Surviving the Heatwave . . .

VOCABULARY

As Selfridges, one of London’s largest department stores, starts preparing for Christmas by opening a whole floor offering Christmas baubles and decorations, here in Austria nothing could be further from our minds. Here we are enjoying a real heatwave where temperatures are way over 30 degrees and are expected to reach 36, in Vienna.

Many people may be asking themselves why they bothered to book a holiday abroad, when we have everything here on our doorstep to ensure the best holiday ever. The crystal clear lakes are so tempting and a joy to swim in, if you don’t have to work. But of course, you can’t always guarantee such a beautiful summer in Austria and many of us booked our holiday in winter or spring.

Last year was quite disappointing, weatherwise, and we had a very wet July. But do you remember the summer of 2013? For five whole weeks we woke up to glorious sunshine streaming through the blinds and, due to the humidity, it felt more like Africa than Austria. In Lower Austria, or to be more precise, Bad Deutsch Altenburg, temperatures reached an all-time high of 40.5 degrees. I remember the mayor of Dellach in Carinthia, Johann Pirker, was very disappointed when temperatures there "only" reached 39.7, in the valley.

Unfortunately, not everyone can enjoy the heat: small children, older or ill people often suffer. As there is no law which allows workers to have time off on account of excessively hot weather, they have to grin and bear it, too. However, it looks as though we are going to have to get used to such hot summers and learn to deal with them the best we can.

Well-meaning media advise us to drink lots of water, up to two litres per day, even if we are not thirsty: wear light clothes, preferably cotton to let your skin breathe: avoid going out in the midday sun and stay in the shade (not shadow) if you have to: avoid exerting ourselves by doing sport or even the gardening and to never leave children or pets in the car, even for a few minutes.

Needless to say, we are not the only country suffering from the sweltering heat. In other European cities it is much hotter. We were in Italy three weeks ago and it was 38 degrees, making it virtually impossible to do all the sight-seeing trips that we had planned, while friends of mine have just returned from their holiday in Spain where temperatures soared to over 40 degrees. They said it was a nightmare and spent most of the time in an air-conditioned room trying to keep the children amused. When they could no longer stand playing "Ludo" anymore, they dared to venture out towards the early evening when they sat in the shade until bedtime.

Environmentalists have been warning us about global warming and temperatures rising, for years now and it looks as though their predictions were correct. However, before we start getting hot under the collar about the heat, we should look back again at the summer of 2013. No sooner had we just about got used to the soaring temperatures, on 20th August, summer started to draw to a close. I spotted the first squirrel hiding its nuts and it was foggy in the morning with dew on the leaves. It was only then that I realised that summer was not going to last forever and that I shouldn’t have complained about the heat.

Of one thing we can be sure: just as Selfridges will always be offering Christmas decorations at the beginning of August, the days will become shorter and cooler in Austria. So let us enjoy the sunshine while it is there! to bask – sich aalen department stores – Kaufhäuser a whole floor – ein ganzes Stockwerk baubles – Christbaumkugeln to bother – sich die Mühe machen abroad – im Ausland on our doorstep – vor der Haustür to ensure – sicherstellen tempting – verlockend disappointing – enttäuschend weatherwise – wettermäßig blinds – Jalousien humidity – Luftfeuchtigkeit to be more precise – um genauer zu sein mayor – Bürgermeister time off on account of excessively hot weather – hitzefrei to grin and bear it – es mit Fassung tragen preferably – vorzugsweise skin – Haut to breathe – atmen to avoid – vermeiden shade – Schatten to exert oneself – sich anstrengen needless to say – unnötig zu erwähnen sweltering heat – brütende Hitze virtually – praktisch to soar – in die Höhe steigen nightmare – Albtraum can’t stand sth. – etw. nicht ertragen Ludo – Mensch ärgere dich nicht to dare – es wagen to venture out – sich hinauswagen environmentalist – Umweltschützer prediction – Vorhersage to get hot under the collar – sich ärgern to draw to a close – zum Ende kommen to spot – erspähen squirrel – Eichhörnchen dew – Tau

we can bask in the sun as

temperatures are predicted to reach 36 degrees, but this is

not for everyone.