Cold--in Australia?

For those of you who have heard us complain about the heat, I'm about to shock you. This week its cold in Australia. It's 3 degrees Celsius today. Just a touch above freezing.

Now most days, I would scoff at calling 3 degrees cold. Gretchen probably remembers the winter she came to MN at 20 below Fahrenheit. My car heater had broken so she had to scrape the ice off the inside of the windsheild while I was driving so I could see out for the 25 minute trip to my apartment. Anyone who has lived through winter in the mid-west breaks out the shorts and flip flops at 3 degrees. But for Perth, its about as cold as it gets.

Although I know I should be a stoic Scandinavian (cold enough for ya?), I find myself agreeing when people complain about the weather. It's colder here than one might think for 3 reasons.

1) In the winter, it rains. ALOT. Last year, in July it rained 19 days straight. Not a London or Seattle drizzle, thundershowers that soak you to the skin in 2 minutes or less. Cold and dry is one thing....cold and wet, ew.
2) The buildings are NOT insulated. and in the case of our house, NOT HEATED. (Yes, this is worse than our freezing place in Abbey Wood where we were too cheap to pay for gas. We do not have a heat source in the house). We have a space heater for the bedroom and one for the living room, but with 14 foot ceilings we spend most evenings wrapped in blankets. Midnight trips to the bathroom have a distinctly camping feel--especially when you sit on a toilet seat that's nearly freezing.
3) There is a fuel shortage in WA. A recent fire has caused a massive shortage. Murdoch Uni is a huge consumer of energy, and has shut off most of the lights in the hallways, turns off the heat in all the buildings overnight, and encourages all employees to minimise electricity and heating.

So, despite my tough talk, I'm battling a cold, wrapped in my fuzziest sweater, wishing for a Minnesota winter.