The cold fall arrived in Harbin and settled her dry cold self into my
toes, hands and every building I spent time in (including my
apartment). For a while the heat was not turned on anywhere because
the Chinese heating system follows dates on calendar. The Moon takes
precedence over Cold and so the time-of-the-long-underwear and the
time-of-the-radiator comes when he dictates and neither the warmth of
Sun nor the chill of North Wind can persuade otherwise. The long
underwear comes out just after the Mid-Autumn Festival and, without
fail, my students layer on the wool under thick pants and puffy winter
coats. The body is not to get cold and the translation for an upset
stomach is a cold stomach. Unfortunately, I have the quirky body of
my father with ice feet and hands that do not cooperate regardless of
how I dress. Nicely then, I am forever told how cold hands mean a
warm heart, which comforts but at times I could do with a bit less
extreme for either organ. It causes me endless frustration to be
either sweating in my big winter coat or freezing in a thinner
windbreaker so usually I just go through endless
taking-off-and-putting-back-on to regulate my jumpy body temperature.
It is a little shocking to my overly protective students though to
see me arrive all in a huff and promptly strip down to short sleeves
to begin the class, fussing about how warm the room is; they wouldn't
be caught dead in short sleeves in winter unless they were planning to
work out in a warmed gym…and even then I am not sure they would go so
far. I do not jest; a thin almost hose type layer, then a thick wool
layer, then the jeans, then the long puffy coat. I have seen knitted
knickers an inch thick underneath heavy sweaters and my longjohn lack
is probably just as concerning to them.
Anyway, the radiator underneath each windowsill finally came on
the end of October during a rather cold spell and we were all
overjoyed to be able to sit in our rooms and feel warm. Of course,
occasionally they really crank up the water heat (or something) and we
all put on tanktops and shorts and forget that it is –9C outside until
the wind hits our face and our warm pampered faces wonder if they
should have hibernated in the sauna room of the apartment forever.
Yesterday, joy of joys, it snowed (xue in Chinese)! Suddenly,
winter has arrived with her blanket of white to shield the poor bare
swept earth. I wonder some if I mourn a bit during the time between
the glory of harvest and the sleep of winter. The bare ground and
stripped trees seem so cold and tired of life; I feel tired of life
too. The sun spends less and less time with the forsaken north and my
heart understands those ancient people that gave great sacrifices to
urge the sun to come back and not abandon them. Yet, the moment those
fluffy white specks hit the ground and energy changes; winter has come
and, be it only an inch of frozen dry white, it is an inch of white
and it makes all the difference to my sensitive soul. So…I am over
exaggerating but truly I am learning the simple joys are the sweetest
and most healing. Yeah for xue!
