Experiences with cold weather coming from the Philippines

[Hank_ 9,174]

Maybe not a real good idea... Most country roads have ditches which are hard to back out of.

Going through the trials of self-teaching right now. Funny how when you look up and right to check the rear view mirror your right hand also moves right. $35 used rim and another $30 to mount it. I can't believe tire was still holding air cause the rim had a 6" flat spot on it. Fortunately it was only a curb and not the nearby telephone pole!

ditches? Depends on where you are. Country roads didn't have ditches, curbs or telephone poles.... just open country... location, location, location

Edited January 24, 2016 by Hank_

[Greenbaum 12,259]

I taught my three kids and now my wife and soon my step daughter. Best place for them to learn is in High School parking lot after school is out and on weekends. Plenty of time to correct problems before they take a curb or a tree out. Each has their license and the girls have perfect driving records whereas my son is on a first name basis with the local traffic Judge.

Let me tell you about cold. I was living in Chicago in the 80's and we were going to travel to my GF family's place in Green Bay on Christmas day. The wind chill forecast was for -85 below. The night before I traveled to the gas station and filled up the tank. Drove to the apartment and there were no garages so in the parking lot my car went. I left the car running, locked and went to bed. Woke up in the morning, car still running and warm and we packed up and went to GB with wind chill temperatures at -85. Cars were stalled all the way up there. Had a great time. Temp like that repeated for two more years and I said to myself it's time to move to California. And I did.

Edited January 24, 2016 by Greenbaum

[Hank_ 9,174]

Ah... cold stories. I grew up in Minnesota. Lived up in northern Minnesota for a time, actual temperature was -61F, wind chill was -125F.

I moved to Arizona after that.

[guitarjam 5]

We are going to NW Indiana in mid March, and they will have to deal with cold weather as well, I purchased jackets/hats/scarfs online to pickup when we get there, will have the heater in the car running on full!

Edited January 24, 2016 by guitarjam

[Greenbaum 12,259]

Hank_, on 23 Jan 2016 - 9:46 PM, said:

Ah... cold stories. I grew up in Minnesota. Lived up in northern Minnesota for a time, actual temperature was -61F, wind chill was -125F.

I moved to Arizona after that.

Grew up in Minnesota too, but Minneapolis. It got cold but not what you experienced.

My wife and step kids got here and they got off the plane in Raleigh after taking the red eye from LAX. Still dark here and blistery cold. I bought jackets, gloves and hats for them to where when leaving the airport. They got to the door walked outside and my wife says burr it's cold, I'm going back right now. But she had a smile on her face and continued to walk to the car. Now she enjoys the cold but most of here in Raleigh it's in the 30's but for a month and then back into the 50 and 60's. My step son loves the winter. He is out playing with friends for hours.

[F & J 21]

Like I said above she gets excited when I show her the snow on Skype. I have my cell phone mounted in my car so she can watch me drive on video Skype and she loves seeing the snow covered corn fields. She even wakes up at 2am her time sometimes so she can watch whie I drive to work lol.

I am hoping to get the I-130 sent in as soon as possible after we get married in a coupe weeks. With a lot of luck maybe she will get her visa by late fall. That would give her a little time to adjust as you said. However if it takes about a year or a little less that means she will be coming here right in the middle of winter. I better buy all those warm clothes for her and her son as some suggested and have them ready at they airport when they get here lol. No dig out snowfall yet here either. Kind of a warm winter relatively speaking.

Did you live in upper or lower Michigan? I have family in upper Michigan and I am planning on moving up there in a couple years. The cold and snow up there are even worse than down here in Wisconsin lol.

As far as driving goes she has never driven a car in her life. But I plan on teaching her. To be honest if I lived in the Philippines I wouldn't want to drive either the way traffic is there lol. For sure there are some specific driving skills you need to drive safely in the winter. I am a little worried about her driving in the winter here. I have been doing it since I first started driving and there are some times when I feel uneasy about driving if the conditions are very bad.

As ar as the cold goes my fiancee has told me she doesn't like how hot it is in the Philippines and she can't wait to move to a colder place. I don't think she knows what she is getting into though lol. You would think she would be used to the heat after living there all her life like I'm used to the cold but maybe not.

