The First Snowfall International Students Experience First Taste of Winter

For those from the Midwest, the first snow means a return to our winter rituals. It's time to dig out the parkas and the snow shovels and prepare for the inevitably long winter ahead.

But for some Augustana students, the first snow is anything but tradition. Many international students are encountering snow for the very first time with a mixture of excitement and trepidation.

"Some of the international students from warm-weather climates have never seen snow before," senior and International Programs intern Maren Peterson said. "They have been very excited to experience snow and think the winter landscapes are very beautiful."

International student Meshri Ettolba is from Mauritania in Northern Africa and experienced his very first snow last week.

"I came from the middle of the Sahara Desert – the hottest place in the world – and now I am in Siberia," Ettolba said.

While spending the summer in Eugene, Ore., Ettolba heard stories about South Dakota's infamous weather.

"All they told me was how cold it was here," Ettolba said. "They even said the plane I came on would have skis on the bottom."

While the skis may have been a myth, the cold was not.

Before the snow, Ettolba and other international students were taken shopping for winter weather wear, something Ettolba finds constricting.

"I can't wear the same coat every day," Ettolba said. "It is just too much. And when I wear my hat, I get headaches because I am not used to it."

After the first snow, Ettolba was excited, but this excitement was soon punctured by the cold.

"I tried snowballing, but after two seconds of snow in my hands, my hands froze," Ettolba said. "I will never be trying that again."

Ettolba also finds the feel of the snow and ice foreign.

"When I feel the snow breaking down under my boot, the noise I hear makes my body tingle."

Senior Ihoby Rakotomalala, who is from Madagascar in Southern Africa, had her first experience with snow during her freshman year.

She was practicing for women's choir when she stepped outside to a world of white.

"I was just walking out and everything was white and I thought, ‘Wow, I'm not in Africa anymore,'" Rakotomalala said.

Initially, Rakotomalala was excited by the snow, but that soon changed.

"It's pretty at first," Rakotamala said. "But then it starts getting nasty. It gets wet and gray and disgusting."