up so it's not so accessible. I'll upload my blog postings with more
details when I get a chance!
Love and hugs!
Katie
8.7.10
Update
Things are going great with the host family, but the Internet is dial
up so it's not so accessible. I'll upload my blog postings with more
details when I get a chance!
up so it's not so accessible. I'll upload my blog postings with more
details when I get a chance!
4.7.10
Moving Right Along...
Shengri Kuai Le USA (Happy Birthday USA)! I hope all the folks back home are having a festive holiday. For us, the most exciting thing about today was finally getting our training site and host family assignments! Richy and I found out that will be completing our training at Sichuan Normal University (Main Campus) and living with a host family about 15 minutes walk from campus. Our whole group of about 90 people have been split up among 4 universities in Chengdu to live with host families and complete our language, culture, and teacher training before being placed at our more permanent sites in the fall. What we know about our host family so far is that they are a married couple with a 6 year old daughter and that their hobbies include reading, calligraphy, and table tennis. I am interested to see if they will be willing to help us learn some Chinese writing (assuming we'll have any spare time). We will be meeting them and moving in tomorrow afternoon!
The last few days have been a whirlwind, especially with the jet-lag. We've attended many sessions on language, safety and security, health, Chinese history, TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), and on Peace Corps administrative details. We've eaten out with our language teacher, been vaccinated against hep A&B, rabies, and Japanese encephalitis (which stung) and passed out in our hotel room in-between. Our daily language classes are starting back at the basics, but it seems to be good review and I think it's really helping improve our tones and pronunciation. The language groups will be re-organized in a few weeks. We have also found out that in the next few months we will be spending a week with another host family at the site which we will be placed at after training (kind of a trial to help us get to know where we will be for the next two years, and what skills we will need there). In a lot of ways it's nice to have so much support and training, but it's also exhausting! I can't wait to get placed in our host families so we can develop daily routines and stop living out of our suitcases.
The last few days have been a whirlwind, especially with the jet-lag. We've attended many sessions on language, safety and security, health, Chinese history, TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), and on Peace Corps administrative details. We've eaten out with our language teacher, been vaccinated against hep A&B, rabies, and Japanese encephalitis (which stung) and passed out in our hotel room in-between. Our daily language classes are starting back at the basics, but it seems to be good review and I think it's really helping improve our tones and pronunciation. The language groups will be re-organized in a few weeks. We have also found out that in the next few months we will be spending a week with another host family at the site which we will be placed at after training (kind of a trial to help us get to know where we will be for the next two years, and what skills we will need there). In a lot of ways it's nice to have so much support and training, but it's also exhausting! I can't wait to get placed in our host families so we can develop daily routines and stop living out of our suitcases.
1.7.10
Made it to Chengdu!
After a grueling 16 1/2 airplane hours and 9+ airport hours, 40 minutes on a bus and six flights of stairs, WE HAVE FINALLY MADE IT. We are in our hotel in Chengdu, enjoying the air conditioning and getting ready to hit the sheets to prepare for a full day of training tomorrow. We get internet in our room on our laptops and facebook is definitely off-limits until we find a way around it. If you are reading this now, then you know that we have successfully been able to post to our blog via email!
More soon!
By Katie
More soon!
By Katie
29.6.10
First Leg: Washington DC
After a lovely going away BBQ, packing and repacking until we got down to the required weight for our checked luggage, and saying our goodbyes, Richy and I boarded a plane Monday morning for DC. At the security line, we met another volunteer heading to China who had just said goodbye to her folks as well. The flights were short, the transfer went without a hitch, and we arrived in DC heavily laden with luggage. We got a great view of the National Mall from across the Potomac during our cab ride, and found ourselves at our hotel in the charming and historic Georgetown neighborhood.
We met up with some other China volunteers in the hotel lobby and went out to eat, chatting about our experiences and expectations. I'm kind of surprised that Richy and I seem to be about five years older than most of the other volunteers, but it's nice to have previous experience under our belts. After dinner, we hiked out to the Mall in the twilight (and thick humidity) and were elated to find fireflies flashing in the bushes (first time we've ever seen such creatures!). We arrived at the Lincoln Memorial just in time to see the lights turned on, and then walked down the reflecting pool to see the WWII memorial and got a closer look at the Washington Monument. It was so strange and interesting to finally see the structures that I have written essays about! It took us about an hour to make it that far from the hotel and our energy was fading fast, so we got a cab back and tucked in for a nice restful night.
Today we're scheduled to start staging, get introduced to our program and complete all necessary paperwork. I am looking forward to moving from Invitee to Trainee and finally officially getting this Peace Corps thing started!
By Katie
We met up with some other China volunteers in the hotel lobby and went out to eat, chatting about our experiences and expectations. I'm kind of surprised that Richy and I seem to be about five years older than most of the other volunteers, but it's nice to have previous experience under our belts. After dinner, we hiked out to the Mall in the twilight (and thick humidity) and were elated to find fireflies flashing in the bushes (first time we've ever seen such creatures!). We arrived at the Lincoln Memorial just in time to see the lights turned on, and then walked down the reflecting pool to see the WWII memorial and got a closer look at the Washington Monument. It was so strange and interesting to finally see the structures that I have written essays about! It took us about an hour to make it that far from the hotel and our energy was fading fast, so we got a cab back and tucked in for a nice restful night.
Today we're scheduled to start staging, get introduced to our program and complete all necessary paperwork. I am looking forward to moving from Invitee to Trainee and finally officially getting this Peace Corps thing started!
By Katie
14.4.10
Spring in Portland
I'm having a hard time comprehending the fact that it's already been almost a year since our recruiter called us and uttered the word "China." Since accepting our nomination and then, our official invitation, we have made what I like to the think of as our own little two person Evergreen program out of preparing for what awaits us there. While Kimmie is at work on weeknights, we have a habit of ordering pizza and trying to decipher the meaning and significance of Chinese films and documentaries. We've attended Mandarin Chinese classes almost every week since last June, and have recently discovered that we can understand each other for almost an entire conversation without speaking English (especially after a drink or two). We have been reading books, studying characters, following news on US-China relations, essentially doing everything we can to beat China into our heads.
I have tentatively decided on a Chinese name for myself, something that I originally didn't want to do. At first I feared losing myself in the wash of another language and didn't want to try to remake myself too much. I was also afraid of appropriating a name in a culture not mine. Now that I have a bit more of a grasp of what my life will be like over there, and a bit of a feel for the language, I realize that I need to create bridges where I can. I'd like to think a name is just another bridge to help people connect with me. In Korea, I realize that with my foreign looks, language, and otherwise strange ways, I made people uncomfortable. It was the students who eventually became the most comfortable and accepting of me that gave me their own version of a Korean name: A-Goo-Lin. Which as sweet as it was for them to try to make my last name sound like a full Korean name, just sounds horrible (especially when screamed at me from down a long concrete hall). I like the surname An because it means "peace" and what surname would be more fitting for a Peace Corps volunteer (also it begins with A)? I have also always had a fondness for the name Mei (in English, Mae, and May, my birth month) which in Chinese can mean beautiful, or plum depending on the character, and is also the first character of the word "meiguoren" which means "American." Finally, I looked for something that might go well with Mei for a first name and found Lin, which means jade and also starts with the same letter as my middle name (plus jade is green, which is my favorite color). So I still need to run it by my Chinese teacher to make sure I haven't combined any words to make a strange euphemism or some other awkwardness, I think I'll try to go by An Mei-Lin in China.
This week, we will picking up and shipping off our labs from what I am hoping will be the very last of our health screenings. This one was for the actual Chinese work visa, and it's always funny to see a relatively pragmatic doctor go over the tedious and unusual health requirements of the Peace Corps and the Chinese government. June 29th, here we come!
By Katie
I have tentatively decided on a Chinese name for myself, something that I originally didn't want to do. At first I feared losing myself in the wash of another language and didn't want to try to remake myself too much. I was also afraid of appropriating a name in a culture not mine. Now that I have a bit more of a grasp of what my life will be like over there, and a bit of a feel for the language, I realize that I need to create bridges where I can. I'd like to think a name is just another bridge to help people connect with me. In Korea, I realize that with my foreign looks, language, and otherwise strange ways, I made people uncomfortable. It was the students who eventually became the most comfortable and accepting of me that gave me their own version of a Korean name: A-Goo-Lin. Which as sweet as it was for them to try to make my last name sound like a full Korean name, just sounds horrible (especially when screamed at me from down a long concrete hall). I like the surname An because it means "peace" and what surname would be more fitting for a Peace Corps volunteer (also it begins with A)? I have also always had a fondness for the name Mei (in English, Mae, and May, my birth month) which in Chinese can mean beautiful, or plum depending on the character, and is also the first character of the word "meiguoren" which means "American." Finally, I looked for something that might go well with Mei for a first name and found Lin, which means jade and also starts with the same letter as my middle name (plus jade is green, which is my favorite color). So I still need to run it by my Chinese teacher to make sure I haven't combined any words to make a strange euphemism or some other awkwardness, I think I'll try to go by An Mei-Lin in China.
This week, we will picking up and shipping off our labs from what I am hoping will be the very last of our health screenings. This one was for the actual Chinese work visa, and it's always funny to see a relatively pragmatic doctor go over the tedious and unusual health requirements of the Peace Corps and the Chinese government. June 29th, here we come!
By Katie
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