As an international student coming from a warmer climate, I’ve found it really difficult to stay warm in the ever-challenging Scottish cold. So, I figured I’d share my findings on the best ways to stay warm for your first Edinburgh Autumn and Winter!
Handling the outdoors
A lot of adjusting to the rain, wind, and snow has to do with wearing the right clothes for the right weather. To keep dry and toasty as I walk across campus or gallivant through the City Centre streets, I’ve bought a few scarves and thermal-lined jackets. While a hoodie can be good for non-breezy, sun-filled autumn afternoons, a thick jacket lined with flannel, faux fur, or suede can keep you from catching a cold much better than a zip-up jumper will. Gloves or hand warmers in your coat pockets are also handy for days when the cold creeps a little further than it typically would. Additionally, hats, thick socks, and thermal tops and trousers that are skin-tight and thin enough to go under your everyday clothes are cute and cosy ways to keep warm and stylish through these darker nights.
Home comforts
Living in accommodation leaves you without a lot of the at-home comforts that you’ve grown used to, which means you’ve got to build your inventory back up once you get here. A great way to start is with some warm slippers and a robe that can be worn around the flat, without the trouble that big jackets and scarves can cause when trying to do simple tasks like uni work and cooking dinner. Electric heated blankets, microwavable heat bag plushies, and hot water bottles that can be filled up with hot water from the kettle are all good ways to stay cosy in your room or on the couch in your kitchen. One of my roommates also recently introduced me to something called an “oodie”, which is similar to something back home that we’ve called “snuggies”, both of which are oversized hoodies made with fleece blanket-like material and come in a plethora of cute character and holiday designs!
Food, cooking, and eating out!
We often forget that most of the time, you can warm yourself up from the inside out. Most chills can be solved with a good bowl of soup, a sausage roll, or any dish from back home that warms up your body, heart, and soul. Personally, I make myself albondigas- a type of soup my parents used to make for me- constantly, to make myself feel a little more at home. I’ve also been having tea with milk and sugar more often than I used to (go figure). Even when I’m out and about and start to feel like the multiple layers I’ve got on aren’t enough, I pop into a coffee shop for a latte or a morning roll. On campus, the Hux and Maggie’s provide some of the best hot and toasted meals and drinks available to QMU.
Adjusting to a new climate can be extremely difficult, but reverting back to the basics can be helpful while you juggle the aspect of adjusting to a new country, culture, and education system too. Whatever Scotland decides to throw at you, I hope that these tips- and any others you can get from fellow students and staff who grew up here- give you a little hope that with some time and a shopping haul, cold becomes an opportunity for cozy instead of a longing for home. You got this!
