Homecoming

Sitting in my hostel in Beijing,  about 12 hours before I leave for the airport, while packing some of my things, my journal fell out of my backpack and opened to the first page.  I picked it up, read the page it opened to, began to feel an overwhelming sense of love and connectedness, and felt that this was an amazing thing to happen, just as I am ending my stay in China.  My journal opened to the first page, the day I left Philadelphia to begin this journey, now coming to an end.  The entry follows:

3.20.2012

Wow! I am on the plane waiting to leave for Beijing—an amazing life event—but I realized now before something huge is about to happen just how much the little things matter and how important it is to find joy in them. I found a surprise in my bag while waiting to board—a birthday card and a book titles 5o Things That Really Matter from my mom. This book seems right up my sentimental alley and the gesture alone is enough to make this one of the most important things I have with me for this trip.  The little things and the moments that we share with the people we love are what makes life magical and so amazing.  I don’t know what I’d do without my mom and I cannot explain how much I live for and cherish the little moments like these when I am reminded of what is truly important. 

A special thanks has to go out to Lori Mento as well for giving me this journal as a departing gift.  I live a blessed life and am so thankful for the people involved in it. 

Thank you for the reminder.  I'm coming home. 

China Recap: First Week

My first in China week gave me a good taste of what was to come during my next 10 weeks.  As I write this entry today, having only 9 days remaining in the Middle Kingdom, I find it comical to reflect on the chaos that ensued during my first week in China and how that was just the precursor learning how things work in China. I learned quickly that plans are never "set in stone," any thing can change, status and "saving face"are priorities and as a result of this complicated fear of making errors, there is a lack of accountability for making mistakes and no one ever dares to "loose face" for themselves or another by acknowledging any shortfall or error.

I can't help but marvel at how during my first week here, and still during some moments now, how often I think to myself, "I'm in China!?" It is crazy how abruptly I ended up here and how it has been such an awesome and insightful experience.  I have come to understand many of the cultural differences and some of the ways things are that I take for granted in the United States and I am torn to be leaving so soon. When going somewhere new, you always have expectations or some idea of what something is going to be, but you can never truly understand something or some place until you have directly experienced it. You need to see life in action, hear it happen, feel it, smell it, and taste it to truly understand and know it.  You need to become a part of it, or realize how separate from it you really are, in which case you have the choice to adapt or recoil.  I have had a fun time adapting and learning and understanding that in China, paralleling life in many respects. you truly need to go with the flow, expect and embrace change, and sometimes, be detached from the outcome of events.

I came to China and my plans have changed here too many times to count, but any worrying at any point has been unproductive and pointless, because the way things have shaken up and the amount of this country that I've been able to see and all that I have experienced has been priceless...at least for me, because I literally didn't pay anything.  I will retell much of that in the entries to come, but for now, I will focus on week one.

After the interns and I arrived and we completed our training, everyone went off to the cities that they would be teaching at and I remained in Wuhan, where I was supposed to teach at the Wuhan Foreign Language School.  For some reason, my school arrangements were not ready during my first full week in Wuhan, so i remained in a hotel for a few days, and then moved into a vacant room in an apartment rented by China Project Hope.  During my first week, since I didn't have much to do, I did my favorite thing to do in any city.  I walked.  I walked and I discovered a lot about the city. I found out how to navigate to different points of interest and back to my apartment, and I did some sightseeing.  Things were up in the air at this time and I enjoyed my free time to get comfortable in Wuhan, not knowing that I would never teach a single lesson at the Wuhan Foreign Language School, and that I would in fact not end up teaching until over a month later.

Below I have included some pictures of the things I saw during my first week in China, as well as some e-mails between my mom and I.  My next entry will recount my second week in China, followed by an entry about my time traveling with CPH for marketing presentations, my job before I ended up where I  have been now for a month, teaching at Shiyan Foreign Language School.

