It's snowing!

Aside from some flurries that were more like sleet than snow a few weeks ago, Friday was the first snow of the year in Harbin! The weather report had falsely predicted snow several times, so when it said that it was supposed to snow everyday from Friday to Monday, I was skeptical. But it has been snowing pretty constantly since my one on one class on Friday, and there are about two and a half inches on the ground now. Just as I was asking myself why I lugged my snow boots all the way here from Chicago, I'm glad I have them because I don't think they have the concept of plowing sidewalks here, and I don't expect it to melt any time soon.

The largest snow storm in 50 years happened in Beijing on November 1st; many people think the government induced precipitation to help deal with the drought that northern China has experienced this year. It's unclear how it is snowing so much at this time in November, but leave it to the Chinese government to not be transparent about it and offer mixed messages.

See this Wall Street Journal article:
"Blizzard Renews Storm Over China Making Snow"

Christmas!

As the first day of November, I am officially declaring it the Christmas season! This may seem premature as even commercial America usually counts Black Friday as this landmark, but with a high of 20 degrees today and a low of -2 last night, I think it's justified. Plus, I'll be missing two weeks of lighted trees covered in snow and storefront windows decorated for the season on M St and Michigan Ave, so I need to make up for it. This Sunday morning that was supposed to be dedicated to the studying that I didn't get done yesterday has consisted of listening to Christmas music on youtube -- take that China :) -- and sipping my Seattle's Best french roast...mmm.

Honestly, I don't feel very much guilt for my "slacking off" as the week after midterms was originally supposed to be our fall break were it not for the cold that's been going around. I can truly say that last week was the longest week of classes since my first week in Harbin, which was most likely the hardest week of my life, as pathetic as that might seem.

So Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and I'll even add in New Year's!