Aww...that's too cute!!! I really do hope she likes snow more than I ever did!!!

If she does end up coming to the U.S. in the middle of winter, she will love you even more if you bring them both warm clothes! I was lucky to come to the U.S. during summer so I got to experience fall (which is my favorite season now) and the temperatures slowly getting colder.

We lived in the Lower Peninsula. We were in Central Michigan then moved to Northeastern Michigan near Lake Huron. Oh! That means Wisconsin can prepare her for Michigan winters XD

My husband taught me how to drive as well! And we survived I have to admit it was stressful. We didn't really have much time to practice since he was really busy with work so he ended up enrolling me in a Driver's Ed class - I got to learn how to drive with a bunch of kids! LOL. It was pretty fun and a great way to get out of the house and keep busy. I also found it a lot less stressful practicing with an actual Driving Instructor.

Oh, I remember the sweltering summer heat in the Philippines...but there's cold...and then there's winter. XD Ask her if she means more like Baguio-type temperatures? Experiencing subzero temperatures for the first time is quite a shock :s but I did love bundling up! and I have fond memories of snowball fights which I thoroughly enjoyed as I had layer upon layers of warm clothing snow pants, snow boots, the works! Snow is a lot of fun as long as you're properly attired

And trust us on the electric blankets She'll love them. My husband and I used to cuddle on the couch to watch movies while sharing a king-sized electric blanket.

[F & J 21]

I taught my three kids and now my wife and soon my step daughter. Best place for them to learn is in High School parking lot after school is out and on weekends. Plenty of time to correct problems before they take a curb or a tree out. Each has their license and the girls have perfect driving records whereas my son is on a first name basis with the local traffic Judge.

Let me tell you about cold. I was living in Chicago in the 80's and we were going to travel to my GF family's place in Green Bay on Christmas day. The wind chill forecast was for -85 below. The night before I traveled to the gas station and filled up the tank. Drove to the apartment and there were no garages so in the parking lot my car went. I left the car running, locked and went to bed. Woke up in the morning, car still running and warm and we packed up and went to GB with wind chill temperatures at -85. Cars were stalled all the way up there. Had a great time. Temp like that repeated for two more years and I said to myself it's time to move to California. And I did.

Ah! Fellow Californian! If we even start to think about it getting cold here, we tell ourselves, "Not as cold as Michigan!" and it puts everything back into perspective XD

Definitely right about practicing on an empty parking lot! Weeks before I planned on taking my driving test, my husband took me to practice on empty parking lots every weekend. By the time I took the road test, the person who tested me said I was her best "parker"

Ah... cold stories. I grew up in Minnesota. Lived up in northern Minnesota for a time, actual temperature was -61F, wind chill was -125F.

I moved to Arizona after that.

Oh god...the wind chill...I forgot about the wind chill! T_T That was the absolute worst.

Edited January 24, 2016 by F & J

[Hank_ 9,174]

Grew up in Minnesota too, but Minneapolis. It got cold but not what you experienced.

My wife and step kids got here and they got off the plane in Raleigh after taking the red eye from LAX. Still dark here and blistery cold. I bought jackets, gloves and hats for them to where when leaving the airport. They got to the door walked outside and my wife says burr it's cold, I'm going back right now. But she had a smile on her face and continued to walk to the car. Now she enjoys the cold but most of here in Raleigh it's in the 30's but for a month and then back into the 50 and 60's. My step son loves the winter. He is out playing with friends for hours.

Check out Tower MN. "Tower set the Minnesota record for coldest temperature on February 2, 1996, when the temperature dropped to -60 °F (-51 °C). This was the lowest temperature ever recorded in the United States east of the Great Plains. Tower and the Embarrass Valley to the south are the coldest inhabited locations in the Lower 48 states, based on average winter temperatures."

First winter in Tucson it snowed big fluffy flakes one afternoon, my wife ran outside wearing her flip flops and no jacket she was so excited to see snow. Now when it snowed here in Tennessee the other day she ran out to play in the snow but took the time to put on a coat and boots.

