I never had seasons. In the Bay Area of Northern California, we groove through the year with fog every morning which tends to burn off to a nice seventy-five degrees in the summer, or linger for a chilly sixty degrees in the winter. My friend from the Los Angeles area claims that the coldest winter she ever experienced was a sixty-five degree Southern California winter, mild to say the least. In my beloved state, most of our trees are green all year, our grass doesn’t freeze to death, and snow isn’t even fathomable. So what main emotion consumes my thoughts regarding the daunting New England winter heading my way? Pure fear.

After conducting a poll with my fellows from the West Coast, I found that I wasn’t the only one. Almost every single Californian I know is also afraid of their impending doom, while my friends who have experienced the winter here aren’t really shaking in their boots. Among feelings of fear, about 80% of my fellow Californians are also feeling nervous, regardless of whether or not they have experienced a Boston winter, and seeing as December has started, it could be any day now when the first snow falls. Although excitement is also pulsing through our veins, most of all, we have no clue what to expect.

It doesn’t help that basically everyone originally from here is expecting us to fail and freeze to death this winter. Whenever I tell someone I’m from California, they always either give me a sarcastic tip on how to survive the weather (“wear a jacket” and “don’t fall” for example), or they decide its appropriate to share a winter-related horror story. We’ve heard them all. From having a frostbitten toe to not being able to leave the house due to the absurd amount of snow, these stories don’t leave us a bit enthused.

To help combat all of the useless advice, I decided to compile a sincere, short list of some actually good advice from experts on how to survive this year’s Boston winter for my fellow fearful Californians:

1. Get your winter coat and boots approved by an experienced local.
2. Layer… a lot (like even with your pants).
3. Check the weather every morning for an afternoon snowstorm.
4. Public transportation is often affected by snow so plan your commute time accordingly.
5. Use flannel sheets (whatever that means).
6. Cover your face with a scarf.
7. Wear gloves and a hat!

The moral of the story is don’t stress too much. We are all in this together, and even if you think it’s already freezing like me, as long as your winter coat is up to par, you’ll (probably) be just fine.