Friday, November 18

high of 34, low of 14

So, the high hasn't gotten above 40 degrees F all week. You see today's temperatures in the subject. It's cold. It's also windy. Every time I go outside, I cry because the combination of wind and cold just makes the tears fall. Everybody is staying inside as much as possible (we have this hallway that connects all the buildings), but I still walk outside when going to lunch, because I can't stand not feeling the real air and seeing the real sky at least once or twice a day. We're all wondering what we're gonna do when it really gets cold. I contemplated buying a mask today, because when the tears freeze on my cheek, it's pretty cold. But, I'll wait until it gets a little colder. I'm living in long johns underneath my other clothes all the time except for when I sleep. (My room gets the morning sun straight through the window, and is heated pretty well, so I'm always warm in there. Yay!)

I went downtown with my Korean tutor today. She's an exhange student from South Korea. We ordered rice cakes for her group trip tomorrow, then we went on a paper search for my beginner Thanksgiving lesson on Thursday. It doesn't feel like Thanksgiving (well, I have to remind myself, I AM in China), but maybe it will once we start making cornucopias, origami turkeys, and singing "Turkey, Turkey" to the tune of "Frere Jacques." I hope that our freshman university students won't think it's too babyish. Last year, they made turkeys out of tracings of their hands, so I think this'll be a little better. We went to have an egg custard and warm orange juice at a cake shop after shopping, then she went to meet some other friends for dinner. I opted for spicy squid on a stick and some rice cakes from a vendor in front of the grocery store, then bought some milk and yogurt and headed home. I feel so sorry for those vendors who have to work with their hands exposed to the cold. Brr!

We had the electricity turned off all day at school for some repair, so I came back to the office to drop off my paper and check my email. It's the weekend, so I'll get to sleep in a bit, study a bit, and grade some tests over the next two days. I'm looking forward to it.

1 comment:

Madame Angela Baggett said...

I went to a very big university in Quebec that had underground tunnels to all the buildings on campus. Lots of Africans went to the school since it was a huge french univ., but many of them never saw the light of day all winter! There was a cafeteria, the dorms, the classrooms, a post office and computer store, a church and store... they had all they needed without the snow and cold! But I was like you. I loved hiking through the knee high snow and feeling the sting of cold and breathing the air and feeling alive. Ok, maybe my brain was frozen and not working!! Happy Thanksgiving to you! love ya.