Hey Look, It’s Snowing!

Somehow I can never get the image out of my head of when I was in fourth grade (if I’m not mistaken) and in the choir and we sang an arrangement of two festive pieces combined together. One of which was “Let it Snow.” The other one escapes my memory. In any case, I will never forget how it started, with different people gleefully calling out “It’s snowing! It’s snowing!” and right before we started to sing, one of my good friends shouting out at the top of her lungs “Hey look, it’s snowing!!” Honestly, from that day, every time I see snow, I can’t help but think “Hey look, it’s snowing!” and chuckle to myself.

Well, today was no exception. I finally arose this morning after refusing to get out of bed for roughly an hour because it was too cold out. Finally I motivated enough to make the dash for my green velour robe, the heater in my living room, and a steaming cup of coffee and hot porridge. Throwing back the curtains I saw a gray, drizzly day—or rather a gray, sleety day. The kids in the classrooms across the square didn’t look so happy taking a smoke break while hiding under drab umbrellas. I started to think twice about how important it really was for me to do my errands.

However, the night before I had discussed with Joelle having a gathering at my place during the afternoon, as all the teachers have Friday afternoons off. Noting the cold from the previous day, we thought that it would be best to have a snuggly warm hot cocoa and card party. Joelle remarked “it’ll be just like having a snow day at home!” The invitations were out, but we needed cocoa and some basic ingredients for treats that afternoon. So grudgingly, I changed into my clothes (huddling next to the heater while so doing), and walked out the door with my umbrella, ready for the worst.

Miracle of miracles, as I stepped out the door I noticed that, in fact, it was not sleet, but snow! Without fail, my first thoughts were “Hey look, it’s snowing!” Smiling, I went about my errands without umbrella, giddy enough to skip, but I thought better of it—I was already getting enough strange looks for not using my umbrella like all the Chinese were. It feels like such a long time since I’ve actually seen snow, and having been in the tropics during January and February, I was sure that I had missed my snow opportunities for this season. A pleasant surprise I must say, for I have always maintained that it’s no use getting cold if it’s not going to snow!

The party itself was warm and fragrant (to use an expression which our Chinese students seem to like to use. It’s obviously a direct translation of a Chinese expression. We’ve been told it means something like “cozy.”), which continued to brighten the day. I had my first go at making pineapple upside down cake (as pineapples, despite the very recent cold snap, seem to be in season), and churros to accompany the hot chocolate. The pineapple cake was quite good (almost too sweet in my opinion), so good so that Ben, a Chinese friend of another teacher here, actually enjoyed it so much he ate two and a half pieces! I know that might not sound amazing to you, but you have to realize that this was a great leap forward! Chinese don’t tend to eat really sweet things, so finding an actual dessert that one of them likes, and likes a lot, is truly a marvel. So as to assert his Chineseness though, he did accompany it with beer; the world isn’t coming to an end after all!

The conversation was also good, as it was the first time that some of the teachers had seen each other since the return from vacation. We also broke out Uno, and I got to find out that behind some calm exteriors, there are some ferociously competitive Unoers here! I never did win a round, though I don’t think I ever lost one either, so I was happy.

And as a happy ending to a happy day, Ben decided to clean up for me in the kitchen, bless his heart! Talk about a keeper!