Nieuws - 15 september 2011

'Blame it on the weatherman'

tekst:
Redactie

Starting my studies in February meant my clothing was always the same for several months: a long-sleeved shirt, a sweater or thick winter coat, and of course long johns underneath it all. Layers on layers. Once spring was in the air, I thought I could remove the layers and wear something else, but Dutch weather does not make it easy. It changes drastically all the time.

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As we know, some girls dress to kill, but wearing such short skirts and shirts in windy, cold spring weather could really kill me. On the other hand, I didn't want to wear too many layers on the warm, sunny days either. Wearing the 'wrong' clothes in changeable spring weather depressed my mood.  I wondered why my friends could dress perfectly for the weather: something warm on cold spring days, or short sleeves on warm days. And then I realized about something called the weather forecast. I didn't trust any weather forecasts at all. My tropical home country has a narrow range of temperatures through the year, so I have never worried about what I should wear in any of the seasons. Now, before I leave my room, I check the forecast on the internet to choose the perfect clothes for the weather.
Once, my friend and I were not wearing enough warm clothes when we went to Volendam on a cold and windy spring day. We had checked the forecast before we left. Then I learnt that we should check the forecast to choose our clothes, but we shouldn't really trust it. If the forecast was wrong, just sing 'Blame it on the weatherman'.  
Vincentia Windiastri, Indonesian MSc student of Plant Biotechnology Wageningen University