From Dry Heat to Damp Cold

True winter is now upon us but I can't tell whether that happened before or after our trip to the US. What I can tell you though is that I have lived in Denmark for a while when I physically begin to notice the vast differences in temperature and weather on my body, when I visit friends and family in the US during winter.

While in the US in November, I couldn't drink enough water to make up for the dryness in the air, both inside and out. My friend had humidifiers everywhere in her home which helped. Not to mention, bottles of water because now I also taste the chlorine in the water when it comes out of the tap in the city, which is sort of an out of the body experience. I used to smile inside when the Danes were on their business trips in Chicago and would order bottled water when we went out to eat. Now I'm that annoying visitor from Europe that says no to ice in my water glass.

Inside electric or central heating blows from various places in the wall or floor in the US compared to water radiators here in Denmark, typically situated in one place per room. The former may dry you out, but there's lotion and water for that. It's better than wrapping up in a million blankets, lighting candles, and drinking buckets of warm drinks to stay a normal temperature, the way I have to in Denmark. The damp cold is bone chilling without a fireplace, whereas in dry cold places you can add moisture to the air by simply boiling some water.

However, both my husband and I could feel the wetness in the weather the minute we stepped off the train in Denmark and it was nice to take a deep breath in and not worry about getting a nose bleed.