It is getting colder....

The Yantai air is thick with cold moisture. It sits on the concrete and pavement surrounding my fourth story apartment. The sky is white, and the trees are turning brown or golden, holding onto green between the sunny days. The day is quiet, and at night a stray kitty whines into the north. I sleep in my living room to get some peace. I, drinking green tea, and eating Oreo cookies, smoking Yuxi cigarettes, and playing the blues, installing applications, and my absentee ballot, China tea cups, and class websites, American music and picking up new Chinese words. One year contracts, visions of American lanscapes and buildings. I dream of Whole Foods and a tasty hamburger, and the economy worries me, and then I sit up and keep going.