May note: Learning about Birds

	Greetings from HeiDa in Harbin! Today is my 80th day here, and now 
the weather is nice and warm and the trees are very green.

	I owe you an apology for a month of no communication. Although it 
may sound like a far-fetched excuse, I was unable to e-mail because of 
SARS. Almost overnight, everything here went from normal to high security. 
Suddenly I was not allowed to use the public computers I had been using 
for e-mail. Now I have to show my work card to go in or out of the campus 
gates. The gates are closed at night too, which caused me to be involved 
in a suspicious fence-climbing activity once. If I want to leave Harbin, I 
would have to be quarantined at a hospital upon my return. Naturally, I 
have chosen to stay within the city! However, the city was practically 
like a ghost town for a while, because everyone was so paranoid about 
SARS. It was possible to ride a nearly empty bus and not run into crowds 
on the sidewalk or in a store. The university students are no longer 
allowed to leave campus or enter certain buildings. They are about to go 
crazy! It is good that the campus is large so that they can play sports 
outside.

	The semester is almost over, so the students should be busy enough 
to keep their minds off of their captivity. Sadly, our dancing lessons 
have also come to an end. Hopefully I can become friends with some of 
those students. It is nice to be around students that are not in my 
classes.

	Naomi and I will be giving the final exam interviews from May 26 
to May 30. This week I will try to get the students to fill out an 
evaluation form so I can find out how bad I really was at teaching. The 
students will also have to sign up for an interview time next week, so I 
should see some that never come to class. Some of them will be very 
disappointed when I don't let them sign up! Naomi and I have just acquired 
another class, formerly Ann Schwab's public health students. That one will 
last through July. Rumor has it that we get new classes to teach the 
second week of June.

	Lately, Naomi and I have become more bold about having adventures 
in Harbin. We have explored new bus routes and gone to restaurants on our 
own (not always successfully). Last Friday, after our new class was over, 
instead of catching a bus back to HeiDa, we took off walking randomly 
through the city. We walked for about an hour and a half and have no idea 
where we went! When we wandered through a park, some ladies shouted fei[1] 
dian[3] at us, which means SARS.

	We have also had shopping adventures. Sometimes we get carried 
away with the joy of bargaining, and that is how I ended up with a new 
pair of shoes that I had not really intended to buy.

	Now, you may be wondering why I entitled this letter "Learning 
about Birds!". Well, the first reason is that my favorite word in Mandarin 
is "owl." I have a new tutor, a real professor, and I meet with her for 
two hours every week. She told me the word for "owl" is mao[1] tou[2] 
ying[1], which I believe is literally "cat head eagle." I was so pleased 
by the logic of this new word that I practice it all the time. I have been 
seen in the city saying "owl, owl, owl..." while the natives give me funny 
looks.

	On the May 1 holiday, Naomi and I decided to try to visit the 
Buddhist monastary in the Culture Park. We took Abbie Jensen with us. It 
was really deserted in the city that day. Unfortunately, the monastary was 
closed. There was an amusement park in the Culture Park, so we took Abbie 
in there. We passed a table selling snacks, at which there was a person in 
a large chicken costume. Then we went into an area which was like a zoo 
for birds. We saw owls, parrots, some black birds which said ni[3] hao[3] 
(hello), swans, peacocks, cranes, storks, monkeys, goats, and dogs. It was 
pretty fun. Two days later, we took Abbie and Ethan to the Children's 
Park, another amusement park. We saw another person in a chicken costume. 
This time, we did not escape. The chicken spoke very good English! Abbie 
and Ethan were given balloons and paper crowns, and had to pose for a 
photo with the chicken.

	Right after Easter, Herb and Linda decided to make a quick trip to 
the U.S. for some medical testing, because they didn't want to go to a 
hospital in Beijing. A few days later, Sam and Grace also went to the U.S. 
for a few months for their home assignment from TEAM. So we were a little 
reduced in number. Then the other foreign teacher, Amanda, had to leave 
because of SARS. Suddenly, Phil, Ann, Bea, and the Jensen family were told 
that they had better go to the States for a few months because of SARS. 
The French teacher, Louis, will also leave in a week because his time at 
HeiDa is over. So Naomi and I are feeling a little bit alone right now. 
But we trust that we are in the right place and will be just fine. 
Following our father is always the best thing to do.

Choice quotes from my first year students:
"You can disturb lots of girls if you are generous."
"It seems to like to exercises alone. That will make me more earnest."
"... I want to travel on the moon, but It may be difficult to do, because 
I haven't enough money. This travel reall needs too much money. Last week 
I found my be love. I think I will mabe a girlfriend soon... It may be 
difficult to build a house in the sea, because we don't have enough 
technique. It is good for me to save many pandas, buy a pleasure boat, buy 
a airplan, and buy a motorcycle... It may be difficult for me to buy a 
island for my parents, because I am young, but I think when I grow I c an 
buy."