Thundersnow!

As if culture shock wasn't enough, last weekend I made the move back to NYC from Sacramento-- from 75 degree T-shirt sunshine to sinew-chilling snowstorms. Like the typical transplanted (and homesick) Californian student, I flew back to Sacramento the day after fall semester ended and returned the day before January classes commenced.

For those of you who haven't taken advantage of the dirt cheap winter airline tickets to New York, let me convey the past week in terms of weather:

--Sunday Jan 23: Arrived at 6 p.m. to 10 degree weather. Wore a T-shirt, a North Face fleece, a flannel-lined pea coat, leather boots, scarf, and skull cap. It's all for naught, however, when you're pulling a rolling suitcase half a mile with no gloves. Lesson #1.

--Monday, Jan 24: High of 18 degrees. Class at 2 p.m., dark by 4:30 p.m. Lesson #2: lugging WalMart coffee maker, casserole dish, dry cleaning, and a bag of Whole Foods groceries will make even an Eskimo sweat.

--Wednesday, Jan 26: 7 p.m. severe weather warnings for THUNDERSNOW, a recently-coined phenomenon that involves rain, snow, hail, and thunderstorms all at once. I went to sleep to a couple of thunder claps in the distance, then eerie silence--awoke to 37 inches of snow in Central Park, a new record since 1925.

--Thursday, Jan 27: SNOW DAY!! My professor couldn't even catch a train from Long Island. Bummer!! I hate missing six hours of class and going shopping instead....

--Friday, Jan 28: Lesson #3: discovered what I like to call "chameleon puddles" that mimic flat pavement, but are actually 6 inches deep of muddy, freezing, water. Also witnessed two of my girlfriends fall on their asses after slipping on ice in high heels.

--Saturday, Jan 29: Went out in the Lower East Side and was annoyed to find that drunk people act even stupider around snow. A guy flung himself into an unpacked 4-foot snowbank and was surprised when his friends refused to help him out.

--Next week: another blizzard expected Wednesday. Would questionably popular NYC Schools Chancellor, Cathie Black, dare to cancel another Thursday?! Stay tuned....you'll know by my mood.