Hello everyone, this is Andrew and you are listening to Simplified Speech, the QLIP series where we have clear, natural, and easy-to-understand conversations about everyday life. It's perfect for intermediate learners who want to improve their listening skills, build confidence, learn useful expressions, and so much more. Today, Indiana is joining me, and we're talking about winter.
We'll share how we deal with the winter blues, what helps us stay motivated during the cold months, and some of the things we like and don't like about this season. Now, if you want to take your English to the next level, consider becoming a Qloops member. Members get access to our study guides, transcripts, quizzes, and more. And these resources make it easier to follow along with the episode, learn key vocabulary, and improve your communication skills.
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Enjoy. Joining me now is my co-host, Indiana. Hello, Indiana. How are you doing? I'm doing okay. Dealing with winter is tough. but I'm doing as well as I can. How about you? I'm doing okay, but I know what you mean. I don't know what it is, really, but whenever winter rolls around, especially Indiana, we're recording now in January.
The days are starting slowly to get a little bit longer, but for like the last two, three weeks, it's been tough. I've been a little bit down in the dumps, a little bit. lethargic and lethargic means like you don't have a lot of energy or don't have a lot of enthusiasm so yeah winter is tough and actually that's what we're going to talk about in this episode right is
Why do we feel so lethargic and depressed in the winter? And what are some of the ways that we deal with that? How does it affect us? All of these things we're going to get into in today's episode. And Indiana, maybe I'll start by asking you about what your experience has been like so far. this winter how how is the winter in your neck of the woods you're in the eastern united states right like what's the winter been like so far for you this year
Yeah, last winter was absolutely balmy, incredibly warm. I think we only got one snowstorm, but this year it has been cold, snowy, and... A lot of wind chill. It's been pretty rough. Short days as usual every winter. But yeah, it's been maybe every day about negative six, negative eight Celsius. It's been rough. But how has the winter been for you in Korea? To be honest, it hasn't been so bad. We had one big snowstorm and we've had some other snow flurries from time to time.
I wouldn't say that it's been balmy. Actually, the last week or so we've been dealing with some colder temperatures. I actually, I went out for a run one week ago. And it was minus 18 Celsius with the windchill. And I think the actual temperature was about minus 12. But it was my long run day. And so... You know, I'm a runner and I'm training for a marathon in the spring and I'm really focused right now trying to...
Never miss a day. Like doesn't matter if it's rain or shine or minus 18, I'm going to do my run, but it was a long run day. And so I had to get out there, but I felt like a real tough guy when I finished because my beard. had frozen. I had little icicles hanging off my beard. So I thought that was kind of cool. I got a selfie, you know, I was like, Oh, I'm a tough guy.
I was going to ask. I hope you took a photo. Yeah, had to take the photo. So I felt like it made it worthwhile, but it was very unpleasant when I was running. But other than that, it hasn't been so bad to tell you the truth. There's no snow right now. And even today, it was two degrees Celsius. So I think maybe the end is in sight. Maybe it's getting warmer here. But yeah, do you have a lot of snow on the ground where you live?
I'd say a few inches, you know, I'm popping from Celsius to the Imperial, you know. But yeah, a few inches, nothing crazy, not dangerous to like walk around or drive around in the street, but we do have some snow. So at least it's beautiful, even if it's really cold. So I think we're both in the same boat here and we both feel just not as enthusiastic in the winter. I know personally, I feel my energy levels drop and my wife was... joking earlier that
she thinks she's a bear because as soon as the winter comes around, she just wants to hibernate. She doesn't really want to go out and do anything. You know, if it's like our date day, for example, she'll be like, do we really have to go out? Like, can't we just like stay home and watch a movie? And me too. I'm like, yeah, you know, that sounds pretty good. Like, why do we have to go outside? It's cold out there. And so like my desire to go out and do things diminishes, goes down.
And also I tend to want to sleep in more. I also want to go to bed earlier. So I think, yeah, the hibernation thing that the bears do in the winter is a good idea.
