Cold is a relative term down here. We look at ambient temperature, which is the actual true temp, and windchill, which is how cold it feels. Back in the states they always talked about windchill, but it never made that much difference to me. Here on the other hand it does. Our normal ambient lows are in the minus thirty to minus fifty range and the clothing they give us protects us quite well. If you wear the ECW gear(extreme cold weather) you will be warm as long as the wind doesn’t blow. Take minus thirty and have the wind blow at fifty miles per hour and you have something entirely different. The wind chills make it feel like it is minus one hundred or more. Any exposed skin can freeze within a matter of minutes. The wind will blow the cold through every open part of your clothing. Even the zippers. For the most part I can deal with windchills up to minus seventy or so. The worst part is my glasses. I have to take them off because the metal begins to freeze to my skin. At minus one hundred the station calls a safety break and everyone has to stop working and make there way to the central part of town.
The second part of your question deals with fun. We are all independent people down here and pretty much make our own amusements. But on top of that there is a recreation department that runs the bars, bowling alley, and puts on parties on a regular basis. Look on the blue section to the left on the front page and you will see my photo diary of the last couple of seasons. There are lot’s of interesting things to do around here if you dont mind going out in the cold.
mike