Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

Last Friday morning, December 2nd, I got up and stumbled out of my apartment around 7:15 a.m. As I groggily entered the elevator to go down and head to school, my phone buzzed. "Who on earth is texting me right now?" I thought to myself. I looked at the small Nokia screen. The message was from Dawna. It read, "Snow!! The start of a good day!"

Suddenly all fatigue left me. My heart leaped up in its case of tissue and bone. I frantically tried to find a Christmas song on my iShuffle. I exited the building and saw dusty white falling from the sky, dusty white that continued falling gently all morning and into the early afternoon.

Let's be honest: compared to the way it falls in Iowa and Minnesota, the snow that landed on Beijing on Friday was pretty dang weak. However, every time I've asked more experienced Beijing residents about how much snow we'd get this winter, they'd replied skeptically: "Not much, if any." So! This initial snowfall - a smidge of which remains in just the right places - lifted my heart from the depths. The last three winters that I've staggered through have been bitterly cold but have lacked that constant blanket of white everywhere, that beautiful sheet that takes the bite off just a little. Thus, the snow on Friday was warmly welcomed by me and my camera. Here are some pictures of what happened. I know they are far from epic, but they are what they are.

From my homeroom classroom's window:


Near B-Dubs:


On the way to Chuar Friday lunch:


On the way back from Chuar Friday lunch:


Dan enjoying the snow: