How I'm Staying Warm This Winter

Life is cold these days. My house is like everywhere else in Nanjing: drafty and cold. Buildings in Nanjing aren't built with insulation, let alone indoor heating, properly sealed windows, or any sense of design that hints at keeping a house warm in the winter. Even the wealthy, with their huge windows and big open living spaces that aren't conducive to keeping warm air in, only turn on the heating function on their air conditioners when it gets below freezing. Everyone says, "Just wear more!" All cities South of the Yangtze River are planned this way. From what I hear, in the North, on the other hand, they have central heating systems in almost all the modern buildings, but often lack proper air conditioning and roast in the summer.

My house is over 300-years old, with cement floors on the first floor. The bedroom is on the second floor, with a thin metal roof covering wooden ceiling beams and windows that don't completely seal. Because the houses don't have any insulation anyway, many families, including me, keep the windows and doors open during the day. Electricity is insanely expensive, and keeping the heating on would be foolish and wasteful in a bedroom that has no insulation whatsoever. When it gets below freezing, my roommate and I turn on the heat function on the air conditioner, which blows out hot air, in the evenings. This has little to no effect unless you are standing in front of the air conditioner, and the temperature in the room drops immediately when you turn it off. Besides being expensive, turning on the air conditioner also drys up the air, leaving my eyes and throat itchy. Chinese people also rarely turn on the air conditioner for this reason. Point being, in Nanjing, no matter where you are, the temperature inside is the same as the temperature outside.

EDIT: The air conditioner broke. My landlord, despite the fact that she is my roommate's mother, is showing little interest in getting it fixed. I have little hope, considering she has followed through on 0/5 of her last promises. 

Many of you already know how cold I am... all the time. I am a wimp when it comes to the cold. Even in my dorm last year, I would wear my winter coat when doing homework. This is specifically one of the reasons I moved in January. I need to toughen up and get over myself. I'm bracing myself for February, the coldest month in Nanjing. Here are my strategies for coping this winter:

This green "hot water bag" is my lifesaver. Made out of rubber and covered in felt, I fill it up with boiling water every couple of hours and carry it with me everywhere I go. It's like a portable heater that sits on my lap when I'm on my computer and cuddles with me at night. When I'm typing, my hands go numb and immobile. I just hold this for a minute to warm them up so I can start typing again. In the background, you can see my blankets. A trifecta of warmth, it consists of a soft, fluffy blue blanket on the bottom, a pink quilt folded twice over, and a heavy woolen blanket on the top.

 The layer routine:

This is a picture I took of my waist. This is what I call the "inner core." Each core is 3 layers. The first core consists of a camisole or tank top, long underwear, and a sweater. This is a must at all times.

This is what I call the "outer core." It consists of a blue zip-up sweater, a purple fleece jacket, and a plaid button-up flannel shirt. I wear this specific outer core everyday.

These are my mega-slippers, sent especially for me from my Mom in the States. I put on two wool socks with these babies, and my feet can't get cold. My neighbors are jealous.

On top of the outer core, I wear a hoodie and/or winter coat. I usually sleep in my hoodie, as I can tighten the hood around my face, only leaving my mouth and nose exposed for breathing. Like my roof? I love it... It's kind of like living in a cabin...

This is me bundled up on a cold day working at my computer. I usually wear some combination of a coat, hat and scarf when working around the house. On really cold days like this one, I sit on my bed with my blankets over my legs and laptop propped on a pillow.

 I'm so ready for next winter in the States. Bring it on.

Everyday my conversations include some version of, "Aren't you cold? You foreigners don't catch colds very easily, do you? Wear more, you're not wearing enough! You're going to catch a cold!" 

Chinese word of the day:

毛巾－ mao2 jin1- literally "hairy cloth," aka towel