Sent: Sunday, March 22, 2012 9:02 AM
To: Brown, Jill
Subject: Hey  :)

Hey Jilly or Nǐ hǎo (I spelled it wrong last time...whoops, I'm learning),

Things are going well and I've been walking around exploring a lot.  All of the other teachers left Wuhan yesterday at different times except for Sabrina, who left this morning (It's Monday here) at 8:30.  Thank you for mailing the Americrop package and that  story you sent me about Americorp was very cool!  Also, I will be able to post to my blog now because I got a VPN which allows me to divert the "Great Firewall of China."  

I figure I'll fill you in with some of the things that have been happening and that I've been learning.  My throat is a little sore today I think because of the air quality here--that is something I've been noticing more--it's very polluted.  It is very interesting living in Wuhan because it is a larger city, but is still, as I have been told and have read, "the real China."  Some of the cities like Beijing and Shanghai are very globalized and modernized and have more international and developed feels.  In many senses, a lot of what I see in Wuhan reminds me when I was in Lima, Peru. Wuhan is a growing city and it is a juxtaposition of the modern and the third world.  It is crazy how many cranes there are here!  This city seems to be growing upwards at crazy rates.  I don't know where all of the people are that will occupy the enormous amount of buildings on the rise.

While walking around yesterday with Dylan, Walid, and Sabrina, we checked out this famous lake called the East Lake and there were many fishermen sitting there.  It was pretty cool.  It was also interesting how busy the streets were yesterday since it was Sunday.  On Saturday night our whole group went out and we played billiards and then went to a KTV (karaoke bar) and that was fun.  

Today I did a practice Visa interview with a student on Skype who has been having trouble getting a visa to go to the U.S.  I should be figuring out my teaching arrangements today, but I don't know when I begin to teach yet; I'm still staying in the hotel that all of the teachers were staying in when we arrived in Wuhan.  I am at the CPH office now and just had lunch and I am chatting with some of the staff, but I wanted to send you an e-mail to update you.  

I've been keeping up with the Flyers; glad they're doing well!  Miss you guys, and we should set up a Skype call sometime soon.

Love ya,

David

Sent: Sunday, March 28, 2012 2:59 PM
To: Brown, David
Subject: teaching :)

  Hi David!

Just wanted to wish you good luck before your first day of teaching! Can't wait to hear all about it. Hope all is great...miss your smile and laugh!!

Love ya,

Mom xoxoxo

Sent: Sunday, March 25, 2012 8:50 PM
To: Brown, Jill
Subject: teaching :)

Hey momma!

I got a VPN and I have access to any website I want now, so luckily I can post my pictures to facebook and you can keep track of some of the things I am doing and seeing.


I know you’re wondering about my teaching placement so let me fill you in with that first:


I was originally supposed to teach at the Wuhan Foreign Language School, which is one of the best school in the province, but there is a lot of bureaucracy, miscommunication, and power flexing involved with the whole process. China works a lot differently than the U.S.A. does when it comes to agreements and contracts, I am told, and status is a big thing here. The people at the Wuhan foreign Language School will only directly talk to Catherine Chen, the founder of China Project Hope, about the details of my employment there, so it has made working out my placement there (something that was agreed upon and organized before I came, but since has been mixed up) a headache for Ken and the CPH staff. Apparently the Wuhan Foreign Language School does not have any classes prepared for me and the headmaster of the school was planning on having me act as a sort of English assistant or something, but he did not communicate this with China Project Hope. That role is not what CPH hired me for and they want me teaching, so they are trying to fix this at the Wuhan Foreign Language School. Plan B is already in place if this doesn’t work out; a school in the city Xiangyang, where another teacher, Walid, is located, wants another teacher and has the need. I am actually hoping I end up in Xiangyang because it would be nice being with Walid. I got along with him well and he has LOVED his placement so far. He has really been enjoying his school and he says the city is very traditional and beautiful.  

I have talked to all of the other teacher but one guy, Scott, and they all love their placements and cities. They have also said that the students’ English is not as good as they expected.

