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Not much has happened since I have arrived. We have all been preparing for the fifth seventh of my grandmother's passing, which is the end of the mourning period. It went off very well; and most of my relatives came to be here for the occasion. It was very sad, but also an enlightening experience since Chinese funeral customs are so different from American ones. For one, Americans don't mourn for 35 days (personally, I'm sure, but not publicly).

So other than that, it has also been snowing outside. The weather has made headlines I've heard; even those back in Pennsylvania have heard news of how the weather is tampering with everyone's travel plans for Chinese New Year. Even my trip to Sichuan Province is looking sketchy; we're just going to wait and see how things look by the 4th, which was the day we were supposed to leave.

So now I am in my cousin's home for the next day or two; she is taking me out shopping today. I think we're also going to play in the snow; everywhere you look there are snowmen. I mean everywhere: parks, streets, in front of the grocery store....

I have less than a month before I go to Dalian, and I don't want to say that I'm bored- because I'm not. There are so many, many things to do in Shanghai. I just know that I would be much more active exploring it all if it weren't for this weather- I mean, I woke up and could see my breath in the air. I laid in bed for a good three hours before actually getting up.

...At least shopping malls are heated.