新年快乐！
*Sigh* So I finally figured out how to get onto Tumblr, Facebook, etc. (pretty intense firewall) but guess the two weeks without have been good for me. China has been great, except for the freezing part—it has been in the negatives everyday :(. It’s mostly like I remember it—lots of people, more cars and tall buildings than I remember. Because of the weather, I’ve basically been playing cards and mah jong with my grandparents, oh and eating lots, yum yum. I met my new baby cousin, he’s a few months old—cute! My mom and I have been on a few snow adventures, like driving a snowmobile, riding in a dogsled, and going to see Wu Song, where the trees get frosted all over with snow, but I’ve decided that winter is not for me! Today we watched people of all ages go swimming in the lake outside. It freezes over so they had to knock out a swimming hole—haha it was pretty entertaining. I’ve heard more Christmas carols and seen more Christmas trees than expected in China. Apparently, they celebrate all the big US holidays here, like Thaksgiving, Valentine’s Day, Halloween. I think it’s just a big marketing ploy though. I’m leaving soon from Changchun where my mom’s from to Beijing for a few days and then Baotou where my dad’s from, so happy new year to everyone!
