Winter Arriving, With Perks?

Over the past weekend, the season in Shenyang switched from a beautiful autumn brisk air to a harsh, bone-chilling wind from Mongolia. Oh, I guess Winter's here. =P

Foreign Service people are clever, and after surviving my first winter here last year and talking with my colleagues at post, we have devised ways of dealing with the desolation of winter. You ready?

1. House parties: Since Shenyang is a small post, it's quite easy to host a party at one's home and not be completely overwhelmed by the thought of having EVERYONE that you invite show up. Whether it's having people over my apartment after book club to decorate Halloween cupcakes or throwing a Thanksgiving Weekend block party in the halls of the Crowne Plaza, house parties are easy to arrange and certainly fend off any blues associated with the impending cold of the changing season. So far, we've had pizza nights, pasta nights, and cookie baking nights. In the near future, I'll probably host a taco night for sure. ^_^
2. Concerts: Surprisingly, Shenyang does have a bit to offer in terms of arts and culture. Never could of guessed it? Me either. In the recent months, Post has been invited to two international orchestra concerts, and two bigger philharmonic orchestras (like the Philly Orchestra and NY Philharmonic) will be coming back to Shanghai/Beijing later in the year. Classical music not your style? Last night, a group of us went to an old abandoned electronics warehouse (a legit concert venue, apparently) to see a indie/folk/post-dubstep artist named Jamie Woon. After coming home from a long day and a quick 5K run at the gym, I almost skipped out on this event. But I'm soooo glad I didn't. Jamie Woon is British, but his parents were Malay Chinese and Celtic Scottish, a combination that results in... well, awesome music. Woon's style is based on his beautiful R&B voice, a keen sense of beat, and an innovative use of a loop sampler to create multi-layered tracks. The following video is 11-minute documentary introduction of his 2011 album "Mirrorwriting", which gives you insight to his inspiration and also his style: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0aLNS13f_o -- Check him out!
3. Traveling out: As one of my colleagues said to me recently, the best thing about Shenyang is the proximity to other places to go to. So true. With a three-day weekend, a trip to Thailand, Singpore, Korea, or Japan is completely feasible. There's also so much to do in China itself, from the mainland cities of Beijing and Shanghai (cheap plane rides!) to the off-shore hotspots of Taipei and Hong Kong. Another colleague has spent the majority the weekends of his two-year tour outside of Shenyang, for both work and pleasure. To be honest, it's more of a shock to see him around on Saturdays and Sundays than it is to hear he's traveling over the weekend. It might take a few months after he's PCSed from post to realize he's actually gone for good!

Armed with these strategies and the warm friendship of the other people at post, I'm pretty sure Shenyang Winter 2012-2013 will be even better than last year!