It's cold... why aren't you using your air conditioner?

Say what!?!

I like cold weather much more than I like the heat, I even like rain and snow. I am the type of person who will bundle up and spend an entire day out in the freezing cold and snow just to take pictures. We had cold weather here for a while and I complained some about being cold. It was a type of cold that I hadn't experienced before, it was a "wet cold", and it made my bones feel like ice cubes. What made it worse is that there is NO INDOOR HEATING here! No heat in the classrooms and no heat in my apartment. Only in Northern China is it standard to have indoor heat because it gets really, really cold there. I couldn't get warm, not even at home, and I was wearing layers and a big down coat all the time! My mom would laugh at me every time we Skyped because I was in my big down puffy coat with my hood on, and a scarf, and I was sitting on my sofa in the living room! It's hard to teach, and to cook, bundled up like that, and it's even harder taking a pee (especially on a "squatty potty")! I wasn't the only one complaining though; my coworkers would jump around and pound on their legs while whining that it was too cold.

I was asked several times whether I was running my air conditioning. Huh? Um...no, I turned it off after the weather started cooling down...would be my reply. Isn't an air conditioner for cooling the air when it's hot? That's what I thought it was for. I was told that running my air conditioner would dry out the air and make it warmer. I asked, "do I just turn it on and increase the temperature setting?" Yes, yes...just turn it on I was told. So, I ran the air conditioner...and was still freezing, but now also had a cold wind blowing on me! Ugh! I went out and bought an electric, plug-in heater that helped when I sat directly in front of it. It died after two weeks of continuous use, so I splurged on a larger, more expensive one that has been working good so far.

A man from the company that hired me, and placed me in the school where I'm at, came to visit for a couple of days. He used the office where I have my desk and computer, while he was here. After teaching my morning class one day, I went to my office to do some grading before my next class. I walked in and about passed out because it was so HOT in there! I asked him how he got heat, and he said he turned on the air conditioner. I was confused. I said that all I get is cold air from my air conditioner even though I increased the temperature setting. He asked if I changed the "mode" by pressing the mode button. Nope, I was told more than once to just turn it on, so that is what I did.

Just to make it clear, so I don't seem like a total idiot, everything on my air conditioning remote control is in Chinese characters...which I don't understand at all. I actually took my remote to work with me the next day to compare the characters and make sure I set the right "mode".

Now I get some warm air coming from my air conditioner, yay! I still wear a jacket at home when it's cold, because even with the warm air from my air conditioner and heat from my plug-in heater, the wet cold get's inside my bones and won't leave.

It has warmed up a bit and the weather has been really nice the past couple of weeks. My coworker has frightened me though...she keeps saying she is scared for it to be winter because it's going to get so cold we won't be able to hide from it. It's the beginning of February, maybe this nice weather is just a tease before the real cold sets in. I hope not!

My plug-in heater

The air conditioner

The remote control