Some things you should know...

I still don't know what all I've thought of to post, but here are a few things that I can remember right now:

A. It's getting really warm! The high today is 57F and tomorrow it will be 62!! Junk, that was quick. The weather is always so bittersweet (no matter where you live) because when it's super cold you think of nothing but warmth. However, as soon as it gets hot you yearn for the cold and layered clothing. Where is it that has nothing but spring and autumn again...?

B. Anyone [Chinese] that I talk to thinks I'm Russian. At least once a day I have to say, "Wo bu shi Eguoren (I'm not Russian)." Even when I teach university classes and the students know that I am their English teacher they ask if I am from Russia. A taxi driver once handed me a Russian phrase book that he had been studying so that I could check it out and another taxi driver asked me to translate the meaning of a Russian word for him. I suppose this is mainly because we live so close to Russia and the history of Russia and Harbin are closely connected. I see this problem as having a good and a bad side.
Bad: If China and Russia have some big falling out [for whatever reason], I'm gonna have to get the heck out of Dodge!
Good: On the flip side, if America and China have some big falling out all I have to do is say, "Damn Yanks. Good to be Russian..."
*Steve has not had this problem but he says that he is rarely in the situation that someone must suppose his nationality. So not sure what they think of him except I usually get a, "He's very handsome!" from Chinese girls who hear we're married.

C. I am in this weird place between knowing that everything about China is completely different than America while at the same time not really thinking that anything about our lives in China is different than it would be back home. I've been here before. When I returned from China a few years ago people would always ask me the burning question of, "What's China like?? I mean, how different is it?" But this was the most difficult question for me to answer, because after two trips to China I had gotten accustomed to so many of the differences that I barely registered them as "differences"... it was more like my brain had divided things into China and America so when I saw something I didn't think anything of it, just knew that it belonged to the China side. Having Steve with me on this 3rd trip provides an interesting perspective. We were sipping some coffee the other day and I asked if he really noticed any differences. His response was to the effect that the two countries are completely black and white, apples and oranges. So I guess that's it... the differences are so deeply and culturally seeded that they can not easily be explained. I still don't have a quick and easy answer to the, "How's it different?" question. Sorry...

D. We have found one of our new favorite treats: popcorn! Much like one of those specialty popcorn stores that sell candied popcorn of all different colors and flavors, there are some street vendors around town who stir popcorn into big vats of sugar coating of various colors and sell a bag of it for 2 kuai and it's always hot and fresh! Yummm.