shenyang & COLD

a couple weeks ago i had the opportunity to visit shenyang, a city north of north korea. as i already mentioned, it was COLD. when i woke up in the morning there was snow! their first snow of the year i believe--but that was 3 weeks ago.

that morning it was soooo cold. i don't think i've been that cold for at least 7 years. at first, it was kind of cool--"so that's what that feels like!" but that lasted about 5 minutes. =)

here's the very few other views of shenyang that i got while i was there.
snowy and misty street:

cool bridge (top right) that you can't see very much of:

snowy playground, also with fall colors. it was the first time i'd seen fall colors in awhile too.

we drove through the countryside a bit the day before it snowed:

i was glad to get back to where i live after even a very short trip there! however, when i got back, it started to get cold here too. it's now been at least as cold each day this week than it ever was in the winter during santa barbara. more warm clothes will be required, i believe including long underwear, which i have never owned before. crazy! at the very least, i need some tights and some more sweaters and some earmuffs and some more blankets. any gloves are a lost cause (although i do have some)--my hands will be cold for the next ~4 months weather the room or the rest of me is warm or not. it's going to be a long winter! and it doesn't even snow here (very rarely)...which is too bad.