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Winter always comes to Kyiv quite unexpectedly, catching by surprise citizens still running around in thin jackets and light shoes. Just a few days ago it was 8 degrees Celsius.

Then you wake up one morning and see snow lying around and not melting, puddles frozen to ice and you immediately know the temperature has fallen below zero. Unlucky Kyiv residents still have their heating off. The unluckiest have no hot water, God forbid. Others merely have to quickly take care of getting warmer gloves, hats and winter tires for their cars.

Speaking of cars, the first snowy day usually means horrible traffic, since not only the cars move slower due to the weather, but also many accidents happen right away. Looks like the Kyiv drivers keep forgetting what it is like to drive in proper winter weather, and each year they see it as if for the first time and know nothing about being careful.

In fact, I surely won’t be the only one to observe that the climate has obviously changed here, and winters in Kyiv are no longer what they used to be. I still remember the times when the thermometer could easily show 30 degrees below zero in February, and minus 10 was a normal winter temperature. The last few winters have been nothing like that, turning into a strange transition period between autumn and spring. For people who are used to a clear change of seasons as it has always been here, this new kind of winter feels confusing and depressing. There’s hardly ever snow on New Year’s Eve anymore, and even the regulars at Carpathian resorts cannot be sure of what they’re going to get when purchase a ski trip a month in advance – they will have nothing to do, but sit in the hotel drinking hot wine, if the snow refuses to fall.

Right now Kyiv is covered in snow and slippery sidewalks, a poor copy of the snow mayhem happening in some Western European countries right now. But in a few days rains will come and the temperature will go up a few degrees. No one can predict when it will change again.

Probably the most pleasant moments of winter for many are New Year and Christmas holidays. However, the kind of Christmas shopping mania that hits many Western counties starting mid-autumn is hardly seen in Kyiv. Shoppers will get busy of course, but much later. Many shops are festively decorated, but not all of them. The country’s main New Year’s tree won’t be placed on Maidan Nezalezhnosti until Dec. 20, and you’re not likely to see any Did Morozes (local versions of Santa) in the streets till about Catholic Christmas, Dec. 25. However, one thing that indicates the approaching of winter holidays are the traditional fir tree markets that will spring all over the city before long. I’d rather those markets were banned to stop deforestation and make people get artificial trees instead. But not only is it a big business, it is an essential part of the holidays, just like the Soviet champagne on the table on New Year’s Eve.

Read other City Life stories:

• City Life with Alexandra Matoshko 10.12.08
• City Life with Alexandra Matoshko 03.12.08
• City Life with Alexandra Matoshko 19.11.08