[The Conqueror 47]

Tell her not to buy a lot of warm clothes in the Philippines because they are not designed for winter here. Just probably (1) jacket while she travels. I'm sure when you pick her up from the airport you will have a winter outfit for her before she goes out the airport otherwise she will froze.

While waiting for her you need to do a little shopping for her if you know her size, maybe start with (1) pair of winter jacket, sweater, mittens, wool socks, boots etc. I love heated bed and a portable heater that follows me everywhere I sit. hahahaha

I was here 2013 and I wear 5 layers but I'm still cold. Because our body doesn't understand the cold temperature. Make sure warm up the car before you ask her to go in, she will appreciate that. We bought portable fan heater for our bathroom too, need to really warm up the room before I can go to shower. Oh boy…. I shivers a lot during my first winter but eventually I tried to acclimate myself, wearing less layers….this will be my 3rd winter here in NW.

Oh and advice her to read this post too so that she will have an idea.

[Hank_ 9,174]

Tell her not to buy a lot of warm clothes in the Philippines because they are not designed for winter here. Just probably (1) jacket while she travels. I'm sure when you pick her up from the airport you will have a winter outfit for her before she goes out the airport otherwise she will froze.

While waiting for her you need to do a little shopping for her if you know her size, maybe start with (1) pair of winter jacket, sweater, mittens, wool socks, boots etc. I love heated bed and a portable heater that follows me everywhere I sit. hahahaha

I was here 2013 and I wear 5 layers but I'm still cold. Because our body doesn't understand the cold temperature. Make sure warm up the car before you ask her to go in, she will appreciate that. We bought portable fan heater for our bathroom too, need to really warm up the room before I can go to shower. Oh boy…. I shivers a lot during my first winter but eventually I tried to acclimate myself, wearing less layers….this will be my 3rd winter here in NW.

Oh and advice her to read this post too so that she will have an idea.

Still cold!! And it doesn't get "that" cold in Washington..

Curt needs a project, you need to ditch that heater in the bathroom and have Curt get one of these (I installed one in our bathroom):

Panasonic FV-11VHL2 WhisperWarm 110 CFM Ceiling Mounted Fan/Heat/Light

Edited February 3, 2016 by Hank_

[The Conqueror 47]

Still cold!! And it doesn't get "that" cold in Washington..

Curt needs a project, you need to ditch that heater in the bathroom and have Curt get one of these (I installed one in our bathroom):

Panasonic FV-11VHL2 WhisperWarm 110 CFM Ceiling Mounted Fan/Heat/Light

Oh he got one of those "Heat Pumps" to heat the whole house during winter and A/C during summer though we already a "Natural Gas furnace". He needs to use up the electricity from the Solar Panel.

Yes is is cold but not extremely cold like what other States get. It gets cold specially just sitting inside the house doing nothing hahahaha.

[Hank_ 9,174]

Oh he got one of those "Heat Pumps" to heat the whole house during winter and A/C during summer though we already a "Natural Gas furnace". He needs to use up the electricity from the Solar Panel.

Yes is is cold but not extremely cold like what other States get. It gets cold specially just sitting inside the house doing nothing hahahaha.

Got a heat pump... definitely not cold there... Had one with our house in AZ

[SennaBrigante 92]

We live in West Texas and it was unusually cold on my first winter. Snow everyday. The house we're renting is old so lots of cracks where cold air enters. I was miserable. I think it's not so much the cold that would bother your wife, but more the gloom and gray during the winter months. Netflix, Hulu and lots of nilaga and bulalo kept me sane and relatively content.

Take her shopping for winter clothes too. That would lift her spirits And heat packs in the pocket. And a fully stocked pantry with plenty of snacks. Winter gets boring and lonely.

[Hank_ 9,174]

Yes the winter gloomy .... where the heck did the sun go... weather is difficult for sure.

[teddy k 35]

Hi my wife arrived in the states last February thru Chicago and when she felt the cold for the first time she almost had a heart attack but i had her bundled up cuz i brought some winter clothes with me when i went to bring her here. But now she's used to all the cold and snow in philadelphia