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I saw my first Chinese snowflakes today.

We got a brief dusting in Zhengzhou this morning that quickly disappeared when it warmed up in the afternoon. It does occasionally snow here, but major snowstorms are rare.

Zhengzhou’s climate is very similar to New Jersey’s. There are four distinct seasons, though the winter is a little milder and the summer a bit hotter than it is back home.

Pat and I are going to experience a wide variety of weather when we travel around China next month. It will probably be cold in Beijing, temperate in Shanghai and Chengdu, and even warmer in Yangshuo and Guilin, where the average January highs are in the low 50s.

Which means that Pat will bring at least three coats and enough outfits to survive an Alaskan winter and a Saudi Arabian summer.

***

One of my freshmen had a problem explaining a sentence she wrote. Like many of my students, she couldn’t come up with the right English words to express herself.

After class, she handed me this note:

Dear Rick,

     The question that you ask me in the class, I really don’t know how to answer. In fact, I have own thoughts. However, my ability of expression is defective.

     So I’m sorry that I have no way to answer the question just now.

Linda

That’s why I love teaching in China.

***

Not that I needed it, but I got another reminder today that I’m a dinosaur.

When a story in my textbook mentioned a typewriter, I asked my students if they knew what that was. Only three did, including one who said he “saw it in an old movie.’’

***

I got a flood of emails asking me how I’m feeling following my tree crash on Shaoshi Mountain. The answer is fine, except for the huge scab on my head and a migraine that feels like a jackhammer is drilling a hole in my brain.

The next time I climb a mountain, I’m wearing a helmet.