Yes, I'm talking about weather and temperatures again. Don't hold it against me, I am British afterall. It's in our make up. As is small talk, a love for tea and gravy, and the ability to be extremely polite or completely disgruntled with the world around us (it must be noted that this list can also be affected by the weather outside our window...more sun...less tea...more rain...more roast dinners and gravy...heatwave (n.b. anything above 18 degrees)...happy and roaming the streets semi-naked...downpour...yelling at anyone that invades even a millimetre of our space).
I was prompted again to think of the differences between the Germans and the English in regard to temperatures, when a woman slammed the window shut on the U Bahn (more than likely because she was getting a chill!). It was roasting in there - rush hour, full of people, and definitely full of too much body odour for any window to be closed. As soon as she shut it all I could think of was an old school song by Nelly (who was popular when rapping was fresh and new and before Flo Rida featured on every US record with his blatant sexual innuendo songs): "It's getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes". No...I wasn't seriously considering stripping off and getting down and dirty with all of the German commuters. Although it would have been funny to see their faces if I had. Although having said that, they love naked spas...why not go one step further and bring naturism onto public transport too? I did, however, definitely take off as many layers as I possibly could without drawing too much attention.
The truth is though, that if it isn't July or August, if it is less than 29 degrees, and if you are wearing a short sleeved top - you will get attention and people will look at you as if you are insane / with pity for the chill and illness that it going to befall you for such a reckless removal of clothing. I'll never understand the hows and whys of German jean-and-cardigan-wearing when it's still warm outside.
I'm worried though that eventually I will be converted. A colleague of mine (who is American and lovely), actually moved from cardigan to coat when I opened the window for some fresh air yesterday (it was 24 degrees outside). Even she sheepishly admitted: "after 5 years here I seem to have become a cardigan and jeans convert - I'm always cold!" She had even (*gasp*) started believing that crisp, cold, fresh air will 90% of the time cause you to develop a cold, and will make you worse if you already have one - oh dear, oh dear.
This concerns me. This is one conversion to German life that I don't want to adopt (along with only wearing jeans when going out on the town - a subject to explore in depth another time).
I'm going to cling onto my short sleeves for dear life and even when the snow drifts come, I am determined to stride out in my skirts and tights, albeit with boots to stop me developing frostbite. I may get odd looks, some may fear for my life, but at least I will be: warm, fashionable, colourful, comfortable and not giving all my hard earned money to: GAP, Wrangler and Levis. Speaking of which, I'm sure if all the Germans girls switched to wearing skirts, these companies would have to quickly implement a plan of action to win them back( maybe long, denim skirts?) otherwise they would go under, or at least suffer a significant dent in their profit. I just shivered slightly thinking of a long, denim skirt trend hitting the streets. Either that or I'm getting chilly because the window is open...
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