Rain pants and the Arctic Ocean

And so it begins...waking up to darkness and weather that changes on a dime.  "Mom, did you know they have something called "rain pants" here?  My teacher wants us to have them at school."  People in Trondheim look incredulous when I mention that rain pants are in fact NOT part of our normal wardrobe requirements in the states.   When it rains, Americans get a coat and umbrella, maybe some rain boots (or wellies as my British friends call them), and then we run from our cars to our buildings really fast to avoid too much dampness.  We spend the rainy day indoors like any sane human being.   Not Norwegians.  They have a saying "There is no bad weather, just bad clothing." 

I brought three pairs of snow boots and snowpants along with us, feeling highly prepared, with no thought towards rain pants.  My logical brain thought we could just sneak through the rainy "month" as best as we could and then winter will come fast with a quick transition to snow pants.   Alas, I have discovered that my "Minnesota" weather paradigm is all wrong.  Here, you can get rain, hail, snow all mixed in the same day, even in the winter months.  Why?  Well, this is all the result of the Gulf Stream that sweeps up the coast of North America and brings a modicum of warmth to the sun-loving Norwegians -- that is, those who haven't fled to Spain or Florida this month.   Here, we even experience  the residual effects from the recent tropical storms/hurricanes that start their long journey across the equator, up the Eastern seaboard, across the Atlantic and end their journey as rain upon the fjords of Norway.  Your water molecules are my water molecules.  We are all connected.

Part of my sabbatical research has involved redefining the world's ocean basins based on currents and bathymetry -- someone's got to do it -- and I love making maps.  Show of hands, how many of you think living near the Arctic Circle, we experience the Arctic or Atlantic Ocean?  If you lived in Canada or Greenland at 63 deg N, you would  be in icy cold Arctic Ocean waters.  However, in Norway at 63 deg N, we are still in North Atlantic waters.  This figure shows that I could have just hopped in a barrel from Westerly and been transported by the Gulf Stream all the way northeast to the coast of Norway.  Apparently, I follow currents and sea surface temperature.

As I look outside right now, it is snowing rain or raining snow (not sure which).  Certainly our vocabulary needs to be expanded (snain or raisnow).    I can't explain it except that it looks like snow and yet it hits like rain.  All I know is that "I GIVE IN."   When we get back from holiday week in Munich, I will go out and buy us some rain pants.  Helly Hansen and rubber here we come...