Muleskinner

Issue date: 12/7/06 Section: Features

Slippery- With the snow storm that came through Warrensburg on Nov. 30, many students had trouble making it to class. For some inernational students, this was the first time they have had an experience with snow of that proportion. For others, it was the first time seeing snow.

Students from Missouri may have taken last week's snow storm in stride or perhaps grumbled a bit.

But for many of UCM's international students, this was their first experience with the white stuff, or certainly the most they had ever seen.

Louisa Karbautzki, a student from Germany, was surprised about the snow.

"In Germany, we don't really get snow like this. If it snows, it is around two inches at the most and then it disappears the next day.

I don't really like the snow; I only liked it for around three hours after it fell when we all played in it. But now that it's all turned into ice along the sidewalks, I don't like it."

Sofia Mård, a student from Sweden, said she loves the snow.
"The winters at home usually have a lot of snow, but the snow storm Thursday night was very different from what I'm used to.
In Sweden, it would take up to a week for this amount of snow to fall. So it was surprising to wake up to 10 inches or so of snow when there was nothing there the morning before."

When Gym Williams, a student from England, was asked about the snow fall here, he replied with a big grin on his face.

"On the first night of the snow fall, a few of my friends and I took our trucks to a wide-open, unused area and did some suicide sledding," Williams said.

"It was awesome. I'd never seen suicide sledding before," he added. "We tied a rope to the back of a car, and then the car would start driving, and quickly do a handbrake turn to catapult us down the hill."

William Mumbia, a student from Kenya, had never seen snow before, and was not sure he liked it.

"It looks beautiful, but I think it's too cold and slippery. But on the other hand, I love it, it's amazing. I like making snowmen, and the snowball fights.

"I was definitely not prepared for the weather. When we arrived in August, with the weather being 34ºC (93.2 degrees), I didn't ever expect it to get this cold. I didn't even bring a winter jacket with me!"

"In Wales, it snows for about one day a year, and we're very lucky if that sticks," said Blase Emery. "Everyone gets very excited when it snows, and all schools close. So when it snowed here, I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and that the University was still open!"

Mike Philips, a student of UCM who has lived in the Warrensburg area all his life, is amazed by the snow.

"Sure, it's snowed here before, but I can't remember such a heavy snow fall so quickly. I went to Wal-Mart on Friday evening, and I couldn't believe how many people were panic-buying. People were stocking up; there was hardly any bread left - a little excessive."

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