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What do the Holidays Mean to You?
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Laurentus
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  • The same thing that makes you glad when you see snow on christmas, is what makes me glad that we have a 35 degree Celcius day today, perfect for a braai and a swim: it's our culture and expectation. I pretty much associate snow with an unbearably cold day, and would get depressed to spend christmas in the cold. :P
    In die donker ure skink net duiwels nog 'n dop, 
    Satan sit saam sy kinders en kyk hoe kom die son op. 
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    Laurentus
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    Bodobol
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  • I just have one question, though:
    I live in Wisconsin, a place notorious for its winters, and while my area doesn't get nearly as much snow as the rest of the state, we still expect to have some on the ground come Christmastime. But this year we haven't any. At all. Not even a flake. A lot of rain, though, which is still nice, but not necessarily Christmasy, so to speak. So to those who grew up not used to a white Christmas, how do you get into the Christmas spirit without the snow? I can probably speak for the rest of my state and say that we're all pretty bummed that there isn't any snow, so I suppose we could appreciate the advice :)

    Yeah. There wasn't much in Minnesota this year, either. All of it has been dumped on the west. I'm glad to say that it's still pretty cold here, though. :) I'm not sure how I could get into the Christmas spirit without snow, either. Perhaps Laurentus is the best person to answer this—after all, it's summer in South Africa right now. But Merry Christmas, everyone! :)

    @Laurentus would definitely help, as would @Bodobol, who I believe is from Oklahoma, where I'm pretty sure they don't get much snow.

    Yep, we get snow most years - just not until January or February. I've never seen snow on Christmas before (although I lived in Washington state when I was very young, so I may have got some there).

    I love snow and cold weather, so I usually just appreciate the relative coldness of the day - 40 degrees (Fahrenheit) or so. The high here tomorrow is 63, which honestly depresses me some. I have a friend who lives in Houston, the high there is 81. But regardless, it's just about looking for the Christmas-y things that aren't weather related. Hopefully it'll be easier to get into the spirit when festivities are actually taking place. :)

    The same thing that makes you glad when you see snow on christmas, is what makes me glad that we have a 35 degree Celcius day today, perfect for a braai and a swim: it's our culture and expectation. I pretty much associate snow with an unbearably cold day, and would get depressed to spend christmas in the cold. :P

    That's interesting, because I've lived in fairly hot places most of my life and can't stand hot weather. Maybe it's because it's only our summers that are truly hot (>100 degrees for most of June and July), and we still get somewhat cold winters. Is the weather less varied there throughout the year?
    « Last Edit: December 25, 2015, 09:01:15 AM by Bodobol »
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    Laurentus
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  • Some parts of the country get snow in the winter, but it never gets as cold as it does in Europe and some parts of America.

    And yeah, Pretoria, which is known as the point where the bushveld begins in Gauteng Province, is cold (to us, at least, though it is rare to have a night that drops below 3 Celsius and 15 Celsius during the day) during the winter, but also completely dry. We had snow once in August 2012, and that was just for one day. Before that, the last time it had snowed was in 1968 or so.

    Our houses are built differently from yours, to help with the heat. This also means that they do less well in the winter, and people from Europe often complain about how could our houses are in the winter.

    We genuinely like our sunny, warm days. 35 Celsius is a moderate temperature for Pretoria. We've had 39 Celsius days every other day in the week this summer due to the El Nino currently happening. Pretoria often gets rainy days, though we're having a severe drought in South Africa at the moment. All the cities have faced water rationing at one point or another this summer.
    In die donker ure skink net duiwels nog 'n dop, 
    Satan sit saam sy kinders en kyk hoe kom die son op. 
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    Laurentus
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    Bodobol
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  • I think the lack of rain and house construction would explain it. Our winters are usually fairly dry as well, but not to the extent you experience. We usually get a few snowfalls every year, but never substantial amounts of snow. Additionally, I always like warm houses during winter. There's nothing like coming in from freezing temperatures and curling up under 2 or 3 blankets, imo.

    Our summer temperatures this year ranged from 35-40C, although I don't think it got above that. The last time I lived in Oklahoma (~2009), we had a 47C day, but I've never experienced hotter than that.

    Out of curiosity, how exactly are your houses constructdd differently?
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  • I imagine the hotter regions of America also have different designs.

    Well, in the bushveld areas, houses often have grass roofs (grasdakke, in Afrikaans). The higher the roof is, the cooler (temperature-wise :P) the house is. In places like Musina, this is especially common. I don't even know why it makes such a difference, but it does. :)

    Spoiler
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    We have things called rondawels too. I'll just post a wikipedia link to that. I've seen some rondawels that are pretty big, much bigger than the ones in the wikipedia article. I've also seen that a person can underestimate how big they are when looking at them from the outside. :)

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rondavel

    But our houses generally aren't built to contain heat. I'm finding it difficult to find information on our general design and construction materials, but our houses (in Pretoria, at least) are very breezy, though they're constructed out of bricks and stones, with many different roof designs. Stylistically, though, each region of South Africa has its own design, even if the materials used are often the same.
    3 people like this post: Gerrick, Bodobol, Emoticonius
    In die donker ure skink net duiwels nog 'n dop, 
    Satan sit saam sy kinders en kyk hoe kom die son op. 
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    Gerrick
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  • In Indiana, for the past ten years or so it usually doesn't snow before the new year, but it does get pretty cold and frosty. I'm actually in Florida right now visiting my wife's grandparents and it's sunny and warm, so it doesn't feel like Christmas at all.

    Laurentus, I'm thinking you should start writing bits about South Africa because many of us would find it really interesting.
    « Last Edit: December 25, 2015, 02:21:17 PM by Gerrick »

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    Gerrick
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    Laurentus
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  • I might do so at some point. It's just fascinating seeing Europeans' and Americans' reaction to what is every day life here. :)
    3 people like this post: Bodobol, Gerrick, BraveSirRobin
    In die donker ure skink net duiwels nog 'n dop, 
    Satan sit saam sy kinders en kyk hoe kom die son op. 
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    Bodobol
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  • Hm, interesting. I had noticed the higher roofs but it just never occurred to me that they served a purpose. And the rondawels are new to me, I hadn't even heard of them before now. I agree, writing bits about SA would definitely be interesting.

    Gerrick - what part of Florida are you in? I have family in the Pensacola area so I know that part well, but not really anywhere else. I'm going on a crusie taking off from there this spring break.
    Bodobol
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  • Gerrick - what part of Florida are you in? I have family in the Pensacola area so I know that part well, but not really anywhere else. I'm going on a crusie taking off from there this spring break.
    I'm just north of Fort Lauderdale. My dad is moving to the Pensacola area next year, though.

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