Okay, I guess it is time to publish a new page about my stay in Changchun.  It is more than a month since my last posting.  Here is a picture of the track where I walk every morning and evening.  Yes, it is boring but I can always run back to the apartment if necessary.

The running track at JLC, in front of the Student Dining Hall

Often I will have older adults walking with me and only a few students.  This appears to be the same on the main Jilin University's campus.  The older people are the ones exercising while most of the younger ones are sleeping in.

A friend took me to a downtown market to look for a mint or rosemary plant.  We did not find it but instead we found birds and cactus for sale.  No, they were not being sold by the same vendors.

Here are the birds.  I was hesitant about taking a picture with the birds but my friend said "go ahead."

Older Chinese men love their birds.  They take the birds out for walks in the morning and also in the evening.  These men and their birds will congregate in a shady spot, hang the bird cages in the trees, and have a chat and smoke with their friends.  I saw them in the past year but not this year.  This year I stayed mainly on campus because of the massive road construction in Changchun.  I really mean "massive."  The whole city is under construction!  I cannot imagine this happening in the U.S.