In the FREEZER!!

We were able to get away for a few days and visit our friends in Harbin (Har-bean for you Okie's) last weekend. We flew out from Changzhou on Thursday afternoon and the temperature here was in the 40s F. By the time we arrived in Harbin, a two and a half hour flight, the temperature was about 16 F. We were mighty glad to get inside the house! We stayed with our friends, Bill and Kate (he really isn't working that hard at that cleaning). They both teach in Harbin. We went to a Russian restaurant for supper which was marvelous, especially since we had walked part of the way and were nicely chilled. They treated us to a Chinese Hot Pot meal the next day then we went to the Ice Festival. (Check this out!) It is hard to believe that all of this is made of ICE! The kids were even riding these bicycles that had sleds on them. Looked like they were having a ball. The things were beautiful although we could only stand to be out in the elements for about an hour with a warm-up time in between. We had on several layers of clothes but our fingers and toes still got so very cold. The temperature got down to -20 celsius that night and the wind was very sharp. I couldn't even wear my glasses because the moisture froze on the lens. We went out to the festival at 4:30 in the afternoon and it was already getting quite dark. By the time we left (at about 6:30) it seemed like it should already be 9:00 pm at least. We were certainly ready for something nice and hot when we got back to their apartment. It was a wonderful trip, but I don't know if I could live there or not. Our friends told us that this is a warm winter for them so far.

I stood at Kate's balcony and took the picture of the little cars that are actually three-wheeled motorcycles that have a coal heater inside and are used to haul people around. As we were leaving we saw one of the carts that are pulled by a donkey. It was neat sight for us.

I guess if a person lived there they would get used to the very cold temperatures for about 8 months out of the year and the sun coming up at 3:30 in the morning during some of that time. I was able to go to school with Kate on Saturday and we went to a church in Harbin where the people were so nice and friendly! They even had a deaf outreach. As cold as things were there, the sun was shining and their apartment felt so much warmer than ours. Oh well, just grab more blankets. :) As we headed home we saw the clouds moving in and by the time we reached Changzhou, it was raining. Well, enough for now - time for bed and then get ready for another teaching day tomorrow.