How about you? How do you feel with your energy levels and your enthusiasm during the winter months? Yeah, I can relate to your wife on that one. It's like... a big desire to hibernate and i do think that we have to be a little gentler with ourselves and rest and recharge during this time but yeah i honestly think i could have what's called sad
Seasonal affective disorder. I don't really have a real diagnosis from a doctor, but it's basically this set of symptoms where you really feel the winter. You have low energy. You might be a little bit depressed or down in the dumps, like you said earlier. And yeah, it's a huge difference between summer and winter for me. So I'm convinced that I experienced that. But yeah, winter is a bit tough.
Seasonal Affective Disorder. As far as I know, that's caused by a lack of sunlight and you can feel depressed because you're not getting enough sunlight. Is that true? Do you know anything about that? I'm not sure if that's like... Definitely the cause, but seeing as though some of the treatment for that or anybody who's feeling down in the winter, there are these light boxes that you could buy. And if you mount these light fixtures above.
you know, where your desk is or where you spend some time in the morning, you get some light on your face. It's acting like that real sunlight. That's actually a strategy to up your energy levels. It wouldn't surprise me if that is definitely the cause of this sad seasonal affective disorder. I grew up on the west coast of Canada. in this city called colonna which is in a valley and in the winter the valley just fills up with clouds
and doesn't really leave until the spring. So all winter long, it's not really too cold, but it's almost... overcast every day and really gray and dreary every single day for like three months. And I was recently just back in my hometown and I saw that winter cloud again and I was only there for like four days. And I thought, how do people deal with this? Like it was really depressing, really gray. Of course, it doesn't help when the sun rises late and sets early, but.
Yeah, I think maybe I would like to try one of those light boxes, especially if I ever move back to Kelowna. Seems like a necessary item. Have you ever tried one before? Yeah, I do have one. And I think these days, you could get a pretty cheap one, maybe, you know, in American dollars, $30, $40, not too expensive. Yeah, if you keep up with it.
You try to use these light boxes early in the morning if you can, like after you get up, to simulate that morning sunlight. And simulate just means act as or be a substitute for pretend to be. Yeah, that's supposed to up your energy levels up your focus make you feel more awake.
And of course, you could also just try to get outside in the morning and sit in the sun or take a walk for 15 minutes. But yeah, you know, when the temperature is negative 16 and you don't have your long run, it's probably not the highest. priority on your list that's cool so do you feel like the light box has some positive effects like after doing some treatment or some therapy with it do you feel better
Yeah, maybe after like a week or so of consistently using it, I definitely do notice a difference in my energy levels and my mood. I might have to pick one of those up. I've even seen that there are some alarm clocks that... have this kind of light built into it and it mimics the sunrise so i don't know when it turns like 6 a.m or something whenever the sun rises then it starts to turn on i thought that was a cool idea
Because that's one thing that I notice is like in the summer, I wake up early and I'm full of energy. And I think it's because of the sun rising, but that just doesn't happen in the winter. And I don't get that boost right from the get-go in the morning.
Well, I have one caution about those alarm clocks. If you're thinking of picking one up, I was also really excited, like this is going to change my life and I'm going to get up with the sunrise. But if you're the kind of person... who tosses and turns at night right so that means you don't stay in the same position all night you're switching sides with your head on the pillow or whatever it is
If you're not facing the alarm clock with the sunrise simulation, it doesn't work. At least for me, I did not wake up. So it was not worth the investment. I hope you didn't sleep in through any important appointments or work or anything like that. I think I didn't, but I did notice that, okay, this failed.
So what else about the winter? What do you like to do in the winter? I force myself to get outside and run even though I don't really like the cold weather. But like I said, I have this bigger goal of the marathon in mind. So it's like... motivating me. I think if I didn't have that, I probably wouldn't leave the house too much at all. But I know a lot of people like to do winter activities, maybe skiing or cross-country skiing.
maybe snowshoeing even. Do you like to do any winter activities at all? Yeah, I don't own cross-country skis, but I do like to do that on occasion. And I own snowshoes. Yeah, that's a great, great winter activity. It's a lot of fun. Normally, I would like to run in the winter just like you do. And I think, yeah, just getting any exercise like that outside is critical for those energy levels in the winter.
