I NEARLY CONCLUDED THAT LIVING HERE WAS SIMPLY UNBEARABLE, LANRE ADETUNJI SAYS

Lanre Adetunji, a graduate student of University of Mcgill shares his first summer experience in Canada with Oluwayinka dada. 

Until my move to Canada in 2014, I had spent the first 22 years of my life knowing (enjoying and enduring) the wonderful tropical climate that is typical of Nigeria. That had been my only assessment of what weather and climate entailed, having never left the shores of the country of my birth. The raining and dry seasons were how seasons are classified in Nigeria, with slight variation in length across-country. In the south-western part of the country where I largely lived in, temperatures were fairly uniform all year round with only a small range (not more than 2 degree C). The implication is, although certain months or days were more humid than others, I was not exposed to much extremities in temperatures, as I would come to know.

With my first experience of Canadian weather being a winter, I nearly concluded that living here was simply unbearable—but I have been proven wrong. The beautiful transition in season has made me appreciate what a true seasonal change entails, something I could only have imagined back home in Nigeria. Seeing the extremely cold temperatures of winter gradually evolve into the tropic-like hotness of summer, has made me magnify God's goodness at creation (imagine experiencing both -38 and 38 degree C in one year!). Although on some summer days, the air feels so damp causing a feeling of tiredness, I will still pick the warmth I have been acquainted with over the dreaded, but impending, cold of the winter.

Since summer is a season to enjoy and "go out", I have tried to do just that at every opportunity. A number of picnics, friend birthday get-togethers and church events have been the highlights of them. I have a few lessons learnt from this summer which I will be applying in the next, God willing.

In all, I will say my first summer wasn't my first after all; however, experiencing the contrasting season has made this one particularly enjoyable in spite of all challenges.