I've never been so cold in my life!!!

As you can see, the title of this blog post needed 3 exclamation points.  Yep, I love a good exclamation point, and the weekend just gone I needed them all when describing just how cold it was.  Not just cold.  Ridiculous cold!  And when I say ridiculous, I mean R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S! At one point the temperature dropped to -35 degrees!

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  Let me start at the beginning.

If you've been following my China adventure, you may remember that 2 weeks ago I was working in the south of China, in a city called Guangzhou.  The weather was great.  Warm almost everyday, temperature around 28 degrees, and me sitting by the pool while girls in bikinis fed me grapes.  OK, maybe the pool, grapes and women in bikinis is a bit too much - but you get the picture.

Coming back to Beijing was enough of a shock to the system.  When I arrived back home, the temperature was about -2 degrees.  Pffft! -2! Is that all you can throw at me? That I can handle.  But it was nothing compared to what awaited me the next weekend.

David, the Branch Manager at our Changchun station, was throwing a party for about 400 people -  200 clients, and 200 listeners and he sent me an email officially inviting me to take part, first by making a brief presentation and then by presenting some awards. All in the city of Changchun  North-east China, where the forecast for the weekend was from -35 to -27 degrees!

Sorry, what?!

Yep, -35 degrees to -27 degrees (and we're talking celsius here people!).  In a matter of one week, I will have dropped 63 degrees!  I'm not a doctor, but I'm sure that cannot be good for your body.

Once I got over the initial shock of going somewhere where it will be colder than the coldest place I have ever been, first thing I needed to do was go and buy a warmer coat.  Preferably one that covered every inch of my body, and that had a built in heater that kept me at about 20 degrees.  OK, maybe asking too much, but off I went to Yashow market and haggled over the price of a Canadian Goose jacket.  Happy with the price, and the coat, I tried it out in the -5 degrees Beijing had decided to deliver.  Beautiful!  But how would it survive -35?

Saturday morning, up at 5:30 and decided to catch the airport express which involved about a 10 minute walk to the station .  Temp = -12 degrees.  As you can see by this photo taken at the subway station, I looked very happy to be going to -35 degrees.  But I felt warm.

Oh, and the train didn't leave until 6:30, but I realised it takes about 10 minutes to get dressed.  5 minutes to do up the bloody zipper on the coat, then put on everything else - scarf, beanie, gloves etc.

Pretty much all of the flights I have been on in China, the planes have been full.  But for some reason, not today.  Strange?!  Why don't people want to fly to Changchun where the weather is cold, and -35?

Once we landed in Changchun (after seeing from the air just how white it was), I could feel the cold walking through the airport.  This was going to be something I will remember for a long time.

I met my assistant Milly ( who flew in from Shanghai) and then we met our driver.  OK, here it comes.  Time to walk outside.  Jacket zipped up.  Scarf on.  Beanie secure.  Gloves fastened.

Walking through the door, the cold just hit me in the face and took my breath away.  It was -22 degrees! The cold reached every inch of my body in a second. Wow, what a feeling.  It felt like when you are exercising in the cold, and breathing in the cold air - but about 100 times worse!

We got to the hotel and checked in.  Lesson 1 when walking on ice.  Beware the black/clear ice.  You know, the real slippery stuff.  I think I almost fell about 5 times, but managed to stop myself.

The day was uneventful.  We went to the office to interview some staff, then back to the hotel and got ready for the big party.  Leaving the hotel (around 5pm) the temperature was -27 degrees.  And sometime over night, it would drop to -35!  Bring it on!

Next 3 hours we were in a theatre (which was surprisingly cold considering they didn't turn on the heat) watching the show put on by the Changchun staff.  My presentation went badly (the PPT didn't work), then I was asked to come up and help the magician, which was also a struggle because I didn't know what he was saying, and he didn't speak English.  I have been learning Mandarin, but I don't yet know the Chinese word for "abracadabra".

After the show finished (around 11pm) we all went off for Karaoke.  Temperature, -32 degrees.  I'm not sure of the lowest temperature I have been in (maybe in the snow fields of NSW), but on the steps of the theatre in Changchun, I was now in the coldest place I have ever been.  The photo on the left is Lio (Branch Manager of Xi'an) and my assistant Milly on the steps of the theatre.  Photo on the right is me, asking myself "what the f*** am I doing here?"

We finished karaoke around 1am, and when we walked outside it was -35 degrees!  Even though I wasn't looking forward to it, and I could not think what -35 degrees could feel like, I did take a moment and thought that this was pretty special.  I'm sure I will get the chance to go back to Changchun during winter next year, but nothing is like your first time.  Right?!

A few things I learned from the weekend:

- Wearing suit pants in -35 degrees is not a great idea.
- If you travel outside with a bottle of water, it will freeze.
- Pizza Hut in China do breakfast (I know, a bit random.  But the bacon and egg sandwich on Sunday morning from Pizza Hut was awesome)
- Taxi drivers don't put the heat on
- No matter how many times you say "geez it's cold", doesn't make it any warmer.

