Farming goes on in several Xianlin verges. Vegetables have grown and been harvested, although in many cases it is hard to know what the vegetable is. One looked like capsicum (peppers), but after a few small fruit appeared the whole patch was torn up. Remember Lifecycle musing about the mysterious planting back in Spring? It appeared to be some kind of squash, pumpkin, or melon. The plants grew and grew, slowly extending far from the source. Occasionally, bright yellow flowers appeared. Now the leaves are turning dull in the colder weather, but no fruit of the vine has come forth. Maybe we’ll never know.
Did you read the Letter of the Month in The Nanjinger? Sanity as an expat in Nanjing requires that we accept that some social norms do not exist here. Personal space is an example. So we are going to be surrounded with noise from portable devices, and with people peering at what we are doing. We still get tempted to take aggressive action, however. Keep smiling!
