Do you wanna build a snowman?

How snowfall triggers my childlike joy.

Yesterday I saw snow fall for the first time.

Just look at that sentence, isn’t it fun? Wow. I am a 23 year old man, but yesterday I experienced something for the first time. Not a new movie or book, but a visceral, physical experience. I woke up before the sun did, so I didn’t notice it at first. I sat in bed, oblivious. I ran through my usual routine and only spotted the snow when I went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea. There, through the large, square kitchen window I saw little snowflakes fluttering in the air. Snow falls so much slower than rain does. I am sure this is obvious to you, but it was my first time seeing snow!

How fun. Though I was still in my pyjamas, my girlfriend was dressed and ready to leave (she had a morning exam, what a tragedy). I tossed on a puffy jacket and a pair of sneakers and we were out the door. Snow feels much drier than I expected. I have seen snow before, I fell innumerable times while attempting to snowboard. But that was old snow, for the whole week that I was on holiday, no snow fell. I think a good percentage of the snow was artificial, too. This fresh snow was nothing like what I have seen or felt before. I used my hand to rake snow off of a table in the courtyard, like I was dusting crumbs off of the kitchen table. Once I had enough snow in my hands I crushed it into a ball. I thought that I was being sneaky, but my girlfriend is much too intelligent and perceptive. I was hit with a snowball before I could pelt her with my own.

Once she had left to university I got properly dressed and strolled around Berlin. I am just visiting this city, so any sense I get of it is partially as an outsider. In the winter, the city can feel dark and bare, especially with such short days (an anomaly for a South African, even winter days in Cape Town include about 10 hours of sunlight). But there’s something about the snow decorating the sidewalk, the windowsills, the cars parked on the street… Everything feels lighter. Maybe it is literally the sunlight reflecting off of all of the white snow that makes the street feel brighter and more colourful. I know that the novelty wears off. I saw a couple in their sixties brushing snow off of the bonnet of their van and I was struck by the inconvenience of snow. But for me, here and now, snow is magic. The street, the trees, the city - they all feel bigger, more idyllic.

There’s something in my heart that jumped when I saw the snow falling through the window. I was six again. Eyes wide, slack jawed. I yelled.

“It’s snowing!”