Steam rises from manhole cover on a frosty morning Because I did a lot of blog reading before I left for China, I was prepared for the fact that Chinese classrooms are not very well heated in the winter. My students are reluctant to leave their morning home room class on the sunny side of the building for the language lab room where I teach. The radiators put out very little heat and the single pane windows are drafty. An under-powered steam system (that's steam escaping from a man hole cover as students walk to class in the morning) can't keep the buildings, which were built to a lavish scale, at anything like room temperature. Even Jimmy Carter would be nudging up the thermostat.
Earlier in the year - Ross at laundry racks Ross and I can retreat to our nice heated apartment, but the students take all their meals in the dining hall, which is very cold, then go to a cold classroom. They must return to their classroom in the evening for two hours of study time. Their dorm rooms aren't toasty warm either.
Add to this the fact that they don't have running hot water in their rooms -- they have to carry hot water from the dining hall in large vacuum flasks up many flights of stairs. All in all, a situation that few North American kids would put up with.
Oh, and the laundry. There are no dryers, so we dry our clothes indoors or outdoors. Clotheslines are strung up overhead in the dormitory bathroom and we can also hang our sheets up outside. Ross amazed and impressed the folks around here by going around in short sleeved shirts in November while the Chinese were bundled up in sweaters and winter coats. My winter coat is in Canada so I've been managing with layers, sweaters and mufflers. It's still not as cold as Canada and there's been no snow.
Best thing about winter in Zibo -- we're further south than our hometown in Canada, so we get an extra hour of sunlight every day! It's made a difference!
Ross noticed these roses in November in front of the city archives building It's a big building but consider that people have lived in this area for 5,000 years. Below, the hard-working army of maintenance workers rake leaves and prune the ornamental trees.
Add to this the fact that they don't have running hot water in their rooms -- they have to carry hot water from the dining hall in large vacuum flasks up many flights of stairs. All in all, a situation that few North American kids would put up with.
Oh, and the laundry. There are no dryers, so we dry our clothes indoors or outdoors. Clotheslines are strung up overhead in the dormitory bathroom and we can also hang our sheets up outside. Ross amazed and impressed the folks around here by going around in short sleeved shirts in November while the Chinese were bundled up in sweaters and winter coats. My winter coat is in Canada so I've been managing with layers, sweaters and mufflers. It's still not as cold as Canada and there's been no snow.
Best thing about winter in Zibo -- we're further south than our hometown in Canada, so we get an extra hour of sunlight every day! It's made a difference!
Ross noticed these roses in November in front of the city archives building It's a big building but consider that people have lived in this area for 5,000 years. Below, the hard-working army of maintenance workers rake leaves and prune the ornamental trees.
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