The Beginning

When my school’s study abroad department asked me if I wanted to study abroad not only my junior year, but also the fall semester of my sophomore year,  there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to go.   I jumped onto the opportunity for many reasons.  First off, I love to travel and an opportunity like this rarely comes around.  I will be studying and living at the University of Beijing, learning Mandarin, Chinese culture and history, traditional Chinese medicine as well as conducting an independent research study based around an internship that I choose.  China is one of the world's most influential countries and has an immensely diverse culture and history.  Another reason was that I have been fortunate enough to do home stays in Spain and Costa Rica as well as study last summer in Italy and I had never been to Asia before. This will be the longest and furthest I will have ever been from my home and family, which will be an interesting test, but I am really excited for this adventure.

My friend Leah arrived at my house today, I have been showing her around Santa Cruz. She will be traveling with me to China. There are 5 people in the program, 3 of them are really good friends of mine - Leah, Acadia and Thomas - and the other I do not know.  The program ends December 4th, hopefully by then Leah, Acadia and I will have a plan for the next three weeks which eventually leads us to Hong Kong where we fly out a few days before Christmas. We choose Hong Kong because it is south and by the time our program ends, Beijing will be in the 30's I hear, about half the temperature of Santa Cruz during that time.  

I have spent the last week or so realizing that cutoff jeans and raggy flannels may not be a choice fashion while there, so I have sort of “upgraded” (according to my mom) buying some new pairs of pants.  

I wish I could write more but I must finish packing and I take off in about 12 hours. I also just found out the Facebook is not allowed in China; I'm not an avid user, but until 5 minutes ago I counted on it for being able to get friends' addresses. Hopefully, I will be able to do a follow-up soon. Much love.