Name: What is it Like Growing Up in the World’s Coldest City? −71°C (−95°F) Yakutsk
Uploaded: 2024-12-18T14:32:31.000Z
Duration: 15 min 2 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Hi, I'm Koen B and here is what a typical day in my life looks like.

Adverbs of degree

For most people it's hard to imagine, but for me it's just another winter day.

Before stepping outside we need several layers of special winter clothes.

I start with camel wool knee pads to protect my joints and camel wool socks for insulation and warmth.

Then I put on insulated padded trousers and a light jacket under my down jacket.

Wearing two jackets is essential for me when it's below minus 45 degrees Celsius.

My down jacket designed for extreme weather is filled with thick insulation like goose down.

Keeping your head, hands, feet and neck warm is crucial.

My mittens feature traditional Yakutian beaded patterns combining style and warmth.

I also wear Yakutian fur boots, which are essential since regular boots would freeze in minutes.

Okay, now I am fully geared up and ready to step outside.

It takes quite a bit of effort and a lot of time to just get dressed for the cold.

Sometimes even a quick trip to the grocery store feels like a huge task in weather like this.

I live in an apartment building and our entrance is protected by two heavy doors to keep the cold from creeping in.

It's completely normal in Yakutia to have two or even three doors to block out the cold.

When you step outside, the icy air hits your lungs like a shock, making it difficult to breathe.

The freezing dry air irritates your airways and the dense cold feels heavy with every breath.

In Yakutsk, infrastructure is built for extreme cold with roads, buildings and utilities adapted for temperatures below minus 70 degrees Celsius.

Most apartments like mine have 24-7 central heating to stay warm.

Roads require constant maintenance to remain usable.

Driving is tough with slippery conditions and the need for insulation and winter tires.

Maintaining a car is challenging, so I stick to public transport like buses.

The nearest bus stop is about 300 meters from my home, which takes me about 5 minutes to walk.

But even in that short time, I can feel the cold seeping through, especially on exposed areas like my face.

This is my bus stop, right in front of our local cinema.

Yakutia's cinematography is considered some of the best in the country.

Despite our small population and extreme weather, film makers from Yakutia have gained worldwide recognition.

Many of you might be wondering how we are managing to film in these freezing conditions.

Let me introduce you to my cameraman, Kim.

Today we are using three different cameras to capture everything.

In temperatures like this, cameras freeze quickly, so we rotate them.

Each one is used for a maximum of 10 minutes before being placed back into a warm bag while we switch to another.

Even we can only stay outside for about 15 minutes at a time before we have to rush back indoors to warm up.

Filming here is no small feat, cameras can malfunction, and every moment is a race against the cold.

Buses in Yakutsk are a lifeline for many, especially during the harsh winter when driving a car becomes a challenge.

They are usually well heated, providing a much-needed escape from the freezing cold.

So, after just being outside for 10 minutes, see, I don't feel my nose and it's painfully itchy, so when I touch it, I can't feel my nose and it's really cold.

Walking outside for more than 10 minutes, you can already feel the cold biting into you.

The exposed parts of your body, especially my nose, are the first to freeze.

As you can see, the skin on my nose is starting to turn white, that's the first sign of frostbite.

So, I decided to rush to the nearby mall to warm up before continuing.

Even in these extreme conditions, we do have homeless people, like this woman standing in front of the mall.

The city provides shelters during winter to help them stay warm and safe, but unfortunately, not everyone uses them.

Many homeless people suffer from severe frostbite, often losing fingers or toes to the extreme cold.

In Yakutsk, we have wardrobes in malls, cinemas and theaters, where people can leave their heavy jackets.

It's impossible to walk around comfortably in a heated building while wearing a thick down jacket and even moving in padded trousers is a challenge.

These wardrobes make it much easier to walk indoors after braving the cold outside.

In Yakutia, we don't have big malls with lots of brands like in central Russia.

Here, the malls are smaller and have fewer options, especially now that many international brands have left.

It's a very different shopping experience compared to bigger cities.

Most people in Yakutia prefer to order online and Chinese shopping apps are very popular.

It's convenient, especially with limited choices locally.

Instead, we have many local jewelry brands, as Yakutia is the largest diamond mining region in the world.

Most of the world's diamonds are mined here, but almost all are exported abroad and the few that stay are priced higher.

Despite this, diamonds and jewelry are very popular among locals, with most pieces made from silver and gold.

Malls are social hubs in Yakutia, where people gather not just to shop, but to escape the cold and spend time together.

With limited outdoor activities during winter, they are a place to meet friends, enjoy a warm meal, or let kids play while staying out of the freezing weather.

Another unique shopping experience in Yakutia is the local fur brands.

Yakutia has been a center of fur exports for centuries.

During the Russian Empire, high-quality furs like sable, mink, and fox were sold across Europe, mostly sourced from Yakutia.

Known as soft gold, these furs were priced for their luxury and durability.

Women here often shop for fur coats, as they are not just a luxury, but a necessity.

Even my two jackets will not be enough to handle the extreme cold for long, but the fur coat provides unmatched warmth and protection against the freezing temperatures.

The price of fur coats starts at $6,000 and goes up to $17,000 for a sable coat.

But of course, with such high prices, not everyone in Yakutia can afford one.

Many women save for years to invest in one.

At this level of coldness, the weather can easily freeze the car.

So, I prefer just to walk outside or take a bus.

I've never owned a car in Yakutia, it's just too much effort.

Engines must run all the time to avoid freezing, or you can use heated blanket systems, which turns the engines on and off automatically, but they are very heavy and hard to use.

For me, taking the bus is easier, but walking to the bus stop and waiting in the cold is not easy either.

When I was a kid, I used to take the bus to school all by myself from the age of 6.

Sometimes the bus would be late by half an hour, and there were no heated bus stops back then.

I would just stand there, freezing, with the wind cutting right through me.

Because it was so cold, I even cried once, but my tears froze into little icicles.

After that, I realized, crying outside in Yakutia is not the best idea.

I guess when you are a kid, you don't feel the cold the same way and don't take it as seriously as you do when you get older.

Many kids here play outside even in minus 50 degrees Celsius, because they just don't want to go back home.

They want to have fun, no matter how harsh the cold is.

Using phones outside in Yakutia is a challenge, so we don't rely on them much.

We only take them out if absolutely necessary, as the cold drains the battery or shuts them off.

Phones here are more for emergencies than casual use.

I started feeling cold again, so I found a small coffee shop nearby to warm up.

It's such a relief to step inside, feel the heat, and take a break from the freezing weather outside.

After warming up and taking a short break, I wanted to show you just how cold it is outside.

I asked for a cup of hot water from the coffee shop to demonstrate something incredible, how hot water instantly turns to ice when thrown into the freezing air.

So now we are taking a taxi to the another district, the least safest district in Yakutsk, and even the taxi drivers are not taking us.

Yakutsk is a relatively small city with a population of around 400,000 people.

Despite its size, it is a cultural and economic hub of the region.

The central areas of the city are more developed with government buildings, shopping malls, schools, and cultural landmarks like theaters and museums.

Life here is busier and more modern compared to the outskirts.

But let me show you the other part of the city.

Like any city, Yakutsk has its less safe areas.

These neighborhoods are often on the edges of the city where the infrastructure is less developed and living conditions can be quite rough.

Historically, most of Yakutsk was built with wooden two-story flats spread across the city.

Many of these old wooden flats still exist on the outskirts of the city, and people continue to live there because they simply can't afford to move into newer stone apartment buildings.

Life in these wooden flats is incredibly challenging.