Coldness

I just have to report that this morning was 16 degrees F. That's something like -8 degrees C and I could feel it! I went for a walk before class and had to turn around much quicker than I wanted to because my hands were literally in pain from the cold. And yes, I had on gloves-wool ones! It is bitterly cold and supposed to only get colder. Had to share it:)

On the bus

Sorry, I found out the last post didn't put the picture up! Here's the picture of a typical bus ride in China!

Thanksgiving Again!

Today we had a traditional Thanksgiving meal! It was fully loaded with two turkeys and all the fixin's! It was my first Thanksgiving not with family. My first Thanksgiving in China. My first Thanksgiving with 30+ people! My first Thanksgiving without homemade macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, deviled eggs, pecan pie and sweet tea. But it was my first Thanksgiving with mashed potatoes and salad! My first Thanksgiving with a full-on football game! My first Thanksgiving with a play put on by the children. My first Thanksgiving singing the Doxology. My first Thanksgiving where my dad didn't say the blessing. My first Thanksgiving where I didn't spend the whole day in the kitchen with the other women!

It really was a great day!

On the Bus

To give you an idea of what sitting on the bus is like in China!

T-Day

Some American friends got together for Thanksgiving on Thursday night. We had breakfast for dinner. Delicious! The spread of waffles, homemade whipped cream, apple compote, homemade hashbrowns, quiche, sausage egg casserole, homemade cinnamon rolls and grits made it spectacular! Notice the paper turkey in the back! Thanks to a package from the States that came just in time to decorate with and make our meal even more festive!

Holes all around

So I'm laying in bed last night trying to go to sleep and I smell cigarette smoke! What? I don't smoke! And I'm on the fourth floor so it's not coming from outside. Oh that's right! The old guy from Japan lives above me. I'm pretty sure he must be a personal ad for the cigarette company. He's a chimney! He's really sweet, but he's a chimney!

The way our piping works in building is that they have drilled holes through the ceilings and floors putting pipes from the top floor the bottom floor. The pipes aren't in the walls they're on the outside so everyone can see them and the holes aren't sealed up real well. So...when I play my music loud the people above me as well as below me can hear it. And when Mr. Japan smokes his cigarettes at 11:30 at night the smoke drifts right on in to my apartment giving everything in here the sweet smell of cigarette smoke. You would think my apartment was a country line-dancing place where 200 people just spend hours sweating and smoking while listening to "You Think My Tractor's Sexy"! :)

No it's not really THAT bad. After sitting there a bit and smelling the smoke I just started laughing because well...this is China! Laughing is good!

Freezing!

It was 37 degrees this morning at 9:00 when I went to class and it was 37 this afternoon and it's 37 now at 9:45 at night. It is so cold here! And that's not even taking into account the wind! Apparently I haven't even seen the worst yet! Burr!

Prayers to the wrong One

Here are some pics from my little vacation trip around here. It's some old temples. I'm standing in front of a stone lion. There are actually two of them and one is male and one is female. I believe I'm standing with the female. Not sure though. The temples are very tall buildings and still to this day people go inside and burn incense and give money to Buddha. The other pictures are of the inside of the tall buildings.

Are you scared?

Probably not! I wouldn't be either:) The school started a volleyball team for the international students. We showed up and they gave us sweatbands for our wrists! It was so great! So this is me after we played! We lost last week when we played. But we won this week! The school actually brings in real teams to play us! These teams have uniforms and everything. They are serious about some volleyball! Let me tell ya!