Surviving the Cold: Tips for International Students’ First Winter at UIUC

For international students, winter at UIUC can feel like a shock to their system. Whether you’re coming from a warmer climate, no one likes snowstorms, icy sidewalks, freezing temps, and very few hours of daylight. 

While these factors are normal for people who grew up here, winter at UIUC doesn’t have to be terrifying for those who are new to it. With preparation, the winter season can even be cozy, festive, and fun. Here’s our short list on how to survive your first midwestern winter. 

Choose the Right Coat

Choosing the right coat is a huge part of preparing for the winter. You will be outside more than you want to be, and making sure to keep warm makes all the difference. Keeping hats, gloves, and scarves by the door can ensure you never leave unless you are fully bundled up and prepared for the weather. 

If you have to run errands, get groceries, or shovel snow, you want to make sure you are properly suited to go outside. Investing in a down jacket as well as gloves, hats, scarves, and more is important to staying warm outside of the home. 

Insulate Your Apartment 

With all the doors and windows in apartment buildings, drafts can sometimes sneak through and make your space feel cold or breezy. To keep your space warm, the following steps will help you ensure your apartment stays toasty.

• Seal Drafts – check along your window edges and cracks in your doors to the outside to find spaces where there might be a draft or a partial seal. Use weather stripping to seal it up for the winter, a quick and cheap fix.
• Add Thermal Curtains – Insulated curtains help keep warmth from your space from leaking out through windows.
• Utilize Area Rugs – covering your hardwood floors with area rugs can keep your feet warm and protected.

Decorate for the Holidays 

Decorating your apartment can also help keep it cozy in the wintertime. While you might be thinking that this step isn’t as essential in surviving, you’d be surprised how much happiness and comfort it can bring you to bring a sense of home to IUIC while you live there. Whether it’s a tradition from home or it’s a new tradition you make yourself, decorating and celebrating are essential to happiness. 

Stock up on Essentials 

Creating a safe environment for yourself is just as important as the decor, ambiance, and insulation. Here are a few winter essentials that will be beneficial to have on hand when it’s too cold to leave the house. 

• Warm Bedding & extra blankets – making sure you will be warm throughout the season is the biggest essential on the list. Especially if you are living in a rented space where you might not have the luxury of controlling the temperature indoors, swapping out your regular sheets with flannel or fleece and keeping some extra blankets on hand can save you when it’s simply too cold in your apartment. 
• Space heaters – A quick fix to add more heat to your space. If needed, these are great tools that can warm you up fast and ensure you stay that way. 
• Extra supply of essentials like toilet paper, soap, paper towels, and pantry items to make sure that when it’s too cold to leave the house, you still have everything you need.

Take Care of your Health

Taking care of your health is essential when it comes to surviving the winter months. Your physical health and mood affect every aspect of your life, so making sure you are still maintaining them in the winter will keep your sense of normalcy and routine alive. Here are some steps you can take to make sure you’re taking care of yourself and surviving the cold. 

• Eating well-balanced meals with lots of nutrients 
• Getting a COVID booster and a Flu shot 
• Staying hydrated 
• Wash your hands often to prevent illness 
• Get enough sleep 

Know When to Stay In

When you go to a school like UIUC, we know it can be hard to miss events and stay in when there’s so much going on. A key to surviving winter is knowing when it’s okay to go out and when it’s better to stay in. Pay attention to temps, weather alerts, and the university announcements of class closures and more. 

Investing time and money into yourself and space has a huge payoff, especially in the wintertime when we spend most of our time indoors. Surviving your first midwestern winter is not for the faint of heart. But with your drafts sealed, health and home in check, and a safe and warm environment, your space and life will be conducive for spending your cold winter days indoors and surviving the season.