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My winter weather


Catherineli
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Hello everyone!

I'd like to share our winter weather here as some of you have few chances to see the north in China. I live in Changchun City where it's very close to the "Deserted North" (but please know CC has never been the "Deserted North". Japan used to locate CC as their capital city.

It's a typical north area with much snow and ice. Ice scultures're often seen in CC as well as in Harbin where you can visit "ice world". I went to Harbin to see the ice world in 2011. We even didn't want to take pictures when visiting the ice things because we couldn't afford to hold the camera with our naked hands. We saw "Temple of Heaven". We saw Different towers. We also slided through Great Wall. All these were made of ice. Skating and skiing was a sure thing.

Traditionally we don't drive. I can't forget my trips to school in the past as a student. Walking step by step in the deep snow caused with blizzards, I often had to endure the snow getting into my shoes. The blowing snow blasted up the cold air to all over of my body. The harsh winter winds felt like daggers striking my face even if I had a hat over my head. More often than not, my warm breath and the cold air below the freezing point produced frost around my lips and the edge of my fur hat as well. Meanwhile my glasses became blurry. So my face became covered in ice crystals. The frostlike powder became my moustache or my beard. I was turned a real Santa Clause. No one has ever heard of a Santa Clause being a Chinese girl.

I'm grateful that our life is getting much easier.

Here're some snow+ ice pix for everyone!

 

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Love to see snow and ice pics! For fifteen years (1983 until late 1997, early 1998) I lived in Miami, which is a city very far south in the USA. It is warm year round. I also grew up in Florida, so I mostly lived in climates where ice and snow were non-existent. When living in Miami, I used to take my vacations in the winter every year and travel to a cold, cold area, like northern New England (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, etc), or northwest Montana, in the mountains. I would do this so I could experience the cold, the ice, and snow. I loved it! Yet I don't think I could take a steady diet of ice and cold. A few weeks is great, a few months is another thing. You must be a very strong lady to endure those conditions.

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Sorry, I didn't finish sharing before my computer crashed down. Let me go on. There are some small tricks. Southerners seldom notice. (1) You have to walk on the ice in small steps like Japanese women do, rather than your usual strides. (2) Dry snow can be a cleaner. We used to wash our heavy woolen coat or thick blanket with clean fresh snow. (3) Snow and rain water are also good with watering the indoor plants. Our winter lake can be a big fun. We skate, ski and slide. Some people knock out a swimming pool out of the ice on the lake. Winter swimming in the "open- air" lake is a fashion now.

The lake is so solide frozen that many trucks and cars run on it as if dashng on the asphalt road. I was practing riding a bicycle on the lake and fell many times. But in the past we all rode bicycles on the icy road when going to to work. Well today is my weekend. I just like to talk about weather with you guys. I like to hear your weather too. I never understand why raining is romantic to some people. They also think steps on the snow produce musical sound. To us the north sufferers, I just take any snow and rain a big physical torment. Please know I'm not whining. No matter where we live, every day is a gift. I jest love livin above the grass. My prayer is to live in the south and speak southern English. Howdy to do you to? everyone 10711008_476889309120629_413105827869113

 

 

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Hi Dennis, Mick and Larry, Northerners have few chances to see the sea. Sea waves arouse many beautiful imaginations. I bet it's like southerners who love to see the snow. Peopl from the south take snowflakes, big or small, beautiful. Maybe that's why Edelweiss was born in the "Sound of Music." I have to tell you that Montana is warmer than Changchun in China. I have friends and inlaw relations living in the Mantana. The west Montana is different from the east Montana, though.

BTW, everything you see in the pix is made of ice. Some light-bulbs are built in. So in the darkness, it's really fantastic. Harbin is a place worth visiting in the winter. Unfortunately, I can't put all the scenery into my small camera. I can't post every picture here either for the limtation of the space.

Have a good day!

 

Catherine

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Thanks so much for sharing those pics! I have always wanted to visit Harbin in the winter and I also have an American friend who has taught in Jilin for many years and want to visit him as well, when and if my health permits. Meanwhile, I hope you have a great winter this year and find ways to enjoy the scenic beauty of your homeland. :cold: :victory:

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Catherin, I enjoyed the pictures very much. Like I said in my earlier post I did spend some time up in the northern part of Canada and Thule Greenland at the arctic circle, Happy Valley Goose Bay, Newfoundland Canada and Thule Greenland, so I do understand about what your are saying about how the cold can bite. Being from the south, North Carolina coast, I absolutely love it up there. I spent two winter up there. The only thing that I didn't like was preparing to go outside for any extended length of time. For our off duty time we had tunnels underground connecting many of the buildings. The coldest it got there was -65 degree below 0 while I was there. When it would warm up to 10-20 degree most everyone would be walking around with just a shirt on and no coat. Now when I was at work working on the flight line on airplane stuff it was a much different story. I hated that part. Very difficult to work on things like that when it's -45 degree and the wind is blowing 30 mph. I distinctly remember the first time that I went out when it was very cold and took in a deep breath through my nose my nostrils closed up and froze for a fraction of a second. If course the Air Force gave us very good cold weather clothing to wear so we were pretty well taken care of in that respect and we could wear the gov issue clothes anywhere that we want to. Even down town where I lived later on.

