the bus for 20 minutes in 1 C degree. I wouldn't have waited so long if I had taken the metro, or, if I had come back to Oslo S and missed the train and still not wanted to take the metro, I would have had to spend half an hour waiting for the next one, but at least I could have waited indoors. 

Now I'm alive, but whether I can actually survive this winter is...