Seasons.

Living in Beijing has proven to me that 4 seasons, in fact, do exist. Having lived in Los Angeles my entire life (in fact, the only times I have not lived in Los Angeles have been when I've been living in Beijing), I thought that winter came when I had to switch from wearing skirts with my flip-flops to wearing jeans with my flip-flops; when it went from 80+ degrees in the summer to a whopping 60 degrees in the winter.

And being in Beijing now, in autumn, I feel pretty excited to experience a true fall and winter. Autumn really is a beautiful season. The trees on campus are turning golden yellow, and the leaves are drying up and falling down.

It started getting cold about 3 weeks ago, but I think I've been adjusting well. And when I say cold, I mean cold by L.A. standards. The temperature here is in the 40s and 50s during the day and drops down to the 30s at night (I'm still thinking in Fahrenheit). I was really cold in the beginning, but now that I've started wearing my pea coat, with scarf, beanie, gloves, and leggings under my jeans (yes folks, we have to wear long underwear every day), I've gotten better at adjusting to the cold. Maybe in a few weeks I'll break out the infamous ear muffs.

But it is only going to get colder. Colder and dryer and grayer. I am not looking forward to the days when all the trees in the city will be barren branches. And I'm thinking that it will probably snow here in January. Though I'm dreading the idea of living in snow and cold, to be honest part of me is a little excited about it. I want to experience it, and prove to myself that I can be hardcore and handle the cold. And then I want to run back to L.A. and stay in the sun forever because after a few days of being cold, I'm pretty sure I'd trade in my long johns for a pair of flip-flops.

But for now, I walk around Beijing decked out in my autumn gear (I need to buy more layers for true winter weather) thinking, "I am so intense. It never gets this cold in Los Angeles, even in the dead of winter. Look at me, I am super hard-core./ Omg omg it's so cold. I wish I had a ski mask to keep my nose warm. Ahh I hate wearing long underwear!" Yes, I'm deep, I know.