Yào bu yào fàn?

Alright, we are completely settled now. We have spoken to our promoter Dr. Shi Xiaoping and we will do the project concerning the pollution in Lake Taï. We will work together with two master students who work on the same topic, Xiaojuan and Xiaohow. At the end of April we will visit the Lake basin together with them and the professors. So by the beginning of May we would have all our data and could really start with the writing of our thesis, besides following some classes here at the Nanjing Agriculture University.

So now we spend our days with writing our thesis proposal, finding a right topic, a research question and all these things a thesis requires...

For partying, here in Nanjing it wont be to exciting I guess, the Chinese don't have the same idea about partying as the most Europeans do. Karaoke is what they like, so no drinking, clubbing and arriving home when the sun rises again... In the weekend we go to check the city center to see how the expatriates are filling their Friday and Saturday evening... We hope to see some moving hips and dancing feet!!

We both have a Chinese name also (that was necessary for subscribing in the university). Elias is know here as 郭劲 or Guo Jin (Guo does not mean too much, but Jin is the strong one...) and Edward is 方超 or Fang Chao (Fang is coming from VANdevivere and Chao is super from superman, so super-square...).

Going to a restaurant involves some stress and is a whole adventure. We have a list with some famous dishes and some ingredients, both English and Chinese. So we point to some foodstuff and if they reply something we say yes; hoping not to get the head of a duck or fish and feet from chicken... Until now, it worked out quite well, with a good laugh from both the waitress and us...

Pictures from our view, our apartment/room, our mattresses and some restaurant experiences....

Another thing what is quite amusing is how they translate the Chinese characters into English. Things like "Be careful landslide", "Powder Fire Trunk" and "Eliminate Fire Bolt"...

Next time we will take you to the students restaurant and the Chinese supermarket!