Winter is here!

So, winter is officially here! it's averaging around minus 12 during the day and as low as minus 16 at night & early morning. There is currently about 6 inches of snow outside and all hell is breaking loose! The roads are not salted and the snow is crushed to form an inch thick layer of ice on the road... you really wouldn't belive the amount of accidents I have seen so far! This morning I had an absolute nightmare getting to School. As I have mentioned before I live miles away, and have to get the bus in. I made the effort to get up early and out for the bus as sometimes they are too full to get on and you have to wait for the next one. I was showered, dressed and out the door at 6 am. Cold and tired I wasn't happy when not just 1, but 3 busses went by and (along with other Chinese people) I was unable to get on the bus. I decided to walk down the road to get a taxi instead. With 7 million people in Shenyang I think half of them had the same idea!! By this point I had been outside for nearly an hour and a half with no sign of a free taxi I decided to walk whilst flagging one down! After nearly 2 miles I managed to get one! Happy that I was finally in the warm and on my way to work, I started to read my book. After only 3 or 4 miles the taxi stopped and I looked up to see hundreds and hundreds of cars, I couldn't even see which sides of the road were which or were the pavement was, the cars were everwhere!! They were facing all sorts of directions and the honking was deafening!! The driver did try to communicate with me, but I didn't understand him. I was miles from school and was already late so I just figured I would be patient and we would soon be on our way! After 20m minutes I noticed people getting off the busses infront and people even leaving their cars to walk in the direction they were heading! I probably would be still sat there now if I hadn't decided to do the same! I paid the taxi driver and set off on my way to school! I had no clue where I was, but was I was on a mission, I just kept walking straight and after nerly 3 miles (and what felt like an eternity!!) I arrived at school, freezing cold, soaking wet and well and truly pissed off!! Stupidly thinking that my ordeal and lateness would mean I didn't have to teach, my mood worsened when I was immediatly taken to a classroom full of 3 year olds and told that my lesson today would last for 3 hours!! Great! (My mood soon picked up tho, and I had a great lesson!!)
After saying all that, with snow comes snowmen and snowfights and ALOT of fun... so it's not all bad!!
I am now officially RAT FREE!!!!!!!!!! Woo Hoo!! The boss came to my appartment and moved my wardrobes to find a huge hole where the little buggers had been getting in. The wardrobes were removed from my appartment, the hole was filled with poison, filled in and then covered with slabs!! I am happy to report that since that day I haven't seen or heard a thing!!
One of the main resons I am so pleased about this is when I arrived at home one evening last week we had a power cut due to the bad weather. I had no electric, no heating and no hot water. When it's minus 16 outside and not much warmer inside it really isn't pleasent, the last thing you want is rats running around your front room when you can't see them! After putting on almost every item of clothing I own I huddled up in bed at 6pm (there was nothing else I could do!!) under 2 duvets and a thick blanket, after 2 hours trying to get warm I finally fell asleep! The next night was the same, although I did realise when I got close to my appartment and went to the supermarket (where I was follwed by a young girl holding a candle so as I could see where I was going!!) and bought a torch. It was just as cold, but at least I could read my book!! Thankfully, my heating & electricity is back on now.. showing with freezing cold water in a freezing cold bathroom is something I never want to do again.... EVER!!!
I feel the need to tell you that the previously mentioned Guard is no longer with us. He decided to go AWOL from the kindergarten and sadly he paid the price. Enough Said.
Finally, on a lighter note, I found it really amusing the other day when I saw people stacking cabbages on their roofs & balconys and hanging leeks out of their windows!! I found out that because the weather is so cold the vegetables are frozen and stay fresh for as long as they are left out there!! Most peole in China (especially in the poorer cities like Shenyang) don't even have fridges, let alone frezers!!Who needs a freezer when it's this cold outside!!!?
This is China.... and it's bloody freezing!!!!

Shenyang, China