There is no doubt that it is now winter

No snow arrived as wer had been promised :( What did arrive was fierce NW winds and subzero temperatures - have a look at the forecast to see what I mean. The wind is bitingly cold and whips straight through your layers - so it's jsut like being back in Durham...

When will the snow arrive? I don't know, but there is ice on the ground all day now, so it is just a matter of clouds or the absence thereof.

The media was very quiet this week - it was difficult to get any articles for newspaper reading class it was so dull. The reason for this being, in my opinion, that some one was pulling a string marked "gag" and the big stories about the petrochem disasters and earthquakes all went silent.

Here's an apt(ish) Chinese poem on the season by Bai Juyi (from a long time ago...):
(EDIT: I mistranslated the first line...mind was elsewhere!)


已讶衾枕冷，
复见窗户明。
夜深知雪重，
时闻折竹声


I'm surprised the blanket and pillow are already so cold,
and see the door and window are bright.
It was late at night when I realised the snow was heavy,
occasionally hearing the sound of bamboos shaking off their snow.