China, baby! Woo hoo!

Sooo....here's the rundown. Several years ago I attended an amazing workshop at IU. It was sponsored by the National Consortium for Teaching About Asia, and it introduced me to all kinds of things, including a very much enjoyed trip to Japan in October 2008. Had it not been for that workshop, none of this would have happened, including this trip to China. One of the things available to completers of the workshop is the opportunity of travel to Japan, Korea, and China.

The trips go in rotations; one year it may be Japan and Korea, the next year may be China. Since I have been to Japan, even though I loved it so much and want to go back at some point, I thought I would hold out and try for the trip in a few years. I anticipated at least waiting for three years to do this. Well, back in January, I got an e-mail form the East Asian Studies Center at IU informing me that this would be the last trip of this kind to be funded by the Freeman Foundation. My chances of a trip to China were now greatly reduced! I hurriedly put together an application packet, and sent it off to Bloomington with a wish and a prayer that I would receive good news. I would know by the end of February!

February came, and with it came jangled nerves and a burnign desire to find out something - anything - about my staus for the trip. An e-mail arrived...and I waited to open it. I was afraid that I didn't get it! Upon finally getting the nerve up to open the document, I found out that I had made it to the next round, and that I would be doing a phone interview with Qiong Jiang, one of the Outreach Coordinators at the EASC and a leader of the trip. I set up my time for the interview, and then reviewed my intent and purpose for the trip. I felt like the interview went very well, and now all I had to do was sit back and wait.

Finally on March 18, I got an e-mail from Qiong saying that I had been selected for the trip! YAY!!!! I am so excited about this trip! Here is what I know at this point!

The trip will include visits to three main cities: Beijing, Xi'an, and Shanghai.

I will see:
The Great Wall, Beijing
The Forbidden City, Beijing
The Temple of Heaven, Beijing
Eat Peking Duck!, Beijing
Terra Cotta Soldiers, Xi'an
Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Xi'an
Old Town, Shanghai
City Skyline, Shanghai
and all kinds of other historical and cultural landmarks, as well as educational sites, in China!!

I'll have a pre-trip orientation (May) and post-trip meeting (September) in Bloomington, and a very brief orientation in Chicago right before we leave. The trip's projected dates right now are June 12th through July 2nd, so I am looking at three weeks of good travel fun and learning!

Keep checking back for more updates as I prepare for this amazing opportunity!