This Week: Studying Outside, Catkins in Beijing, and 中文检查

A month ago we had snow, then the cherry blossoms arrived, now we have big wind (大风）and the air is filled with the fluff of the catkins (柳絮). I thought the weather was supposed to get nicer in summer?

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This Week’s Videos

1. 🌤️ Outside or Inside? – Thoughts on where we study best when the weather finally turns. Watch here
2. 🌱 Catkins Season in Beijing – Is it snowing in April or is that just fluff? Watch here
3. 🀄 中文检查 – 柳絮季节 – A Chinese-language video reacting to the same catkin-heavy spring. Watch here
4. 💨 大风：Beijing's Big Wind – And finally, a look (and listen) at the big wind that hit Beijing on the weekend. Watch here

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Outside or Inside?

Spring is here and with it, the temptation to leave the classroom behind. The breeze, the sun, the smell of grass—what could go wrong?

Well, the wind picks up, the sun gets hot, the bugs arrive, and before you know it, you’re wishing you’d stayed indoors. But there’s still something about the idea—almost classical—about studying outside. Maybe it’s the image of reading Latin or Greek under open skies? Or maybe that's all it is: an image, nothing real.

Where do you prefer to study? Indoors with control, or outside with the elements?

📹 Watch here: YouTube Link

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Catkins Season in Beijing

The cherry blossoms are being blown away by the winds, but another sign of spring has arrived: catkins—or as they’re often called, “the fluff.”

Floating through the air and collecting in corners, these tiny white tufts fill the skies of Beijing this time of year. They look innocent enough... until they start getting in your nose, eyes, and throat.

Many people wear masks just to keep the particles at bay while outside, but these things become especially troublesome if you're trying to do any sort of outdoor activity such as running or biking. Does your city have anything like this in spring?

📹 Watch here: YouTube Link

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中文检查 – 柳絮季节

In this Mandarin-language video, I try to explain the same catkin situation—this time in Chinese. The wind, the fluff, the constant stream of white drifting through the air.

Lots of students wear masks around this time, and for good reason. It’s one thing to see the catkins as the "Spring time snow," but it’s another when they end up in your eyes.

Here's the script if you want to have a look:

啊怎么办?今天非常不好,天气还可以蓝色,天气蓝色,但是很多有来了,所以现在是四月十日和北京有很多在我的 眼睛。在你的城市有没有有序吗?因为现在毕竟有很多白色的东西我不知道怎么说现在看见后面后面后面就是一个白色的东西 现在在我的眼睛眼睛和很多很多学生他们戴口罩,戴好口罩,戴好口罩,戴好口罩,谢谢, 拜拜！

📹 Watch here: YouTube Link

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大风：Beijing's Big Wind

And finally, one last video for the weekend as it was pretty big news: the big wind.

Known as 大风 or "Big Wind", these happen every now and then throughout the country and often cause sandstorms. This past week, however, we received a warning from the weather people saying that Beijing would be hit with a strong gale.

China colour-codes its weather warnings and this one hit "Orange", meaning it would have a wind strength over force 10 (55-63 mph, 88 km/hr-101 km/hr) and gust of over 11 (64-72 mph, 101 km/hr-116 km/hr). Basically, it'll be a strong wind. Lots of events were cancelled over the weekend.

It also means the blossoms are all but wiped out!

📹 Watch here: YouTube Link

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Steve