That Stubborn Beijing Winter

It's freezing here in Beijing. Is Spring ever going to come? At least the trees are being brave and are putting on their spring clothes. The plum trees are various shades of pink and red, the forsythia is a riot of yellow, and the deciduous trees are tinged in green. I have yet to put my winter coat away!

Spring Festival in the U.S

This year was the first of our 10 years in China that we returned to the U.S. for winter holiday which in China is called Spring Festival. We had two months off beginning January 1st and since John hadn't returned to the States in the summer, we decided to visit our son in Chico, California for the holidays.

We had a great family time hanging out together, watching some new films and eating lots of our favorite American food (including Mexican!). We have made friends with some Chinese folks in Chico, so when Chinese New Years Eve rolled around we got together with them and celebrated Chinese style. I really felt like we had stepped back into Beijing. We made jiaozi, (a Chinese dumpling) and hot pot with some spices I brought back from China and ate lots of other traditional Chinese food. We met some Chinese students and Chinese professors from Chico State University and just had a great time celebrating Chinese culture and the Year of the Tiger (which is my year, by the way!)

We loved being back in America experiencing our home culture, but it was fun bringing a bit of China back with us as well. Maybe I could borrow from an old saying and conclude, you can take me out of China, but you can't take China out of me !

Well, we are back in Beijing and have started our classes. I am now teaching at Peking University and John is continuing at the Sport University. We look forward to a rewarding year with our students.