My first major activity was a soil seminar on the weekend of 23-24 September. I had just arrived Friday night, so it seemed a good way to get introduced to Iasi and its environs. I couldn't understand the papers presented Saturday morning, but the rest of the weekend was devoted to field trips, which were the highlight of the seminar (at least for me).

On Saturday afternoon we took a chartered bus to a farm near the town of Hirlau, in the northwest corner of Iasi County. The corn harvest was in progress, and I saw many people husking corn by hand in front of their cottages. The ripe corn cobs were stacked in big golden yellow heaps at their feet. Since the day was cold, gray and rainy, these stacks of corn stood out beautifully against the brown earth and the dry corn stalks, also piled in front of the cottages. There were also cattle grazing on the grassy low hills, and chickens pecking away in front yards along the roadside. Unfortunately, the bus didn't stop and the day was dark, so I don't know if many of my pictures turned out. If not, I will make another trip to the country- side in the next week or two.

Sunday we went through central Iasi (but again, no stops) to the southern part of Iasi county, to see the northern edge of the Moldavian Plateau. Iasi and the area north of it to Botosani lie in the Moldavian Plain, which is generally lower in elevation and hilly. >From an outcrop south of town near the 'Hotel Bucium' (one of the nicer places to stay in Iasi, so I'm told), we had a good view of Iasi and the surrounding countryside. We also saw some interesting geologic features--some caves where the limestone-sandstone strata were visible.

This was followed by a visit to the Viticulture Research Station of the Agronomy Institute--for a tasting of Moldavian wines (all white). Not bad for a conclusion to the seminar.

I spent much of the following week, 25-29 September, at the Geography Department here and taking care of logistical concerns--finding an apartment the foremost among them. I received my e-mail account right away, on the 25th, but finding an apartment is somewhat more of a challenge. I had the misfortune of arriving at the same time as thousands of university students, and the housing supply in Iasi is not expanding as quickly as demand--definitely a seller's market. So I have been staying at the university guest house, which is thankfully free for the first week.