Bubble Wrapped Brane

So, Nanchang is another big, industrial Chinese city, filled with people and all the paraphenalia which comes with them. So far nothing in the city itself is surprising though nothing is unpleasant. I have been surprised (though I shouldn't be by now) by the hospitality of my hosts. They've put us up in the best hotel in the city which is a very nice four star establishment with all mod cons, including an English snooker table on which, through much stretching and gurning to pot a single ball, we passed a good hour after dinner.

Food in Jiangxi is similar to Szechuan and Hunan in that there's a lot of chilli involved though slightly different use of other sauces and sugar does differentiate them. Local beer is fruity.

The train ride: it turns out that a 14 hour train ride is about as much fun as traveling, mostly in the dark, in a small rocking compartment sounds. It's fine, it got us from A to B and I'd do it again. The bed was a good half a foot too small which isn't a great deal of fun and the tracks appear to have been laid in a time where rolling stock rolled on cobbles. I can't complain too much though; it was clean and cheap and only a little late.

Do I sound slightly passive today? Well, perhaps the four hours of interrupted sleep have somewhat dulled my senses and perhaps I'm mildly concerned that the seminar I'm going to give tomorrow is going to be too hard for some and too easy for the rest. I've been asked not only to give a seminar on AdS/CFT which optical physicists can follow but I've also been asked to explain the latest developments in the subject. I can only do my best and the tiny crowd who will be there will just have to respect that I'm putting the effort into what I think is a non-trivial task.

Yeah, I'm tired. There are photos but that would involve plugging in the camera and clicking some buttons in a sensible order. Bed sounds like the better option.