The Rainy Season is Here!

We woke up Friday morning to our first really, really rainy day. This, as we remember all too well from Taiwan, is winter in southern Asia. I remember it rained for months and months straight in Taiwan, and the first time we saw a blue sky all winter was when our plane broke through the clouds as we left the place for good! The rain here really isn't like we get at home- it rains twice as hard as the hardest Canadian rain I've ever seen... and it tends to rain sideways too. With the rain has come a sharp drop in the temperature. Last week we had the AC on everyday and this week we're wearing head to toe sweat suits and have the electric heater on to stay comfy inside. Also, all of our clothes and towels feel damp because we don't have real heaters in our place. It's familiarly uncomfortable.

When we woke up Friday and heard the rain, we hoped it would pass before we had to go to school. But by the time I was in the shower it was pounding down even harder and I could see the lightning flashing through the frosted bathroom window. Chinese schools were closed, but not our school- lucky us! We ditched the bikes for the day and walked it, feeling pretty glad that we'd brought boots and K-way jackets from home. The food cart in the above picture usually does a good business with the migrant workers near our place in the mornings, but there weren't any customers lined up on Friday.

I've been told that China's not as bad as Taiwan was, but we'll see! It's rained pretty bad all day Friday, Sunday and today too. Anyway, see the above photo for the way I like to enjoy the rain: from inside! Sunday morning the weather didn't bother me at all. I just enjoyed watching the heavens pour down on us from the comfort of my balcony, poop-shaped coffee mug in hand.