Summer

I first moved to the UK three years ago. The reasons for moving then were several, but the main one was I'd gotten a place to study at a UK university and I thought I'd do well to at least try it out.

Since then, I've fallen in love with London (quite literally, I didn't like the city when I first moved here, and now I hate to think that I might have to leave), I've enjoyed my university, met lots of great people and generally enjoyed myself thoroughly. There are always things to complain about however, and coming from "sunny Spain" I soon became one of the throng dissing British weather.

It's actually just one thing that really gets to me: the lack of light. It depresses me, and I have a low point every year just before January exams: darkness affects me more than I like to admit. When I go home for Christmas I am instantly happy, even though it's colder back home, just because I get sunlight for nine or ten straight hours (8AM to 6PM, even in December!). So even though I complain about the weather, it's not really the weather I have an issue with.

In fact, I have to say I love the London summer. I may complain that it's rainy, and that it's not real summer. I may say that I wish I were back home kicking back and enjoying 30ºC temperatures. The truth is this: I hate hot summers. I hate being in the sun for too long. I hate being hot. I quite like going to the pool, and the beach (well, depending), but other than that, the hot Spanish summer for me means being extremely uncomfortable. My skin is extremely sensitive to heat, and sweat combined with heat makes my atopic dermatitis flare up. I never feel clean, and heat makes me want to cut my hair short (even more than usual). In short, I'm more of a spring-autumn kind of girl, even a winter kind of girl. Definitely not a summer person. At least not in Spain.

London, with its cool temperatures, it's occasional rain and it's occasional excellent sunny days is just perfect for me. It gives me exactly what I need from summer. Although, British people still amuse me: they will wear shorts and short-sleeve T-shirts when it's clearly too cold for it, and they will have headlines in their papers such as "working in the 25ºC heat". Look, 25ºC isn't heat. It's mild weather. Not even warm enough to spend the day lounging outside the pool.

There's another advantage to British summers, and this is work (and especially study) wise. If you've ever taken a four and a half hour Thermodynamics and Kinetics exam in 30ºC heat you would understand. Doing any sort of work in properly hot weather is exhausting, dehydrating, makes you feel horrible when you're done. The only way to survive Spanish summers is to do as little as possible, with any luck close to a source of cold water that you can immerse yourself in periodically. Summers in London are a lot more productive.

Last but not least, there's the fact that I think London is at its most beautiful on sunny spring-weathery days, when white houses brighten up, there's flowers everywhere and people take to the streets (and pubs) to enjoy the weather. It makes me happy to live in this city.

I guess what I'm saying is that for me, the London summer makes up for the London winter. And I would certainly not change it for the Spanish summer (well, maybe for a two or three weeks).