The Chinese - A few observations

Nihao!

Jintian, wo zhu zai Zhongguo liu ge yue le.

Oh sorry, I'm just showing off my Mandarin.  What the above says is that today, I have been in China for 6 months! (well, I hope that's what it says?!).  And what an incredible, amazing, eye opening and mind expanding 6 months it's been.  I knew that coming to China was really going to push me outside my comfort zone, and it's been worth every second.  I feel that, in my first 6 months, I have grown both professionally and personally (no, that doesn't mean I'm getting fat!).  OK, enough of the deep and meaningful stuff.

China is the world's most populous country (just in case you didn't know and you get asked that question at your next trivia night).  I am surrounded by 1.3 billion Chinese,  so I thought I would dedicate this weeks blog to a few observations I've made about the Chinese people (with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek.)

1.  Spitting

OK, so this is a big generalisation and not all Chinese spit.  But  everyday, no matter where I am, I'm guaranteed to hear the sounds of someone clearing their throat, followed by said person spitting.  I think the Chinese government should invest in the good old fashioned spittoon,  and put them on every street corner.  At least the spitting would be accompanied by the "ding" of the spittoon.  I can already see the next act on China's Got Talent.  A spittoon band!

I Googled the reason why Chinese spit, and really, there was no definitive answer.  Some say it's because of the pollution.  Others say it's because everyone does it.  But I think it is something that will be phased out over time.  It only seems to be the older generations that spits, and the teens and 20 somethings don't seem to have taken up this habit.  Maybe if Justin Bieber did it, they might take it up.

2.  Close Door button

Here's a tip for when you are riding a lift with a Chinese. If you are getting on or off the lift - be quick!  When those doors open you better jump on, or off fast!  The reason?  They love using the "door close" button.  I hesitated getting onto a lift once, and someone pushed the door close button.  The result was the doors started closing as I was walking on, and the door closing on me.  Not a very pleasant experience.  And when you are on the lift with someone, and it stops at a floor, their finger goes straight for the door close button - while the doors are still opening! Run, run for your life!

Be prepared.  Be alert. Don't hesitate!

3.  The food

Every meal I've had with my Chinese colleagues and friends is an experience.  It's part of their culture that they order enough food to ensure there will be some leftovers.  A good host will lose face if the guests eat all the food.  Guaranteed you will have enough food leftover for another meal.  I think the "doggy bag" was created in China, although in some parts of China, doggy bag has another meaning. The hardest part I have found is managing what I eat.  Because pretty much every Chinese meal is a banquet, with dishes constantly being brough out, you lose track of your portion size.  It's very easy to eat too much because you can't get an idea of "what's on YOUR plate", because you are trying all the dishes.  And don't get me started on the variety of food.  That's a whole different blog.

4.  Personal space

I suppose in a country of 1.3 billion people, personal space is a luxury.  I'm constantly fighting for space on the subway, walking down the street, fighting for cabin baggage space on a plan, even checking out of a hotel.  In Australia, you get used to people giving you your own personal space.  We obey the rules.  We don't stand on top of you when you are conducting personal business, like taking money from an ATM.  Not in China.  I was checking out of a hotel once.  I had my passport, my wallet and my credit card on the counter when someone came up and stood right next to me.  Shoulder to shoulder.  I didn't know the Chinese word for "back off", so I sort of shooed him away.  I think he got the message.  

5.  Oldies Flash mobs

I think this is one of my favourite observations so far.  You could be walking anywhere in China - outside a shopping centre, through a park, or just down the street, when suddenly someone will set up a ghetto blaster, start playing music, and begin dancing.  I first saw this outside a shopping centre in Nanjing.  It was simply a group of housewives who began dancing.   My favourite happened in Guangzhou today.  I was walking down from the Dr. Sun Yat Sen memorial when I came across another group.  And this time they were ballroom dancing.  Not  a care in the world.  Like the saying goes, "dance like no one is watching".  There was one woman dancing by herself.  I was afraid to make eye contact with her, because I'm sure dancing with a foreigner would score her some brownie points with her friends.  It's been a while since I've had to dance, so I avoided her gaze and kept walking.

Just a few of my observations during my first 6 months.  I left out driving skills, the abuse of cabin baggage limits, the leaving of doors open in hotel rooms,  the fact I have to get an official receipt for EVERYTHING, or the fascination with small dogs.  Maybe I'll write about those at the 12 month mark.

A quick thank you to everyone who reads and enjoys my blog, and thanks for the feedback.  I would like to write more, but sometimes I just don't have the time.  As I mentioned above, this is an incredible journey and I am learning so much that will set me up for bigger and better roles, once I'm ready.   Sometimes it's hard to believe that this boy from Picton, a little town in NSW with a population of 3,000, is about to launch a radio station in Guangzhou China - population 12 million.  

Zaijian!