Sheepish Gratitude

One of the bright points during the transition to cold weather was our

opportunity to try out our "cold weather gear." i must preface this by

explaining my preparation (or lack thereof) the last time I spent a

year teaching in China.

Last time I was almost completely caught off guard for the winter

conditions in China. In case you didn't know, the Chinese don't

believe in central heating and air (or maybe they do, they're just to

money concious to consider it an efficient use of energy). Most

buildings are poured concrete structures with tile or concrete floors

and single-layer glass windows ( as I noted I. My previous post, the

cold just creeps into your body from the walls and floors).

The Chinese also have some interesting views on winter weather. "Wear

more clothes (usually pronounced like 'closes')" and, "drink more hot

water" are two expressions they learn and remind each other of from a

very early age. Evidently, these two mantras promote good health

during cold months. However, "heat the building" and "stay inside" are

not a part of tbis philosophy. Instead they adhere to another

expression, "breathe more fresh air" to keep from getting sick or

catching a cold.

The end result of all these combined views of cold and health

contributed to my experience in the classroom. Frequently, once class

begins I close the doors a d windows to the room, so we can at least

be warmed by bodyheat (everyone keeps their coats, scarves, hats, and

gloves on during class). That is, until one student gets up in the

middle of class and announces "we need more fresh air," and opens the

windows allowing the cold wind to gust in and the heat to escape, all

at their classmates approval.

My previous firsthand experience of this was miserable. I had only

packed a couple of hooded sweatshirts and a light jacket for the

winter months (fortunately I received some baselayer undershirts and

warm socks from my family in the mail for Christmas, and a fellow

teacher let me borrow his spare carhart jacket).

This time however was much better. Rebecca and I invested quite a bit

in a variety of merino wool baselayer, shirts, and sweaters. I am

convinced this material (merino wool) is God's gift to people who

travel in winter. It's light, easy to pack and layer, and WARM! Every

few days was like Christmas for us as we unpacked (and sometimes cut

off the tags!) of these warm items that we packed in the heat of

summer. It was definitely a high point among the dulling chills that

winter provided