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##San Francisco Weather – Conversation Lesson

Joe: Hey, I talked to Wat today. He said it’s about 100 degrees up there.

Kristin: Wow.

Joe: Yeah. I bet that Wan’s probably feeling like it’s a little more like Thailand. I mean when she first got here and it was snowing, I thought that she was just going to turn around and head back home.

Kristin: No, she really likes the snow actually. It’s so different from what she grew up with, y’know? I think it’s kind of a unique experience for her.

Joe: Is that what you were looking for, too, when you came back to the United States from Thailand, the snow?

Kristin: Well, no, it doesn’t snow here though in the city. But I mean, that said, when I moved here I

had, I guess I had been warned actually. I had this idea that I was going to be moving here in the spring and it would be like in Georgia, it would be starting to get warm and I’d be able to wear my clothes that I’d been wearing in Thailand. And then somebody visited Zach actually, visited Thailand, it was the first time I met him. And was like, “No, you’re really not going to be able to wear these clothes that you’re wearing now.” And I was like, “What do you mean?” He was like, “San Francisco’s pretty chilly year-round.” I just couldn’t believe that.

Joe: Well, I think that…

Kristin: Well, I have to say, I froze when I first moved here.

Joe: Well, I think that a lot of people have this misconception. They think that California, meaning the entire state, is like Southern California, warm beaches and women with blond hair and bikinis and sun and hot weather.

Kristin: Yes, I had that misconception. I thought that it was…all of California was like Florida.

Joe: Yeah, y’know, I mean, you’re not the only one. I mean, think of all those tourists that we see walking around San Francisco wearing a brand new San Francisco sweatshirt and shorts because obviously they were freezing and they needed to get something that would, y’know, keep them warm.

Kristin: Yeah. You know, it’s funny, I can remember probably within the first month that I was here, I mean it took me a while to really acclimate to this weather. I’d say a year to two years honestly. But I

can remember like probably within a month of being here, I was in a club, we were upstairs. It was actually the Elbo Room. We were upstairs and San Francisco was having a “heat wave.” So I remember standing in this long line to get into the women’s bathroom and all these women were, y’know, wearing all these like really…y’know, they’re wearing shorts and tank tops and fanning themselves and sweating and complaining about how hot it was. And I was thinking to myself, this is nothing, compared to what I had just come from in Thailand.

Joe: Well, I’m not accustomed to it. I mean, honestly, when it starts to get hot here, I am just…I’m dying, basically. And, y’know, before I moved here, I lived on the East Coast. It was really, really hot during the summers. And, I mean, when I was a kid, I liked the heat. But now, when I go back east during the summer, it’s unbearable for me.

Kristin: Well, you adapt though to wherever you’re living. Like, I now am so adapted to living here that I honestly prefer the cooler weather so, yeah, if we get a hot day, I’m just like those women were when I

first moved here. I’m burning up and thinking it’s so incredibly hot and, or if we go travel say, y’know, somewhere in Southeast Asia where it’s truly, truly hot, I’m just…it takes a while to get used to it. Looking back, I can’t believe I actually got used to living in that weather. In fact, I can remember before I moved there, my mom saying, “Are you crazy, Kristin? You hate hot weather. What are you going to do? You’re going to have it year-round.” But I adjusted.

Joe: Yeah, and just think about how hot it is in Thailand in like April or May.

Kristin: Oh, god.

Joe: It’s unbearable. I use that word again.

Kristin: Yeah. Well, and I can even remember like, so I would get used…y’know, I had gotten used to the weather living in Bangkok, and then I can remember going down to southern Thailand to visit Wat’s family. And just, it was that much hotter. And we would just lay around, like, in front of a fan.

Joe: Yeah, you don’t want to do anything.

Kristin: No. Yeah, it’s almost like we had to readjust to the heat again because it was a few notches hotter.

Joe: It’s like someone’s holding like a hair dryer on you when you go outside.

Kristin: Yeah. But you know, it was interesting for me moving from Georgia to Thailand, y’know, growing up with four seasons and then moving to Thailand where, I know that they say they have a cool season and a wet season and a hot season…but to me it all seemed like one hot season.

Joe: With rain sometimes, right?

Kristin: With rain sometimes. And then…so, y’know, I adjusted. I finally got used to living there after 2-1/2 years and then when I moved here, this pretty much seems like one season that’s chilly year-round with an occasional warm day here and there.

Joe: That’s not true, c’mon. It’s been pretty warm this last few weeks.

Kristin: It’s well, Joe, since I moved here, what, I think it’s been 11 years at this point, at least, I’ve definitely noticed that the weather, we’ve had more and more warmer days.

I’ve talked to you about this. But when I first moved here, those days were far and few between.

Joe: I don’t think so. I think just you weren’t accustomed to it because I don’t seem to remember the type of weather that you were talking about. But, y’know, honestly it can depend on what neighborhood you’re living in, too. Because, y’know, the Mission District tends to be the warmest spot in the city so sometimes it’ll be sunny and warm here, in the Mission District, and then say go out to San Francisco State or go out to, y’know, towards the beach and I mean it’s like you’re in a totally different part of the world, the difference in weather.

Kristin: Yeah, and that was strange for me, too, when I first moved here, all the microclimates and how I would go out…it might, y’know, living downtown, you get a good bit of sun like you do here in the Mission. It warms up there, although not as much maybe. But I can remember, it looked sunny, I’d go out in like a short-sleeved shirt and I’d be out all day and then the fog would roll in and it would start cooling down and I didn’t have enough layers. So I quickly had to learn to never, ever go anywhere in San Francisco without layers. Even if it’s…even here in the Mission. I very rarely will go out, if I know I’m going to be out for a few hours, I very rarely will go out in just a shortsleeved shirt if I know that I’m going to be out for a while. I’ll always take a jacket, at least one layer with me.

Joe: Yeah, it’s a good idea. Because especially if you’re going to be out for a while, you might cross over that point in the day where it turns from sunny and warm into the fog.

Kristin: Yes.

Joe: Y’know, because you know it’s going to be foggy from about 6:30 at night until about 9:30, sometimes 10:00 in the morning.

Kristin: Well, it depends on where you’re living again, what neighborhood.

Joe: Well, that’s true. I’m really talking about weather in the Mission because this is where I’ve lived the entire time I’ve lived in San Francisco.

Kristin: Right, and the sun will usually burn the fog off by, what, 11:00, 12:00… Joe: Even earlier than that.

Kristin: Mm.

Joe: I mean I’ve been walking early in the morning every day. I’m out walking by before 9:00 and it’s already sunny out by then, trust me.

Kristin: I’m telling you, the weather’s changing though…global warming.

Joe: Yeah, I don’t know. I haven’t noticed it.

Kristin: You know what’s interesting, too, there was one street downtown, Polk Street, that was like a wind tunnel. You could walk down it and you would just be like, hair, clothes flying everywhere.

Joe: Yes, it’s true.

Kristin: It’s intense.

Joe: We used to call it the Van Ness wind tunnel.

Kristin: Oh, really?

Joe: Because it’s, y’know, it’s right next to Polk. So yeah, when I worked at the Lighthouse for the Blind, we used to call it the Van Ness wind tunnel. And you’d go out, you’d have your hair all combed and everything, and suddenly you’d come back in and it looked like someone had just destroyed your hair and tossed it all over the place.

Kristin: Yeah.