Fall semester

	Hello! It has been a while since I've written one of these 
letters. I hope you are doing well. Life is pretty interesting for me 
these days. September 29 is 222 days after the day I left Michigan. The 
end of my contract with HeiDa is approaching quickly. My summer holiday 
seemed too long at the time, so it is hard to believe that it has been 
over for a month. Now we're five weeks into the fall term.

	During the summer holiday, I had a lot of idle time. Once a week I 
helped at an English corner, met with foreign friends, and helped at the 
Dongfu office. Although I also tutored several people in English, I wasn't 
busy enough. I really wanted to travel, but my language skills were 
insufficient.

	Suddenly, Teacher Liu invited me to join a tour of Dalian with her 
and her daughter. On August 15, we met our tour group at the station in 
the evening. The next morning, our train arrived in Dalian, which is a 
famous tourist destination because it is a beautiful seaside city. Our 
group traveled to the famous parks and beaches in and around Dalian by 
bus. I swam in the sea, visted the Sun Asia Polar World (penguins, polar 
bears) and Ocean World (fish), and explored the Forest Zoo. We had a 
wonderful time there for three days and two nights.

	Unfortunately, on the way home, I lost my camera, so I was unable 
to take any photos during my next trip. My friend Catherine invited me to 
visit her hometown, a small village in this province (Heilongjiang). On 
August 21, I headed to the village by bus, this time alone, although I had 
help to find the bus and buy the ticket. It turned out to be an experience 
which I won't forget very soon. The main road was under repair, so part of 
the way was by small bus on a dirt road that wound through the mountains. 
Crammed into a crowded, dirty bus, I wondered if we would ever arrive! The 
village was certainly different from the cities I have seen. Catherine 
showed me the school and the river, and we spent most of our time meeting 
her mother, sister, grandmother, seven of her aunts, and some cousins. We 
couldn't do much else because it was raining, but I enjoyed meeting her 
family. They showed me great hospitality. The return bus ride was even 
worse, though the scenery was great. I was excited to return to Harbin.

	After I returned to Harbin, I was invited to teach a week-long 
intensive oral English class for grad students at another university. 
These students were hoping to receive their visas within the month. It was 
a busy week for me, but I enjoyed the students very much. Then at the 
beginning of September I began helping at the Dongfu office more often 
because Bea, Ann and Phil returned from the USA. Phil and Ann were forced 
to move out of their apartment, and haven't found a new home yet, so 
please think of them when you talk to Father.

	The expatriate community has grown again with the beginning of the 
fall term. Our time on Sunday morning became very crowded, so now we will 
try splitting into two groups. I am also attending the club in DaoWai 
district every Saturday night.

	On September 13, I went with some American teachers to Harbin's 
very first rock festival. What an experience! I was impressed with the 
crowd; they actually stood up and participated a little bit. Some of the 
bands were alright, I think we heard about twelve. Most bands went for a 
sort of old-school sound, with lots of screaming vocals. Metallica is very 
popular here with the underground rock scene. I'll let you listen to the 
cd from the festival sometime!

	My classes began on September 8, but I only had five. I kept 
expecting to be given more, but it didn't happen. This time I'm teaching 
oral English to the brand-new freshmen, and they are usually pretty fun. 
Most of them don't skip class. Two days ago I got the schedule for my new 
classes, which will begin after the October holiday. They will be 
upperclassmen from other departments who want to take the IELTS exam, so 
I'll be coaching them for the spoken portion of the exam.

	Our October holiday, for National Day on October 1, will be nine 
days. For five days I will be traveling. I'm going north to Yichun with 
Bea, Phil and Ann to meet Ruth, and then we will go even further north. It 
should be very beautiful, but we're expecting some chilly weather.