Get Excited! China in 8 Days!
So, my name is Ashley Johnston, and I was given the task of taking the internet with me to China.
The Great Wall prior to my arrival.
Let me tell you a little bit about what is going on here. Before you graduate from Centenary you have to complete a May Module. This is a shortened course that, for most people, takes you out of the country. This is meant to expose you to a new and different culture from your own. There are many different modules that you can choose to go on. Some are local, some are in the country somewhere, and some are in places such as Italy, Greece, France, India, Ecuador, or China. They are different every year. I chose to go on the module to China! Each trip has a course load that goes with it. On this module, we will be researching different topics, creating a presentation, and presenting that to our fellow China travelers. While in China, we will be keeping a journal and writing about different topics that we are assigned by our wonderful professors, Dr. Prickett and Dr. Webber. I will also be updating this whenever I can in order to post videos, pictures, and just tell everyone what we are doing. My parents are pretty excited about this.
Here's where we are at right now. We have had 3 meetings so far to prepare us for our trip. These meetings have been where we have filled out forms, talked about luggage, learned a little of the language, learned what is expected of us, asked questions, gotten answers, learned about money, learned what not to say, and pretty much just hung out with each other. There are 9 students, 1 staff member, and our 2 professors who are going across the world. One of greatest things about Centenary is that I know all of the people going on this trip. I have had classes with them, been in a club with them, lived down the hall from them, or just hung out with them. So basically, I am going on a trip to China with a bunch of friends. We have been getting a ton of information preparing us for what is to come. I have gotten my Hepatitis A shot and my tetanus shot just to be on the safe side. We have been given DVDs that give a little bit more information on the country. I have created a countdown on my Facebook that tells me, down to the second, how long I have until the trip. We have been assigned our topics, and (hopefully) everyone is working on their presentation. This week is finals week for us, so I don't know how much we really are working on those.
What is to come: On Thursday, we have our last official meeting before we leave the country. At this meeting, we will have our completely packed luggage. With that luggage, we will walk all around campus while asking last minute questions of our professors. This little exercise is to make sure that we fully understand how much we are taking on the trip. We are allowed one bag and one carry-on. This means that I can only bring roughly 4 outfits with me. Yeah, I'm not sure how I feel about that yet. Luckily for you, I will be bringing my video camera, so you all get to see how many times we wear the same things. After our meeting on Thursday, we will just be waiting for Wednesday morning to come around. We have to be at the Shreveport airport at 4AM! From there we are flying to Atlanta and then straight (16 hours) to Shanghai. I'll let you know how THAT goes. I will post something after our meeting on Thursday to let you know who all is going and all of our last minute information. Until then...
再 见 (or goodbye in English)
简体中文版 (Ashley)