This situation I selfishly think has been ideal because it has bought me time to sightsee and relax. I have also had the opportunity to eat lots of delicious meals while going out with some of the Chinese staff. I’ve seen a lot already in Wuhan that the other interns have not been able to see so I feel lucky. I’ve basically been on a paid vacation since arriving here. So far I’ve spent around 50 bucks.  Speaking of money, the exchange rate is 1 dollar to 6.35 RMD. Today my lunch, hot dry noodles, cost 2.50 RMD (less than 40 cents). Can’t beat that.

Today was really great.  I went alone to this Buddhist temple called the Guiyuan Temple. I got a cab myself and said the name of the temple in Chinese and after retrying multiple times the cab driver finally understood me and took me there. The language is interesting because it is tonal, so you need to speak in perfect tones, otherwise the meaning of what you are saying might not be understood. I know about 30 Mandarin words now, so I can hardly get around alone, but it felt good surviving today and traveling quite a distance by myself, getting a cab to and from the Temple, ordering lunch, and paying for having some dress clothes ironed. 

Tomorrow begins a big conference here in China with 8 principals from some American schools, headmasters from some Chinese schools, and some of the CPH staff and higher-ups. I will be joining, traveling with Catherine Chen and Ken Johnson attending the conferences and I think that will be a cool experience. I’ll get to tour a lot of Chinese schools, do some more sightseeing, eat some more free food, and possibly network with some U.S. principals or Chinese Headmasters. I will actually see both the Wuhan Foreign Language School and the school in Xiangyang where I may end up, during this conference. I have attached the conference agenda so you can see what I’ll be doing and where I’ll be traveling to over the next few days. I’ll be busy!

While typing this a little Chines toddler just walked into my apartment and into my room, stared at me, and then walked out. LOL. Guess I should shut the door all the way.  Sorry for not writing to you sooner!  I’ll keep you posted with what’s going on. As early as tonight I could find out my teaching situation—otherwise I should know before the weekend. If I things are not arranged with the school in Wuhan, I’ll be heading to Xiangyang. I am excited about how this is all working out and I think this conference over the next few days will be really interesting and is a cool opportunity.

Sorry that this e-mail is all over the place. I left out so much.  Still wrapping my head around all of this and I have tons of other cool little stories. There’s really a story in almost everything I do because it is all new; everything is a learning experience. I’m having a great time!

Until next time!

 I love you lots and I'll keep you up-to-date :)

Tell everyone I love them.

-David

A lot has happened since these e-mails were written.  The toddler I spoke to my mom about will play a larger role in some upcoming posts.  Also, since I have written these messages (over 2 months ago), the Flyers have lost to the New Jersey Devils in the NHL Playsoffs, I have traveled all over China and never ended up teaching in Xiangyang, I started teaching and have been loving it at Shiyan Foreign language School, and I interviewed via Skype with Americorp and was offered a Nation Community Civilian Corps Team Leader Position.  Much more to come in my upcoming posts...and life?

A city on the rise, "The Chicago of China," Wuhan.

During my first week, I had to adjust to be noticed everywhere I went, but I embraced it and had fun with it.  This is one of many pictures that I took for strangers.  Luckily my friend was with me and took a picture as well and forwarded it to me.  A woman wanted me to take a picture kissing her baby. 

Statues at the East Lake

Little John, the toddler I mentioned above, who turned out to be one of my favorite people in China.  Much more to come about him in future posts.

Guiyuan Buddhist Temple

Guiyuan Buddhist Temple

Lake at the Botanical Gardens at the East Lake

View of the Yangtze River and Yangtze Bridge from atop of the Yellow Crane Tower

Yellow Crane Tower

Wuhan University

Guiyuan Buddhist Temple

Some apartments in Wuhan

View from my apartment in Wuhan

Until Next time

DB

China Recap: Arrival

As I have mentioned, I feel bad for not having written much about China, but I want to capture some of my experience as best as I can.  I have a lot of catching up to do!  I have decided to write a series of chronological blog posts, starting with my arrival.  I will use some e-mails, pictures, videos, and journal entries, including fresh reflections to help trace the steps that I have taken so far in China. This first entry includes two e-mails that I sent to my mom (happy mother's day, I love you!) upon arriving and after my first day in China.  It is funny to read these e-mails now after having spent nearly two month in China and reflecting on how much I have learned, seen, and even changed.


