myretroperspective

As often as this Florida girl has complained about the cold to some northerner, I've been encouraged to enjoy the snow, and all that a winter wonderland has to offer. Thanks to R having president's day off last week and our wonderful CLO (community liaison officer) organizing a little trip, we finally were able to embrace the arctic. R gives a thumbs up as he careens down the hill (granted it looks quite flat in this picture) We headed back out to 期盘山 QiPanShan, home to  the Shenyang Ice Festival  for some "snow play" as we called it for the kids. Because R has only ever snowboarded and because it was only $24 (150 RMB) to ski or snowboard for the day, I thought it could be a good time for me to try to learn. The few other times I've been skiing, I've never wanted to give up the opportunity to ski to just fall on my rear end over and over again, so I've never snowboarded. With little at stake, I decided this was my chance- Winter X-games, here I come! R on...

The day R and I found out our first post was to Shenyang, China  I texted one of my best friends the news, and she promptly (after doing a quick wikipedia search for shenyang) sent me this quote by author Albert Camus: "In the depths of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer." As you're by now quite familiar, my fear of the cold loomed largely in my thoughts about our first post, the way the unknown often can. This response bolstered me in the midst of my fears. This weathering of the winter would not undo me; it would instead be an exercise in self-discovery. This particular friend may have been one of few people who challenges me to understand myself better because she is always learning more about herself. Not in an introspective myopic way, but in a I-understand-others-and-the-world-around-me-better-if-I-know-myself way. So here we are. Six weeks in. In the depths of winter. Daily I strive to discover the invincible summer within me. Sometimes I lo...

This guy guards our grocery store. Not soon after getting to Shenyang we heard about the 9 nines of the Chinese agriculture calendar that describe the progression of the Chinese* winter. Basically starting with the winter solstice (December 22, 2012 this winter) you count 9 days out and winter melts into spring. There's even a clever nursery rhyme about it that goes something like this: 一九二九不出手 yi jiu, er jiu, bu chu shou;  First 9 days, second 9 days, don't take your hands out of your pockets; 三九四九冰上走 san jiu, si jiu, bing shang zou  Third 9 days, fourth 9 days, walk out on the ice; 数五九笑井口 shu wu jiu, xiao jing kou Count the fifth 9 days, start to smile; 春打六九头 沿河看重枊 chun da liu jiu tou, yan he kan zhong ang Spring starts in the sixth 9 days, pay close attention to the willow trees along the river;   七九冻河开 qi jiu dong he kai Seventh 9 days, the frozen river melts; 八九雁儿来 ba jiu yan er lai Eighth 9 days, the wild geese come home; 九九又一九 耕牛遍地走  jiu jiu you yi jiu, geng n...

One thing I would definitely do differently when packing for our next tour would be to take all the cold/flu medication I can with me on the plane. Unfortunately for us, I put the costco-procured bulk size medication in our consumables which are still months away from delivery. I packed a limited amount of meds in our checked luggage, but am about to run out after being sick myself twice now in the 3 weeks since we arrived and R having been sick this past weekend as well. It is no surprise that upon moving to a new place with new germs and lower public hygiene standards in the middle of winter, we've picked up a few bugs. That and there's always the insane level of pollution messing with our respiratory systems (this last week has been particularly bad- 701 on the air quality index as of this posting according to:  http://www.aqicn.info/?city=Shenyang ). Really the pollution applies more to R as he prefers walking the 1.5 miles to the consulate each day. Somehow we ended up on ...

all made from snow & ice  a great frozen wall of China Last week R got invited (along with everyone else at the Consulate) to attend the Shenyang Ice Festival opening ceremonies. While we weren't sure what to expect when R asked if I wanted to go, I was appalled at the question- how could I not want to go to an Ice Festival when that's pretty much what this region is known for?! That and the dumplings. a view of the snow village another view of the snow village After a long van ride outside the city we pulled up about 10 minutes late to the ceremony and all I could hear was Gangnam Style blaring. The van windows were fogged up and then the condensation had frozen so it wasn't until we opened the doors that we saw people in full polar bear costumes dancing to gangnam style. It has bothered me ever since that I did not capture this on film. I feel like I've failed myself and posterity. ( I did find one picture online if you're dying to see it. )  maybe my favorite...