Status of the Day.

My experience at Jiangsu University in Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province has been educational and interesting to say the least. I arrived here with a suitcase and a worried mind and when I saw the size and lack of cleanliness of my apartment, I can’t say that I felt better. My apartment had one room (I have since moved into a bigger one), a bathroom with no bathtub or shower curtain (just a shower head on tile… think locker room) and a kitchen with no oven, a washer but no dryer. Living in a Western country my whole life, these seemed like major misfortunes. I lamented my choices but soon I settled in and immediately went shopping for supplies and food. I cleaned, and cleaned, and cleaned and did some more cleaning until finally, I felt it was home. I have felt that way ever since. The apartments are not luxurious, the furniture is not nice but it is livable, comfy and very easy to personalize and make into a home.

Zhou Enlai was Huaian, Jiangsu, born five March 1898. In 1917 he graduated from school in the Nankai High School and then went to France to learn Marxist theory.

It is not unusual to be walking down a street in China and “Kapow”, bang, bang, bang – fireworks just start going off all around you. It could be because there is a funeral, a shop opening, someone getting married, a birthday, or just to honour some long lost ancestor and bring luck and good fortune.