Enjoy:

From: Brown, David
Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2012 11:18 PM

Hey Mom,

We arrived in Beijing at 11:00am your time , which is 11:00pm in China.  The flight was long but went by quickly, I watched the movie The Descendants on the flight and periodically slept the rest of the way.  They fed us a lot on the flight too; I had beef with rice and a roll and some salad for dinner, later I had a ham sandwich, and about 2 hours before arriving in Beijing I had some asian noodles and dumplings.  They fed us a lot!  

When we arrived in Beijing we went to a hotel and it was really nice but on the outskirts of the city because the next morning we all had to catch a flight to Wuhan at 6:55am.  Myself and three of the other teachers, Dylan, Scott, and Sabrina all took a walk around the city; where we were was very industrial and it seems like every building is 10+ stories.  We were walking at about 12:30am until 1:30 so we saw almost no one.  We came across a lit up building and walked in and it seemed kind of sketchy.  We thought it might be some weird kind of club or something, but it turns out it was a Karaoke bar.  When we walked in there was a front desk and then we walked through some lit up hallways and we were afraid it would lead to a brothel or something (hahahaha) so we decided to turn around and head back to our hotel.

We had to wake up this morning at 4:15 to go back to the airport and we caught our plane at 6:55 and we're now in Wuhan at a REALLY nice hotel.  It is currently 11:15am on Thursday.  At 12pm we are going to get lunch and then begin orientation today.  Ken (Dr. Johnson) said orientation will be very informal today and just a few hours.  We're all pretty tired from traveling and the time difference is really screwy.  SO far though everything has been super easy.  Most of the Chinese people who work for our company speak English so it's been pretty easy to communicate so far.  Wuhan is very foggy and it is raining right now but the city is so expansive and looks awesome!  I am going to have a blast here.  There is so much to explore!  

I'm going to try to catch some shut eye, but I wanted to update you.  I read some of the book you gave me; very awesome!

I love you!  Tell Matt, Meg, and Dad I love them too!

-David


From: Brown, David
Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2012 2:08 PM

Hey Jilly,

It's 1:30am on Friday here.  I passed out at 6:30(pm) after our meetings yesterday because I haven't had normal sleep since leaving Philly on Tuesday so I am up at an odd time.  We have meetings again today at 10am, so hopefully I'll fall sleep again for a few hours.  Maybe I can wake up at 7am and watch the Flyer's game online because they'll just be starting there :).

Yesterday was awesome!  Lunch was really great.  Those eating were the 5 teachers and 6 Chinese people who work for China Project Hope.  Our walk to the restaurant from the hotel was an adventure in and of itself!  Tell Matt that Chinese drivers are similar to the one's in Peru; they stop for no one.  It's pretty wild, cars would nearly hit us walking across the street, they don't slow down for pedestrians.   Their Traffic systems are pretty cool though because traffic lights run on timers that display for the drivers, so drivers can see a digital clock next to the traffic light that will be ticking down the seconds until they can go or until they can stop.

Along the streets there are lots of vendors and businesses.  Many restaurant fronts have fish tanks out front and that is what you end up eating inside.  One restaurant had a tank full of large frogs.  I'll eventually tell you how that tastes ;).  When we got to the restaurant we walked in and there was beautiful wooden architecture inside and a pond with different lotus flowers and exotic plants in it.  We walked up stairs which led to a long hallway where there were individual rooms with big round tables.  We sat down and the food kept coming.  We had multiple rice dishes with different meats in them, noodle soup, chicken soup (that had a full chicken in it), a fish dish (which was not fillet, but also the full fish), some cabbage dish, fried shrimp, a sautéed mushroom dish, a tofu plater, these "chinese hamburgers" that were essentially small rice cake buns that you take and place some kind of meat on, and various other spicy vegetable dishes.  All of the food was placed on a circular revolving tray on the table, so we would spin the tray and take what we wanted from each dish.  It was delicious, and nothing like sesame or general tso's chicken haha.