 

I guess that folks that lived up there would love to live in North Carolina or Florida too. Kinda strange isn't it. Southerners go north in the winter to enjoy the snow, to snow ski and ice skate etc. and folks that live up north come to the southern states in the winter to enjoy the beaches.

 

Anyway thanks for the wonderful pictures they brought back great memories for me.

Larry

Edited by amberjack1234 (see edit history)
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And here I thought you lived in the USA all along. :dunno:

Well even in Texas, as a kid walking to school, I HATED how the cold wind would go up a coat. :cold: I lived just inside the 2 mile limit for a school bus and always had to walk. Somehow I always wound up with a coat that was longer and so warm, the parents would say, but open at the bottom like a skirt. I always wanted a jacket with the elastic at the bottom to keep the wind out. Of course now I am so fat the coat is sealed regardless :rotfl: . Us Southern boys just weren't used to the cold, and even in Texas we had some snow, but usually ice storms, or the snow turned to ice by the next day. Of course NOTHING like the cold you and Larry experienced. I lived in that kind of cold once. It always wanted to put me to sleep, so I got out of there.

 

Those pics look great, and SOOOOooo good to hear your stories.

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Hi you guys, good to hear from you again! I've been rooted in the north all my life. The social hierarchical structures in China was so strong that it fixed us from head to toe to one place. A woman English teacher from Shanghai wanted to move to Shanghai from our department. She asked again and again to have permission to be released from our school. She was not allowed to leave our school. Finally after years effort, she knelt down to the Dean at office in public. Later she succeeded. Now she is still in Shanghai but I have no idea if it was because of her knee job on the floor.

 

The north weather was much colder before the global warming. In my childhood, many families had ice in the water jar in the kitchen, which means their temperature was below freezing point. Our home was warmer because our father never allowed us kids to go out to play. He would check our thermometer on the wall as soon as he was home from work. So we didn't leave our door many chances to open. But we were children and we had to go out to play. We often coaxed our dad. When we heard our dad's footsteps coming home, I would run to him to talk to him in the door way to buy time for my brother and my sister inside. Then inside another assembly line would set up within a blink of an eye. My brother would open his mouth large to cover the thermometer to warm it up. My sister would quickly made our room tidy and clean. Our dad would be happy to see us and to see the "warmer" room. But sometimes he would check the thermometer again after the first check. To his surprise he found the degree was lower. We would say it was him who came home and brought the cold air in. He was convinced at once. We've never told him the truth. Maybe I should call him tomorrow to see how much larger his mouth open laughing. lol

Have a laughin' day! Someday I won't be northerner. I ain't cheatin' myself. Howdy Doug?

Catherine

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This is actually SUMMER weather - smack in the middle of one of the OLDEST road races in the U.S. (a longer running legacy than even the Indianapolis 500) - the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. A summer thunderstorm cropped up in the middle of it, everyone was told to take cover from lightning. I was one of the first to venture out after it had cleared and took this shot.

 

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Colorado and seeing snow was one of my favorite vacations - I went several times in March and November and caught some early (and late) season snow. I never went skiing, although it was fun to just watch others swarming down the mountains (it never looked very appealing)

 

We rarely saw snow in Houston (Jiaying didn't see any while she was there).

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Is the white stuff in the picture snow? Summer snow must be fascinating! "Everyone was told to take cover from lightning", Randy, do you think our metal glasses will bring us harm from the electricity in the thundestorm? I see you wear glasses too. If a tornado comes, can we just hold a post or a big tree to stay safe when there is no basement nearby? I was told to run sideways from the tornado, instead of the same direction but how can I tell the tornado running way?

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Is the white stuff in the picture snow? Summer snow must be fascinating! "Everyone was told to take cover from lightning", Randy, do you think our metal glasses will bring us harm from the electricity in the thundestorm? I see you wear glasses too. If a tornado comes, can we just hold a post or a big tree to stay safe when there is no basement nearby? I was told to run sideways from the tornado, instead of the same direction but how can I tell the tornado running way?

 

 

Well, they told everyone to get in the cars, which was the only shelter (yes, snow). The tires on the cars provide insulation to ground, so you have a little bit of protection. There were no trees, since we were above the timberline. But a tree would tend to draw lightning anyway - it's not good to stand under one in a thunderstorm. Trying to dodge a storm is not a good situation to find yourself in.

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Comparing with tornado weather, I still like my north weather where it is more stable. We seldom or never had some terrible tolls in the northeast, no earthquake, no tornadoes. BTW, our father is very very strict with us not to fib for anything. The family rule for honesty benefits us all in our whole life. No one is a fool after all. Best wishes for everyone!

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