Now that I'm back it's pretty cold here, but supposedly this winter is much better compared to last? The first few days I was back it was pretty gross - spitting rain all day, really wet and cloudy (it’s hard to tell if they’re real clouds or pollution), and today is the first day that it's cold, but no rain, and the air is a bit drier so it doesn’t SEEM as cold as it has.
Yesterday while out and about with Curt, though, I finally understood something that has puzzled me for awhile... I had been wondering why the Chinese always seem SO bundled up (in ski clothes, practically), when the temperature is in the 50’s? Turns out they have no heating, or at least, it is more rare to have heating! Even this doesn’t sound like it’s a huge deal, but I think we take for granted how much we rely on this.
We were out yesterday for maybe 4ish hours running to various places around town, and we had Han and the car, which of course, is heated, but in each place we were spending 30 minutes to an hour. Usually when you’re out in the winter at home, you know you’ll be cold for a few minutes while walking from the car to X store, but here, you don’t get any warm respite when you reach your destination!
I didn’t really pack with this in mind, I packed for winter-in-China-for-the-few-minutes-outside-of-the-car-deal, so I had on jeans, a long sleeve t-shirt, and a fleece. In each place, by the time we left I was a popsicle… and then it would start over. I’d step out of the car, and feel like the weather was great, 10 minutes passes, it’s starting to get chilly, 20 minutes passes, I’m a bit cold, and after 30+ minutes, I’m a shivering, teeth-chattering idiot trying to wrap it up as soon as possible.
What was even more interesting is one of our errands involved going to Wedding Street to get one of my dresses I had made altered (see below). So I’m in this store with no heat, stripping down behind a curtain, and the Chinese lady that speaks no English comes and turns on what I thought was a standing floor fan but is REALLY A HEATER! Whoa!! It helped, but I still had goose bumps all over me while we were “discussing,” or pantomiming what I needed to be fixed (a simple hem, and then there is too much material gathered where the bodice ends and the skirt begins, which makes me look pregnant, so imagine me trying to pantomime “no baby in there” in regards to the dress) Other than that the dress looks great (it's amazing what they can do with a picture and your own measurements, but who knows what it will look like when I get it back?!
By the time we were done with everything my body temperature was so low that it took a few hours to feel warm again even though from then on I was in warm places. I was telling Curt that if I had lived in a colder climate in the olden days I would have had to stick closer to the hearth, as it definitely gave me a new appreciation for being cold! Question answered – now I know why the Chinese constantly look as if they’re going to hit the slopes… it must take them a full half year to thaw out, as well, as even in the dead of summer they have long sleeves and pants on with a jacket!
Off to the pearl market this afternoon, and then waiting around for Maverick’s surgery to begin this evening (send up some prayers, people – I need him).
*Maverick had surgery to remove a lump/tumor on his tail right before Christmas as it had cancerous cells in it. We were hoping we got it all but right before I left this time I found another new lump on his shoulder blade which they’re going in for tonight (or morning, US time). They’re doing x-rays before hand to see if anything shows up in his organs, and then if not, going forward with the removal, and if so, Curt and I will have some talking to do tonight…
2 comments:
Poor Mav! Many prayers going his way. Please update when you know something.
Heard it went well - is he coherent yet?
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