After our meal we went to China Project Hope's office and began our orientation and were explained how the organization works and our role in the organization.  To some it all up, in CHina students have one shot at being successful and that is if they pass an exam (that they can only take once) and get into a good college university.  Otherwise, they're doomed.  The Chinese are very status conscious, so their children's success is very important to them.  The Chinese are also frugal in nature and do not spent a lot of money, but they highly value education and an average family will spend between 50 and 70% of their life savings on their child's education.  The staple of American education is options.  Options to choose schools, majors, teacher, etc.  In China they don't have that, and what China Project Hope does is offers that.  Kids through China Project Hope come to America and complete high school and then often move on to college and open many different doors of opportunities.  My job in the classroom is to teach general conversational English to students who are not necessarily going to be coming to America, but who are kids who potentially could have that fire lit in them.  I will also be spending some time conducting interviews of those who have applied to go to America and I will be helping to evaluate and place them.  I'll learn more about everything I'll be doing today and once I'm in the school.  The nature of what I am doing is informal and sounds really awesome.  One of the Chinese ladies in the office said the kids at my school are going to love me because I am handsome haha.

The Wuhan Experimental Foreign Language School is a middle school and it is one of the most prestigious schools in the province.  I am pumped to be working there and Ken said that this school is their most important client. I felt pretty honored to be placed there and I found out yesterday that over 60 applicants applied for this job, 20 were interviewed, and 8 were selected to come.  5 of us accepted the position and the of the other four teachers, three are over the age of 32, so I feel pretty pumped about that also.  The other teachers are all really great people and it has been fun hanging out with them and hearing about what they do.  Scott is a college professor, Walid has worked in schools and took a year off to get his master's degree and is now doing this after having completed his degree, Sabrina was an attorney and she still does part time work, but she is currently an ESL tutor and making a career shift into education, and Dylan has worked for various nonprofits, after school programs and camps in Philadelphia, and Americorp.  When Waldi found out I was 23 he was shocked; he though I was at least 28 by how I "carried myself."

All in all, everything is going great.  Sorry for writing such a long e-mail, but this is serving two good purposes: keeping you up-to-date and acting as a journal for me :).  I cannot get on my blog :( or Facebook or youtube.  I might try to find a way to though. 

Oh--a random thing I forgot to say. Some of the toilets in public places are wild!  They are just holes in the grounds (still with plumbing and a seat) that you go in.  You just squat over.  Our hotel is really nice and has a regular toilet, so I've just used that so far.  Pretty interesting...

Anyway,

Love you lots and talk to you soon.  Sorry if there are any typing mistakes, I wrote quite a bit and it's now 2:05am so I am going to try to go back to sleep.

LOVE YA!

-Dave

Advertisement we saw when we arrived in Beijing

The meal referenced in my e-mail

This freaked me out when a bit when I got here, but now I have great knees and should be fine if I'm ever lost in the wild.  As, beleive it or not, the Chinese believe this is more sanitary (you're not sitting on a germ infested seat).

The view from one of the windows in the CPH office

Street outside of the office

Two foreigners marveling at the traffic

Kudos, Mr. Prez

Just a day after I made a post about "people who put their feet up" and people who don't, which includes a picture of President Barrak Obama with his feet up on his desk, President Obama has made national headlines for supporting gay marriage.

This is truly inspiring and illustrative of a person who is balanced, empathetic, and understands that he has no moral right to determine how another person should live his life.  Some people are furious with the President's announcement because they think it is a ploy to garner campaign votes, but I see this as a moment of candid confession.  This will only add fuel to the fire of the bigots who are crusading against equality and will provide half of the nation with more of a reason to vote against Obama in the upcoming election. I do not think this is political.  I do not think he did this for any other agenda other than to express something human; we all deserve to be happy and loved.

