Episode 90 • Cold
Blizzard
Be snowed in
Freezing your butt off
Teeth chattering
Bundle up
Story
Mom: Hey, sweetie. Jack called us and told us you couldn’t come for Thanksgiving because of the blizzard.
Lizzie: Yeah. Yeah, mom. Sorry. It’s awful here, really. We‘re snowed in. It’s awful! You and dad are so lucky to be living in Florida, trust me! We’re over here freezing our butts off…
Mom: Oh, I can imagine… It’s gotta be awful. Your teeth are chattering and everything. How sad.
Lizzie: Yes. But it’s- It’s alright. We’ll see you at Christmas. That is if there isn’t another blizzard. You never know with this crazy weather.
Mom: Right, right, right, right, right… You know what’s funny, sweetie?
Lizzie: What?
Mom: Your dad and I drove all the way from Florida and we’re standing right outside your front door and the weather is beautiful, not even a little bit of snow.
Lizzie: You’re- You’re where?
Mom: Right outside your house.
[Door opens]
Mom: Bundle up, honey. Otherwise you’re going to catch a cold.
Questions
Okay, so maybe the weather wasn't a great excuse to not go to a Thanksgiving dinner.
Blizzard
'Jack called us and told us you couldn’t come for Thanksgiving because of the blizzard.'
• Is a blizzard a severe snowstorm or a mild snowstorm?
A blizzard is a severe snowstorm. That means that it snows very heavily and then it's also super windy.
• Have you ever experienced a blizzard?
Not really, I mean where I live right now-- First of all, in Spain, it never snows. Well, I should say in Valencia, it never snows. In Milan, it does, where I grew up, but from time to time, and it's never like, we never get blizzards, but in the States, especially in certain states, it does happen from time to time. There have been a couple of times when it snowed very heavily. For example, when I was in New York, when I was in Chicago, but at least when I was there, I never experienced a blizzard, thank goodness, but if I had, I think I would have just stayed home and not gone anywhere.
Be snowed in
'It’s awful here, really. We’re snowed in.'
• If you are snowed in, can you leave your house?
No. If you are snowed in, you are stuck inside your house or inside the place that you are in right now.
• Why?
Well, you're snowed in, so you're stuck there because of the snow. Because it snowed so much that the snow is basically blocking either the doors and the windows, so you literally can't physically leave the place where you are.
• Have you ever been snowed in?
No. Thank goodness. I think it's got to be pretty annoying and also you've got to be prepared for it because obviously you have to store food, you have to make sure that you've got everything you need in the house to survive.
Freezing your butt off
'We’re over here freezing our butts off…'
• If you are freezing your butt off? How cold are you? Very cold or just a bit?
If you're freezing your butt off, that means that you are really cold, you are quite literally freezing. Well, not literally. Now we'll see.
• What happens to your butt when you’re freezing your butt off?
Is it going to fall off? No, it's not going to fall off. Nothing is going to happen to your butt, don't worry, but it's just an expression. When you're saying that you're freezing your butt off, it's so cold that it feels like your butt could almost fall off, but it's not going to. I don't think that's ever happened. I'll do some research, but I don't think that's ever happened. It's just an expression to say that you're really, really cold.
• Do you remember a time when you were freezing your butt off?
Yes, pretty much every day for the past, I think, three months here in Valencia. It's crazy because everybody thinks that Spain is such a warm country, which especially in the south it is, but the thing is that the houses, at least the walls, are built in a way that they don't keep the house warm, so during winter, it gets really cold. It doesn't get super cold outside, but the problem is that it's not very well insulated, the houses aren't, and so it feels really cold when you're inside the house. In fact, sometimes it's warmer or it feels warmer when you leave the house, as opposed to when you're indoors, but I spent, especially there were a couple of weeks when it was a little colder outside and I was freezing my butt off every day inside the house.
Teeth chattering
'It’s gotta be awful. Your teeth are chattering and everything...'
• What sound do your teeth make when chattering?
Let's see if I can do this. They go [chattering sounds] but faster. It's when your teeth knock together.
• What can cause your teeth to chatter?
Mostly it's from being too cold. When your body is really cold, what it does to try and stay warm, it'll do. Lots of different things like shivering, like your teeth will chatter. It's a response mechanism that your body puts into action. It can also happen when you're extremely scared. That's never happened to me personally, but I know it can happen. Then also from extreme anxiety. If you have an anxiety attack or panic attack, that might cause your teeth to chatter from everything that's happening within your body.
• Do your teeth chatter when you’re cold?
Yes, they do. My boyfriend hates it, he gets really-- I don't know. It really annoys him for some reason when I do that, but when it gets really cold, my teeth will chatter.
Bundle up
'Bundle up, honey.'
• If you bundle up, do you wear warm clothes or summer clothes?
If you bundle up, you wear warm clothes. Usually more than one layer. Lots of warm clothes to keep you warm.
• When do you need to bundle up? To leave the house or to stay indoors?
Usually, you bundle up before leaving the house, if you know it's going to be very cold, if it's snowing, if the temperatures are very low, you will have to bundle up. Put on a lot of nice warm clothes so that you know that even if you are leaving the house you're not going to be cold.
• Do you need to bundle up to leave the house at this time of year?
It's February now, I'm recording this in February. Where I live right now, which is in Valencia, Spain, then no, you definitely do not have to bundle up to leave the house. In fact, I think pretty soon it's almost going to be time for short-sleeve shirts, I'm pretty excited for that, but no, thank goodness. I do have to bundle up sometimes to stay inside the house, for some reason. Like I said, I feel like it's colder when I'm at home. I'm not moving, I'm not walking, so obviously I feel colder, but when I leave the house, I'm walking, I'm doing stuff, so my body gets a little warmer, but no, I don't need to bundle up to leave the house at this time of year.
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