THE GREAT NORTH EAST

To the typical Cantonese person, North East China might as well be on a different planet. They aren't likely to visit, the food is strange and shows a lot of resemblance to English Cuisine (in that both are indigestible and might actually be inedible), and the natives talk funny, eat too much, and smell odd. Seeing as I will not be heading there anytime soon, or ever, I am in much the same boat. But their Mandarin is clear and intelligible. And the few natives of Liaoning I have met are all very nice. You know, normal people.

Plus they eat more rice than many other Northerners, and they do great pork dishes. As well as dumplings. So it sounds like a place I could visit, except I'd have to dress for it.
It snows there.

As a Dutch American, and having lived in Northern Europe, I am familiar with snow. Also, in my first year back in the States I visited kinfolk in Calgary for Christmas, and if you've seen the movie Cool Runnings when they first set foot into the Canadian winter, precisely so.
I have only visited Calgary once. For Christmas.
I am familiar with snow.
You can have it.

Two Shenyangers I have met are pipe smokers. I'm guessing that they don't rely on a heater in the garage to make that bearable during the cold season. So the plaintive messages from poor shmoes in the Midwest near the Canadian border during winter don't mean bupkes to them. "Hello, my wife won't allow me to smoke my pipe inside, I have to do that in the shed and the heater is on its last legs, how do you guys stand it?" Or sometimes it's the wind chill on the porch. Even the collapsing easy chair placed in the root cellar for daddy's comfort when cast out of the living quarters for smoking.

From the viewpoint of a resident of Shenyang, Ohio could just as well be on a different planet. Nothing in that cry above computes. Living in California, I know how they feel.

"Hello, my wife won't allow me to smoke my pipe inside, I have to do that in the garage and the heater is on its last legs, how do you guys stand it?"

Yeah, um, I live in a decent climate, dude.
No clue what you're on about.



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