Kudos, Mr. Prez.

People Who Put Their Feet Up

There are two types of people in the world.  People who put their feet up, and people who don’t.

I was on a train traveling from Wuhan the other day to Shiyan, Hubei, China.  It was about a 5-hour train ride and I was sitting in a seat with two open seats across from me.  Across the aisle there were also four seats, two-side-by-side facing two other side-by-side seats. This was the setup of the train car. Many people were sitting with family members or friends, playing cards, eating, and talking.  It was a noisy train; there was a lot of laughter, chatter, and borderline screaming.  Despite the raucous environment, it was fun and lively—most people seemed to be happy.  I was reading and relaxing, I even had two college students visit me for about half an hour because they (like most people on the train) couldn’t believe that there was a foreigner on the same train as them.  They asked me questions about where I was from, what types of movies I like, what types of music I listen to, why I was in China, and how I liked China.  After they left, I continued to read.

Anyone who knows me knows I am a borderline-contortionist and sit in positions that make my legs look like pretzels; otherwise, I stretch my legs out and like to have them elevated.  This is just how I am comfortable.  While I was reading, in order to get more comfortable, I took my shoes off and rested them on the open seat across from me.  Across the aisle from me there were three older men and one teenage boy sitting in the four seats.  I could see out of my peripheral vision that these men were pointing towards me and talking about me, but I continued to read.  Then, the teenage boy, who spoke in broken English, tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Sir, can you please put your feet down?”  I looked behind him and saw two of the three men smiling and it was hard for me to distinguish whether or not the boy was being serious, since two of the men were smiling and the rest of the train seemed as if it was about to explode from all of the energy the people playing cards, talking, and shouting on the train were creating.  Surely the least of anyone’s worries should be the quiet foreigner sitting in a corner, minding his own business, reading his book?  I smiled back at the boy and asked, “Are you being serious, or just kidding?”  My feet were still up, and the one man of the three who was not smiling began to say something to the boy in Chinese in an irritated tone.  The boy then told me, “Yes,” and emphatically added, “Can you please put your feet down.”

My initial internal reaction was outrage, but I stopped and thought for a moment before I acted and allowed myself to get upset.  Rather than blow something so small out of proportion and make a mountain out of a molehill, I smiled at the men, put my feet down, and continued to read. 

As I continued to read, I could still see the angry man pointing towards me and talking in a flustered tone, but I ignored it and resolved not to get upset over something so small.  After about a minute or so, the boy complimented my shoes. I thanked him—admittedly coldly because I still thought the situation was ridiculous—but about ten minutes later the boy and I engaged in a conversation about the prices of shoes in the U.S.A. versus the prices in China, and how they are surprisingly similar (and sometimes more expensive in China, even though many of them are made here).  I believe the boy’s gesture in complimenting my shoes was made as a means of reconciliation.  This happens often when people do not want to admit that they or others might have acted in the wrong, but I appreciated it as a gesture in good faith. 

I endured the train ride, less comfortably then I could have, but I was OK, and I was able to act kindly towards the man sitting across the aisle from me and be at peace with him.  I have found that this non-confrontational approach is the best way to handle these situations, because there is no reason to get worked up about something silly, especially when dealing with a person who has proven that he gets worked up about silly things.

This situation reminded me of a similar encounter I had at a previous teaching job I had.  During my prep-period, I always had my door open and I sometimes sat with my feet up on my desk.  One day when I had a quarterly review with the principal of the school, he informed me that a colleague of mine had reported to him that I rested my feet on my desk and she/he felt that it was unprofessional.  I distinctly remember the baffled and annoyed look that I displayed on my face and feeling astounded that someone would tell the principal about this, and that the principal felt it was something of concern to bring up.  In this instant, I also approached the topic at hand as my problem, rather than someone else’s.  Even though my face clearly showed how I truly felt, I stated it would not be an issue anymore.

From that day on, I always shut my door during prep-periods, and continued to put my feet-up on my desk.  Out of sight, out of mind.