But you really got to be careful with the ice. Like it might do more harm than good to go running if the conditions aren't good. So maybe just a careful walk would be enough for somebody to. you know, get that sunlight and get a little bit of exercise in the winter. I know some people say that you should take, what is it, vitamin D or vitamin B12? Have you ever tried supplementing? Definitely. I take it all year round.
I think it's also just generally recommended for women to take vitamin D. And I take B12 as well because I'm a vegetarian and that's like not the most common vitamin in my food sources. But those are just two that really help with your energy levels for sure. And especially vitamin D for that lack of sunlight in the winter since you get that one from being exposed to sunlight. I wonder if it's in my multi. I don't know.
Probably. I hope so. It's funny. In one of our Q-Lips classes from, I think it was two weeks ago, we were actually talking about home remedies. And then that led us down this path to talking about all the different supplements that we have. And a lot of the Q-Lips members were saying, Andrew, we think you must take a lot of supplements. Like you seem like somebody that's into health.
And it's not really true. I have a multivitamin and my wife makes me take some other pills, but I don't really know what they are. She just says it's healthy for me. So I take it, but I don't know if I'm getting vitamin D or B12 in that multi, but probably some elements of it in there. So Indiana, if your friend came to you and said, Indiana, I just, I feel so lethargic, so lazy, so depressed these days because of the winter. What advice would you give to your friend to try and...
cheer them up and make them feel better during these difficult months? It would be advice that they wouldn't want to hear. I would say you should get up earlier so you get more daylight. And I would say, listen, I can see the difference in my mental health from last year when I could run in the winter and this year when I can't. I've had a surgery recently, so I have to hold off on running.
And oh my God, you got to get exercise because it makes the biggest difference. That's what I would tell them. Well, I guess I'm doing the right thing though. Even though it's not really pleasant to go outside and run, that's good to know that I'm doing the right thing. Yeah, it's those long-term benefits. Yeah, and with the short-term pain, the long-term gains there. No pain, no gain, right? Exactly. What are some of your favorite things about winter?
Definitely the snow. I do love it, at least when it's cold enough for the snow to stick, even though I don't love the cold. You know, it's so beautiful, especially there's this atmosphere at night, I think, when you're in a city.
in you know upstate new york for example and there's snow it kind of with the reflection of light off of the snow it looks like it's almost daytime and there's this nice purple glow in the sky and it's like a very very nice experience at night to just have that reflection and have all that light so that is one positive thing that I could think about winter it's nice to have that atmosphere but what about you what would you say if you had to pick something that's good about winter
My favorite thing about winter is that it's not summer. That's like a weird thing to say, but here in Korea, it gets so hot and humid in the summer. really really uncomfortable and I feel like I'm always just like sweating and too hot overheating so I really don't like summer here. So for it not to be summer, that's the best thing. And I like winter fashion, winter clothing.
I don't really think I'm a fashionable person at all, but I much prefer wearing like pants and sweaters and hoodies, that kind of cozy clothing. I love that. And I also think I look better in that. I don't really think. I look great in like a tank top and shorts. So I would much rather prefer to wear like a shirt and pants. That's my style. And what else? I agree with you. Sometimes it's really nice to be outside here.
In the big city, I run through like the middle of Seoul and I don't go running crazy late at night or anything, but I'll go out sometime 7, 8 p.m. And it's very quiet. I think everybody else is back home. doing that hibernating like we were talking about earlier so it's really quiet outside and as i was running yesterday i saw a really cute scene because i run beside this little stream and it's been so cold recently that that stream has frozen and even though it got above
freezing in the day at night it like freezes solid again because there's not too much water in there it's a pretty shallow stream but as i was running by today there was a guy walking his dog and they were just both out walking on the ice on the stream And as they would step, it made this really cool sound, like this boing, boing sound of like...
I don't know. It's hard to replicate, but the water moving under the ice, which actually I think is dangerous. It probably means the ice is going to crack soon. Like there's too much pressure on it. But it's shallow water, so he would have been okay anyways. But it was just a really cute scene to see this guy and his dog playing on the ice in the stream. And knowing that I'm in the center of this mega city, but there are hardly any people outside.
So I really like that too. You can find some solitude, find a little bit of space for yourself in the winter. I guess those are my favorite things. Yeah, I like that word you used, the solitude. Yeah, there's a nice, a special kind of quiet that settles in the town, you know, where you are in the winter. It's really nice. And, you know, thinking about your running in the winter too.
