Weather in the Netherlands can be confusing. A normal day can look like this: freezingly cold and windy in the morning, sunny and warm in the afternoon and violently pouring in the evening. Thought you might have adapted to that? Think again, because winter is coming.
While the days of the Elfstedentochten are over (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elfstedentocht for those of you who are curious), Dutch winter can still be quite challenging for internationals and actually even Dutchies themselves. Although the sight of that first snowflake of the year spreads joy among all, after a couple of days, and for some even minutes, we are wishing it was summer again. The average maximum wintertemperature is 4 degrees Celsius in the Netherlands and temperatures can go as low as -10 degrees Celsius during the day. This is without even taking into account the windchill. The cold temperatures together with a strong wind can really make you feel like your limbs are falling off.
Because we cannot leave you out in the cold, we have thought of some original ideas to keep you warm during this period:
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Come to the FAECTOR office. At the beginning of the winter, FAECTOR will have moved to GB-29. Stop by for a warm coffee or a hot tea and of course the warm love of your fellow FAECTORIANS.
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Postpone all your work until week 7, the stress will keep your body hot and sweaty. Trust me, this works.
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Burn your books to keep you warm and cozy. After all, you won’t be needing those books for a long time if you stick to our previous tip.
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An oldie but goldie: find a scharrel! However, prepare yourself for a chilly walk of shame.
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Last but not least, become an employee of the university so you can get free hot chocolate and coffee and even more coffee, the liquor that fuels your stress.
Hopefully, these tips and tricks were of some enlightenment to you. Stick to them and your chances of getting through winter will rise by approximately 53% (doesn’t that number just makes you warm already?). Good luck and if you ever are in need of a warm hug, just send an email to: estimator@faector.nl.