Tropical Girl vs The Cold

If I were to list down my stressors among the top notchers would have to be: The Cold.

For a tropical girl, it was already a major stressor for me in our offices and buildings in the Philippines. I really do have a very low tolerance level for the cold. I would set the air-conditioning at 22 or 23 (Celsius), anything lower than that was not only cold, but REALLY COLD for me. Now, in a country with four seasons and global warming wreaking havoc all around, the cold does not get to be funny at all. But in times when you feel that you have hit rock bottom, it can be comforting to know that you can bank on love to keep you warm (haha—cheesy! But true… 😉

A funny anecdote on warmth and cultural differences:

I remember the first time I came to visit BE. It was during the summer and the first thing we did was to leave my things in our hotel in Amsterdam, which was were my plane landed. Amsterdam: where legal weed, space cakes and prostitutes are so commercialized BUT still worth a try–the latter one I wasn’t able to try though. Hehe (just kidding!)

In the hotel lobby, I saw a nice painting mounted on the wall and below it was a wide-white metal object that I had also seen in photos of K’s room prior to my visit. I exclaimed my admiration for the painting and then touched the big metal bars and uttered, “This is nice. It’s like the one you have in your room noh… what is it??”

While trying to keep a straight face, K replied, “It’s a heater.”

For a split second I looked at him and then spat out a laugh which turned out to be a succession of giggles (like I am always prone to doing). It would have been embarrassing for me but really, I cannot imagine a house in my country having a heater (Baguio maybe??)…just like I cannot imagine a house in Belgium having air-conditioning. In the movies they don’t really say: “Oh, what a lovely heater you have.” or “This is our heater. Don’t you think it’s just lovely?” Hence, I never knew what a heater looked like…until that day.

For sure, I will never mistake a heater for anything else ever again and I will always have one funny heater incident tucked under my belt.

–End of Anecdote.

On a serious note, I am faced with the reality that the cold will always be a part of my life from now on. More often than not, it is something the sun cannot even beat into submission. I will have to constantly battle it and struggle with it. They say keep your friends close; your enemies closer.

The cold is my enemy. The cold is my friend.

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14 degrees and Let the Sun Shine In!

When I was back home K would always tell me that I take our climate for granted too much especially when I complain about the heat. And each time I would tell him that I never take it for granted, I love the heat, it just happened to be too warm and beachless in Manila.

I usually ask people what they prefer, a warm sunny day or an overcast sky that is not so warm. Most would prefer the latter, which I never understood really; I have always preferred the former. Without any doubt, I am a warm-blooded, beach loving, sun-burning tropical girl.

But like what my bestfriend said, she sure hopes she doesn’t fall in love with a man from Antarctica because for sure she will follow him there. And that is what has happened to me (though not from Antarctica! Whew! ;). I don’t regret it ofcourse, I accept whatever challenges come our way because I am old enough to know that you can’t have it all…and that following your heart is NEVER not worth it (cheesy! ;).

There are things in life that don’t go the way you had planned it, hence: The future is no longer what it used to be. It’s the thought that family and friends are just there, no matter what timezone or distance they may be in ,who make you feel loved and supported that gets you through the tough times in life. For that, I will always be grateful.

Despite all the grayness, today gave me some joy. For the first time I dressed up in a tropical outfit not because I was in denial this time but because it was really warmer today! In class, I had even regretted not having worn a sleeveless shirt because the 3/4 see thru blouse seemed warmer what with the heater on in our room. What amazed me even more was that on the way home I didn’t even have to wear my jacket, just a shawl over my neck and my sleeves still rolled up.

What excited me was the sight of people everywhere. It’s amazing how a simple increase in temperature can bring the people out of their caves or wherever it is they’re from. That sight gave me a momentary bout of happiness: hip-hoppers and rockers skateboarding in the skatepark, weirdos juggling on some side of the grassy park, students clustered and just studying, kiddies playing soccer or throwing disks, another group of what looked like college students playing some hi-tech game of “Siatong”, friends bringing cases of beer (Yes, you read it right: CASES) to consume while sitting on the grass, and many more.

I say I am amazed by this because I just got so used to walking in the park alone towards our flat and meeting only one of two joggers or dog-walkers walking along the almost deserted park which is one of the biggest I’ve seen in Gent.

Today was an exception. Today was 14 degrees and today I actually SAW a lot of people in our park. The South Park or what they call the “Zuid Park”. When I got home I immediately called A, who was in his room, and asked if he wanted to go to the park. It was the first acceptably “warm” day since I got here. I’d like to say he was as excited as I was. We immediately “packed” our stuff: he with his guitar and portable speakers and I with my frisbee disc, laptop (for music since I wasn’t able to charge my ipod) and my multi-colored sarong. Yes, we were just going to the park but I was too excited and felt as if we were going to the beach. I was seriously tempted to bring my soccer ball and wear shorts too but thought it was too much ;P All that was lacking was “song hits”, but then again, you can’t have it all. We did have cans of beer though. What is a great Belgian climate without authentic Belgian beer after all?

Today was a good day. It was most certainly better than yesterday and the days before. The exceptional things a slight change in temperature can do.

To my family and friends, thank you for being there. To the sun, thank you for shining today and for keeping us warm. You might be busy heating up the rest of the world but it is now that I need you the most…and you delivered.

You are undoubtedly a natural high. You make my day…ofcourse, K too. ;P

Dikke knuffel (Big hugs),

Jacki

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