June note

	Hello from Harbin! Can you believe I've been here for 112 days? 
Today was a hot, sunny day, so I'm glad it cools down a little after 
sundown. It sure is different from the Michigan-like weather when I 
arrived in March. I have finally experienced some real rain, too, which 
made me very happy. Do you like the picture I took of some men relaxing by 
playing their saxophones at the zoo?

	This will be a brief note, because very few things of interest 
have occurred since my last note. During the weeks of June 2 and June 9, I 
did not teach any classes at HeiDa. Too much of that time was consumed by 
shopping. Shopping here is very hard work, and I'm not really fond of it 
in general, so I am happy to report that I will not have to do much more! 
However, it is very useful practice for speaking and listening to numbers 
in Mandarin. Maybe you can tell that now I am fairly independent compared 
to when I first arrived. I have learned so much about how to get around 
and do things in this city, but there is always more to learn.

	On Monday, June 16, I began classes again for a five-week summer 
term. This term I am only teaching freshmen. One of the classes is the 
group I had last semester. It will be fun because the term is short, I 
don't have to focus on the "IELTS" exam, and 1st year students are 
slightly more enthusiastic than 2nd year students. Of course, it makes a 
big difference that I have some past experience behind me. Hopefully, 
everything will go a lot more smoothly. Naomi and I will be finished 
teaching Ann's class at the Public Health College in four weeks, but they 
have been very pleasant students and we will miss them.

	On June 5th, I "snuck" out of the city to go north for the first 
time. A Canadian teacher named Ruth lives in Yichun, the "largest city in 
the country" geographically, as she informed me. It took five hours to 
travel there by bus, and cost 80 RMB one way. Yichun-city is a small town, 
and very beautiful. The scenery of the mountains that I enjoyed from the 
bus reminded me of the Upper Peninsula, and I saw interesting farmland 
closer to Harbin.

	Although I do not want to go into any details, I want you to know 
that there has been some difficulties for me about staying here when my 
friends from TEAM are in the U.S. In a few days I will have to rework my 
contract, and it will not be easy. This has opened doors to alternatives 
already, but I have not pursued anything yet. Please keep this situation 
in your thoughts.