The weather finally started getting colder in November. It was more like winter. For a couple days, it was down to about 1 or 2 degrees celsius (34 degrees fahrenheit). But a week later it was back up to 16-18 degrees celsius (60-65 degrees fahrenheit or so). Accordingly, I wore wool socks, sweaters, a hat, and a coat when it was cold; a shirt and jacket again when it warmed up.
One of the warm days that occured after the cold snap, I found myself in class wearing a tanktop and button-up shirt with a student wearing a turtleneck sweater and winter coat.
I told her I thought she was wearing too many clothes today, wasn't she hot?
She said yes, she was a little warm.
I asked if she was wearing another shirt under her sweater.
She said she was wearing a long sleeved shirt underneath her sweater and long underwear under her pants.
I asked her why she was wearing so many layers, it was 16 degrees today!
She said she had put on the clothes last week, when it was cold.
I said, but today it is warm.
She said, Yes, but I put the clothes on last week.
I asked, Can't you take them off?
She said she was afraid she'd get cold if she took them off.
I agreed she might get cold if it was still cold outside, but it wasn't.
She looked at me a moment then said she was still afraid she'd feel cold.
Our conversation about clothing and temperature ended at this point because I really couldn't see the point of continuing. I'd witnessed similar conversations between students and teachers - the students insisting that one must wear long underwear because it is November and the foreign teacher explaining that even though it is November it is still above 10 degrees, so you don't need to wear long underwear yet. There can be no satisfactory end to this conversation because the logical sequence between the two lines of thinking are utterly incompatible, if not opposed to one another. This difference in logical thinking causes much frustration between Chinese and westerns.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
