The Rooster Has Hatched!

So here I am, 4am on Friday morning, sitting in the terminal in San Antonio waiting for my next adventure to begin!  I’m sure my excitement is evident to the people sitting around me, however that probably has something to do with my bouncing and jamming to Group 1 Crew…

It won’t be long before I’m sitting in China!  I wonder if I’ll still be jamming to my happy beat when I am.  This trip has been a long time coming, so I imagine that I will be!  China has been on my mind for years now, so even though I’ve never been there, I have a lot of happy memories associated with it.

I remember my sister telling me that Giant Pandas were endangered when I was about 6.  I indignantly declared that they would never become extinct because they were my favorite animal—and so they have been ever since.  This was the beginning of my dreams regarding China.

When I was about 14, my best friend (Bekah, with whom I went on my Amtrak road trip) went to China for vacation.  She kept a journal while she was there, and let me read it when she got home.  I was fascinated by her descriptions of the places she visited and the food that she ate. (While some of that was just horrifying!  I still remember how she saw a monkeys head sliced open in a restaurant so people could eat its brains…. Hopefully that is not an “honor” that will be extended to me!)  From this point on, I knew for sure that China would play some part in my future.  I didn’t know exactly how, but I knew that someday I would get there and see those things for myself.

When I started college a few years ago, I began taking Chinese classes so that I would be ready if and when the opportunity to visit China should arise.  I’ve studied Chinese for the past two years, and I can confidently order vegetarian dumplings and tea… haha I can’t wait to see what I’ll be ordering at the end of six weeks!!!

I know that my Chinese will improve simply by being immersed in the language and culture.  I’ll be thinking about it all the time, and not just two or three times a week.  My group and I are enrolled in a Chinese University where we will be taking intensive Chinese classes and giving informal English lessons to some of the Chinese students.  (EEPS! Perhaps I’ve finally discovered something more daunting than a squatty potty!)

This is such an incredible opportunity though!  Scary as it is, I know I’m going to learn so much.

That’s about all I have for right now, but the plan is hatched, stuff is going down, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it :D

 Rebekah