I have never been one to follow rules when I see no purpose in them, especially if I was never informed of or agreed with the rules to begin with.  I find that those who don’t put their feet up on desks do not think this way.

I can almost assure that the teacher who was upset with me for putting my feet up on my desk is the type of person who does not put his/her feet up.  If he or she was not worrying about his or herself, but rather about my feet, I believe his/her priorities were out of balance. 

There are people who are so blinded by the values that have dogmatically been instilled in them from certain religious, governmental, cultural, social, or educational institutions that it would be foolish to argue with them, because their insular ways of thinking will always lead to an “I’m right and you’re wrong” conclusion.  That’s why it sometimes seems like people who don’t put their feet up have a stronger voice or are more powerful, because they allow themselves to worry about and make commotions about trivial, unimportant things, like people putting their feet up, while people who put their feet up, typically find it senseless to drain energy arguing about something so inconsequential.  People who put their feet up don’t have the time to worry about small differences in beliefs or behaviors because they are focused on things that really matter, like the book they are reading or the lesson plans they are creating.  

Do yourself a favor and put your feet up, but shut the door if you have to. 

Involve Me and I'll Understand

I've always believed there was great weight in the Chinese proverb:

Tell me and I'll forget. 

Show me and I'll remember.

Involve me and I'll understand.

The best way to learn anything is to be a part of it; that's why I didn't like learning Spanish in high school but was highly motivated to study the language before and while traveling in Peru last summer.  This proverb I think also relates to traveling: I do not think school can ever teach a person about another country or place in the world as genuinely as actually being somewhere, experiencing a culture, and getting involved with the people of that culture.  It's funny, I can remember having a conversation with another teacher at  a previous school I worked at who was outraged at a student's family for taking her on a two week vacation to Europe.  I reluctantly listened and at my first opportunity removed myself from the conversation because I did not agree with most of or any of the sentiments my colleague was expressing.  I learned more about British Literature, Europe, the UK, and British History in the 3 weeks that I spent taking a summer course at the University of Westminster then I ever learned about the above mentioned topics in High School and College combined.  Not only does traveling throw one in the mix in a given country and culture, but it also inspires one to ask questions and learn more.  When I reflect on the most exciting and formable times/experiences in my life, all of my major traveling experiences rank up there at or near the top.


Traveling is the best investment one can make in himself.  


My next blog will recount arriving to China and all of the amazing, unexpected, enlightening, confusing, and every adjective in-between to describe my time in China so far.  Again, sorry to anyone who follows this and to myself personally for not fulfilling my personal goal to write here at least once every two weeks.  


Apology accepted, you've been busy living. 

Hong Kong

Spanish Style Street in Wuhan with John and Autumn

Hong Kong at Night (Stole this picture from my friend Sabrina)

Hong Kong dance partners

Back way to my place in Wuhan

Guilin

Little John

As a side note:


For any English speaker who wants to learn another language, the website Memrise is amazing!  I have been using it to learn the Mandarin characters and pronunciations. Shout out to my friend Rickard who I am living with in Shiyan for showing it to me!  I think I'll use this language for my Spanish when I return to the states...

CHINA!

I feel guilty because I have not posted in over a month, and SO much has been happening.  I am happy to say that I have been writing more over the past month than I have during most points of my life, but it has all been very personal and exploratory or personal e-mails and I haven't  gotten around to formatting something comprehensible for this site until now. I also have been fully living in the moment, so I forgive myself for being late to reach out on What Inspire's Mr. Brown.  Better late than never!

Within the next few days I will try to update this blog and capture what bas been going on since I've arrived in China.  I am somewhat proud to have been practicing what I preach by living in the moment, but I will try not to let that compromise other things (like this blog)!

More to come soon!  For now, here are some teaser pictures:

East Lake in Wuhan

Yangtze Bridge from Yellow Crane Tower

Kissing a baby at Wuhan University

Eating with my family*

Waterfall in Hong Kong on Hong Kong Island