january and exotic fruits

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today wei went to get a haircut and on the way home we stopped at a fruit market. i got my first-ever dragonfruit, some strawberries, and some oranges. there was a lot of exotic stuff that i had never seen before- google told me the purple things that look like a plum-persimmon cross are actually mangosteen (i have mangosteen lotion, but for some reason i thought the fruit would be more, uh, mango-like), that the red fig-like things are rose apples, and the hairy/spiny red lychee-looking things are just that- hairy lychees. seems so weird to come across so many exotic tropical fruits in the middle of this foggy cold weather...

speaking of which, i'm planning to go to hainan before my trip back home to chicago. i'd like to go for a week and then fly straight to beijing, so i can see yinghong for a few days and not have to suffer the 12 hour train ride. it's so hard for me have to watch wei plan the whole thing (of course with my input, but seeing as how i can't really read chinese i feel so handicapped).

in this weather i just want to stay in, buy things on taobao and eat sweets. none of which are good things to do...

i'm getting sick of being stared at everywhere we go. i guess i kind of deserve it for dyeing my hair blonde, but in america no one really looks twice at me. here, everyone has to stare, especially small children. now i try to avoid being out between noon and 2 pm (when elementary school kids are all outside for lunch break).

i feel ambivalent about my trip home- too many things i don't want to deal with, but then again i will get to see joonie! and my friends! and sleep in my overheated condo! and take a half hour shower with consistently hot (but not scorching... i think the water comes out of the hot water tap here is one notch before boiling, but still everyone boils their water before they drink it) water... etc.

landlord stopped by the other day and thought we were weird for having the refrigerator plugged in. i guess in cold weather no one wants to use the electric. and they all wear coats all the time. not me! i keep the heater on 24/7! and it's still usually cold here. i used to consider myself quite cold-tolerant, but i guess that's strictly by american standards.

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Photos

Ba Yi Bridge
Coming home in the fog

Fireworks
They were so close, I thought sparks might come through the window.

Fireworks
Any hour, 2 am, 5 am... someone is setting them off.