Brrr.

It's been cold this week in Shanghai. We have had spitting snow sporadically over the last 5 days. And, yes, relative to Michigan, temps hanging around 32degF aren't bad. But,

when you don't turn on the heat in the building, it's cold inside. Last winter, they used the "ceiling mounted" heaters enough to get the temperature up to 66 or so by lunchtime. However, this year, they want to reduce operating costs. So, the heaters were not being used last week. The temperature, at my desk, upon arrival was 59degF. It topped out around 63 on the day. My winter coat became a new part of "business casual". I inquired about a larger keyboard so that I could wear my gloves.

Fortunately, Aimee got me some long underwear for Christmas. So, I busted those out this week. It was a whole new world of warm. I was so impressed with myself, that I told my 3 closest friends at work. Much to my dismay, Zhao Jianqing showed me his and these pieces of verbal shrapnel took the wind right out of my sails:

"I've been wearing mine for 4 weeks" ZJQ
"3 weeks for me" Chen Wei
"I began to wear mine 6 weeks ago" Ma Xifang

At that point, I unleashed my own verbal counterattack that began with, "WHY IN THE WORLD DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME WHAT KIND OF UNDERWEAR TO WEAR TO WORK?!??!"

Then, I went silent and returned to my seat and started checking my email. I overstepped the age old rule of office etiquette-- don't talk about our underwear.


Seriously, heat is a scarcely used resource in China because of the cost. Guo Zhixiang explained the other day on the way home that, his rented apartment temperature would be somewhere in the 40's that evening. He explained that he would spend the evening in his bed, under the covers. I've come to learn that this is common with many of my coworkers.

So, add this to the list of things you've been taking for granted in your life........heat.

I gotta drop a picture of Rachel. She likes oatmeal and rice but abhors apples, avocado, sweet potato, banana and the list goes on.....but we aren't giving up! We are in for the long haul.