The Six Month Mark and Feeling blue...

I am feeling a bit blue lately. Everything that used to interest and excite me about living here doesn't anymore. I have gone pass the threshold of being a tourist and into the land of the resident.

I guess I should've seen it coming.

* Just came back from Japan where the country is totally the opposite of China in the way that it's run. The crowds here, the pushing and shoving, the impatientness, the no respect for anyone else, the rude salestaff, it is ALL getting me down whereas before it didn't so much or I learnt to ignore/deal with it.
* Just came back from a holiday and who doesn't get post-holiday blues? (even for a little while)
* The weather is getting colder and colder day by day and I absolutely despise cold weather. Plus the silly weather reports with temperatures don't tell the real story. 18 degrees may sound warm but it is freezing and feels more like 13 to me. As if it's not bad enough (when my nose is constantly running and the threat of asthma returning at any given moment is here, and despite having the heating turned on and wearing enough clothes my toes are still frozen) I have to deal with this crappy cold weather for ANOTHER SIX MONTHS!! Don't give me that crap that it's going to be any warmer before early May. OK late April. I know people are thinking - but so and so a place (eg Europe or New York) are colder but they have adequate indoor heating everywhere. China does not. Many places don't have or turn on the indoor heating. Public transport included. So you freeze in one place and roast in another (mostly department stores that have the heating turned on way too high). Along with the cold weather you get every third person having the cold/flu - coughing, sneezing, spreading their disgusting germs everywhere and making more people sick.
* I finally for the first time feel homesick and miss my parents, sister, and friends more than anything. I even miss my stepmum. I even miss my messy bedroom. The only thing I don't miss about home is having constant hayfever but given my constantly running nose from the cold here, it's no different really.
* It's my birthday soon and I'm turning a number I'd rather not be turning.
* It's Christmas soon and Christmas isn't even celebrated here, and the chances of snow are minimal. While my friends and family will be enjoying the lovely Australian summer I'll be here cold, and wet, freezing my butt off. Great.

So at this stage there really isn't a great deal to look forward to.