Fall !!! ...or lack there of

Last Sunday afternoon I was walking around in my short sleeved t-shirt. Monday morning I woke up to frigid frigid cold! I had heard that Wuhan only had two seasons (Summer and Winter), but I had never in my life felt a weather change that drastic! I found out, though, that there was more than nature at work. Beijing had been going through a drought, and to conquer it the government decided to send 180 rockets with dry ice up into the air (same as they did during the anniversary celebration) to cause it to rain. Only instead of rain, the cold weather made it snow! They got the earliest snow fall in nearly 20 years. So they did that on Sunday, and we got the cold front on Monday. Luckily, by Wednesday it was back to bearably cold, and now its back to t-shirt and light sweater weather, allowing me some more time to stock up on warm clothes. Being in California the last 4 years, I’m seriously lacking in that department. During the two cold days we had, I got a little taste of what it’s going to be like to teach this winter. The Chinese are obsessed with the idea of “fresh air” and refuse to close the windows in the classrooms no matter what the weather. They also don’t run the heater (just like they didn’t run the a/c during the heat), so the kids sit in class bundled up and wearing gloves while trying to write. I bought some gloves without fingers to make it easier for me to write on the chalk board. This is going to be very interesting experience.

Last month, I realized how cheaply you could actually live in Wuhan. When I came back from Beijing, I had 900 yuan of spending money to last me the rest of the month (3 weeks). 900 yuan is about 130 U.S. dollars. I budgeted a bit and was able to make it to payday with 200 yuan left! I say budgeted a ‘bit’ because I simply had to watch how much I spent (ate most meals at the school, etc), but I was still able to do a lot of things.

I had an interesting conversation with one of my co-teachers the other day. We took a field trip to an orange orchard about an hour away, and I sat next to her on the bus. I was asking her about her husband, because I knew she got married last year. She told me that what they have isn’t true love, but she likes him and respects him. He’s even tempered and can take care of her. I was a bit taken back that should would just come out and say that. I asked her if it was her decision to marry him, or her parents’ decision. She told me that she first met him, and introduced him to her parents. They liked him, and told her they wanted her to marry him. He had the decision of saying yes or no, and he said yes. She said that she agreed to it because she trusts her parents’ judgment more than her own. She was afraid that if she were to choose her own husband, she would make the wrong decision. She also mentioned that looking for a mate is so tiring and this was easier. I’ve been trying to get someone to talk to me about Chinese marriage practices since I got here, so I was glad she was so open with me about this. She ended with saying that she thinks she made the right decision in marrying her husband, and she is very content and close to being truly happy. The rest of the field trip was really fun! My first graders had just learned the word "orange" so I got to listen all day to them say "whats this? It's an orangey." Here's a little video of them crowding me (as usual). If you can't understand what they're saying, it's "fanatastic" only they say it like "finetastic".

I had fun celebrating my first Chinese Halloween! Pip and I both work part time at a kindergarten in the area, and they invited us to their Halloween party. We got decked out, and were by far the most dressed up. We hung out with the kids and played games, but most of the time we spent having our pictures taken by parents. Foreigners dressed up in costumes are a real photo opp! Here are some pictures of the Halloween party.

With the holiday season approaching, I thought I should include my mailing address, just in case anyone wants to send a Christmas card (or cookies) this way :) Here it is:

No. 259 Jeifang Rd

Wuchang District

Wuhan

Hubei Province

P.R. China

430060

You can also check out my pictures in my photobucket. I need to update the pictures and hope to do that soon. Check 'em out! www.photobucket.com/ahnainwuhan

Fun Fact: China is the oldest civilization still in existence today. I don't know why I never knew this before, but that is so cool to think that I am living in the oldest surviving civilization in the world!