It's cold on the Wall. That's the first thing everybody tells you, and the first thing you notice when you're sent there, and it's the thing you think about all the time you're on it, and it's the thing you remember when you're not there any more. It's cold on the Wall .... The cold is one of its fundamental properties; it's intrinsic. So it hits you as a package, the first time you go to the Wall, on the first day of your tour. You know you are there for two years. You know it's basically the same everywhere, as far as the geography goes, but that everything depends on what the people you will be serving with are like. You know there's nothing you can do about that. It is frightening but also in its way a little bit freeing. No choice - everything about the Wall means you have no choice.