And also what advice I might give somebody for coping with winter. I just remembered that there's a German saying that goes something like, there's no bad weather, there's only bad clothing. So perhaps my advice to anybody struggling with the cold and the gloominess of winter.
would be don't forget to bundle up this winter. I'm often forgetting to maybe add some long underwear is what they call it or an extra layer beneath my jeans. So yeah, that could really help somebody out if they're struggling. I have really bad circulation so often in the winter my hands get really cold and so that means if I go outside I have to wear ridiculous gloves when I go running. I have these big mittens, but actually they have an extra, they're like a lobster.
They have like three spots and they're so big, but my hands are just toasty in them. But if I wear like a cool looking glove or something, my hands just freeze. So I have to wear these big stupid looking lobster mittens. But I stay warm and then I can enjoy my time outside. So I think there's something to that expression. I like that one. There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing. Yeah, it's true. It's totally true.
Indiana, what do you think about people who live in places where there's really long winters? Like I just interviewed a guest on the podcast here. His name is Mikael and he was from Norway. He has a long winter. I know you recently... visited Iceland. Iceland's got long winters. Even in our countries too, like maybe not where you are, but people in Alaska, they have a long winter. And in my country, Canada, in the northern parts of Canada, it's dark for...
Almost all winter, they don't get very much sunlight at all. So it's a really, really intense kind of winter. How do you think people who come from those areas of the world deal with the winter?
That's a great question. You know, I actually, I did ask somebody in Iceland when I was there, I think it was a tour guide, how people and how he coped with almost total darkness and winter or total darkness certain times of the year and he he honestly looked a little bit annoyed like he gets this question all the time and was like it's just winter we we just deal with it you know and it was not it was not a very helpful answer it was just we deal with it
So I didn't really get a good strategy out of him. But yeah, I don't know. Maybe you just really do get used to it when you're in a country where you have those purely dark days. I don't know. You're from Canada originally. Have you ever been to the northern parts, like you mentioned, of Canada, where you get that total darkness in the winter?
Yeah, I have. I never visited in the winter, but I visited a couple times in the summer to a territory in Canada called Nunavut, which... in the summer when I visited it was the opposite situation it was daylight for almost 24 hours a day and to be honest with you I think people find that almost more difficult than the winters because it
can be hard to sleep when it's sunny all the time. And you have to have special curtains in your home to block out the sun. And yeah, it's just a whole other set of problems. But similar, like when I was talking to people. that live there and I ask them like, what do you guys do in the winter? It's kind of the same answer. You know, like we just deal with it. There's nothing you can do.
So I think a lot of people have those artificial sun lamps, like you were mentioning earlier, that simulate the sunlight and a lot of coffee. And yeah, I don't think they do too, too much out. because it can get really extremely cold but also they have great winter clothing up there like so they do do outdoor activities still i don't know it's just like a different lifestyle but if you're from there and you don't really know anything else then yeah it's just like a fact of life you just
carry on, right? Impressive. I would find it so hard, but maybe if I lived there, yeah, I would just learn to deal with it. yeah you you learn to find like the beauty in the cold and the beauty in the darkness at the same time you have the northern lights right you have the aurora it's like super super beautiful and that quiet and that stillness and
Yeah, I don't know if I'd want to experience it for a whole winter, but maybe a visit in the wintertime for like a week could be cool. I could see myself doing that sometime. That would be fun. Yeah, I've never seen the Northern Lights, but that would be pretty cool. Absolutely. well indiana i think this is a good place to wrap things up i hope we haven't bummed out our listeners too much with all this talk about winter and the dark
But the good news is spring is just around the corner. We're almost there. We're almost through this winter, at least for us in the northern hemisphere. For all of our listeners in the southern hemisphere, sorry guys, you're heading into your... winter here pretty soon, but for us, we're going into spring and summer. So anyways, thank you all for listening all the way to the end of this episode and for studying English with Indiana and with me today. And don't forget that there
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and you can do that well we're gonna take off now but thank you again for listening and we'll talk to you in the next episode everybody take care and goodbye see ya