Hello Surrey’s blog readers! Hope you’re all keeping warm in this cold. I’m having a great time here at Surrey, trying my best to negotiate with this weather which I am told will get even colder. I wanted to share my thoughts on winter, and rain in specific, and how it has made me more organized.

If you remember, I have always lived in extremely hot cities with temperature in summers touching 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit) and my iPhone showing 0% chance of rain most of my life! It’s not the same here. Adjusting to the local weather has been slightly challenging. Not because I don’t enjoy the cool weather or rain but because I keep forgetting to carry my umbrella. I would only remember forgetting my umbrella when the first drops would pour and I’d be on campus or if I’m lucky just when I would be getting on the bus from Manor Park.

It may be strange for many of you but spending most of my life in the Middle East, we only use the weather app on our phones to check if the temperature reads as hot as it feels outside. In the beginning here in Surrey, I wouldn’t check the weather before stepping out but soon learnt my lesson as it rains most days. Don’t get me wrong, I do like rain especially because we get much less of it in our side of the world but not when it rains most days, and it feels like it does the most when I forget to carry an umbrella!

That’s how beautiful the University looks when it’s raining!

University of Surrey is in the city called Guildford and the weather here varies between 7 and 15 degrees during year-end which is not bad. It’s a still good walk around this beautiful city but it gets tough with the wind. And believe me it gets quite windy at times, especially when you’re walking home from the library at 3 am after working on an assignment to submit the next morning and the wind speed feels like 35 mph, it’s not a good feeling!

As I said earlier, this weather has helped (read forced) me to become a more organized and better planned person – one who checks and rechecks the weather and is prepared with an umbrella, gloves and what not, at all times!

Although I experienced it briefly here, autumn was fantastic and my favourite. I didn’t want it to end. The trees and their fallen leaves were something not to miss and I could not get tired of photographing them. This picture I took will give you a good idea; the colours make it look so pretty.

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” – Albert Camus.

The holiday season is now coming up and I know a lot of us are planning short trips; I am too and will tell you all about it when I am back! Stay safe every one, and be mindful of the weather!

Happy Holidays!

PS: to see what’s happening in Surrey, feel free to follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/bazzmaniac