Bring on the Cow

In case you haven't heard, Chinese New Year is coming up, the biggest holiday in China. This entails a five-week national vacation, and tons of firecrackers, family, and food. This year is the year of the cow, so shiny cutouts of smiling oxen wearing red and gold clothing have begun to pop up everwhere. In fact, pretty much everything in the entire country is slowly turning shades of red and gold, the same way everything turns red and green before Christmas in the U.S.

Anyway, one of my friends has invited me to her house to celebrate the holiday with her family. She lives in Sichuan, approximately 1,000 miles west of Jinan. More specifically, she lives in Mianyang - the second largest city in Sichuan, and the epicenter of last year's earthquake.

The plan is that on Saturday, I'll be boarding a train filled with other college students headed home to Sichuan. It's a 36 hour journey. We're taking the "hard seat", which means no bed, but at least we have seats - the trains are so crowded during the holiday season that a lot of people stand the whole way. And sometimes, the only way to board is like this:

Once I get to her house, more fun awaits. To guard the family from brutal winter temperatures averaging somewhere in the 30s, my friend's parents have invested in a single small space heater. (Central heating is for wimps, that's what I always say.) My friend and I will be sharing a sleeping space on the floor. Her enthusiastic response to this news has led me to suspect that the main reason she invited me is for my body heat.

My friend's house does have an internet connection, so I'm bringing my computer, and will therefore not completely drop off the face of the earth. Her house does not, however, have hot water. If you want hot water, you have to boil it yourself. But don't worry - this doesn't mean several weeks of cold showers for me. Why not, you ask? Because there is no shower silly! That's right, I'm looking at a month of cold sponge baths.

So, in sum: no heat, no bed, no hot water, no shower. And did I mention I'll be there for several weeks? Thank god for deodorant.