Leaving on a jet plane....

I've got my plane ticket, my visa, and almost all of my bags packed. Its only 10 days away but its almost here! Well, close enough for me to start getting seriously scared about going to Hong Kong. And I'm definatly not looking forward to the long plane flight. I think that its rounding out to be 19 hours now. I've got 2 guidebooks, and a CD set for learning Catonese that I can work on, but I don't want to be sitting for that long. I got home yesterday from spending Christmas with my Dad. Boy has everyone changed. Those little sisters of mine grew up very fast. I had a blast with them, playing Uno, and the Tycoon games, (which are only fun for the disasters). I got to see the Narnia movie with Elena, and Hannah caught me up on my dragon-info. I spent Christmas Eve with all my aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was really good to see everyone. Everything changes so quickly though. I also took my first photo with Santa, well with the girls and my stepbrother Aaron. I can't wait to get it because I know that it is going to be extra-cute. (Santa asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I said tution payments.) All-in-all it was a very nice trip and I really enjoyed spending time with the family. I got an email from Lingnan with my new housing assignment, class schedule, and email. My roomate is a 3rd-year business major, and I'm living on the 7th floor of my building. I promise to take pictures of the view and put them up. These are the classes I'm taking:

• HST264 Survey of Indian History;
• CUS115 Methodologies in Cultural Research;
• CUS211 Cultural & Historical Writing
• CUS309 Film & Cinema Studies; and
• SSC217 Statistics for Social Sciences

I know that 5 classes is alot, but I won't have a job there, so I'll have more time for class. Emily told me tonight that she insists that I pay a trip to the statue of Bruce Lee that is in Hong Kong. I'm hoping that I get the chance to meet Dr. Jackie Chan- I kid you not, he holds an honoary degree from my university. He holds and athletic competition there every year. So maybe I'll get the chance to meet him. I also have the Peter, Paul, and Mary "Leaving on a Jet Plane" song stuck in my head, hence the title of the post. Its rather appropriate, considering all the flying I've been doing recently. I'm flying with Air Canada, which I've never done before, so I hope that it will be good. I hope that I don't need to get a transit visa, which would just be one more headache for me.

Goodbye SMCM!

Today at noon I am ending my 3rd year at St. Mary's. Its a little surreal to think that the next time I am back here, it will be the fall of my senior year! This semester went by so incredibly fast that my head is spinning. But boy oh boy am I glad that finals are done with. It was a pretty harsh week with the combination of take-home exams and in-class exams. I hope that Lingnan won't be as brutal. I am very proud that I pulled off 2 all-nighters in a row without completly losing my mind. So now I get to go home, spend a day and 2 nights with my mom, (and hopefully see Vira), then get on a plane for Christmas with my Dad in WA! I got his present today and I really think that he is going to like it. Shirley is also going to be in Seattle at the same time as I am, so hopfully we can meet up or something. I am confident that I will get along with everyone in Lingnan as easily as I got along with her. If not, I'm screwed. Then I am back home on Dec. 30th, and I go to Hong Kong on the 10th of January. It finally hit me today that, holy crap- I'm going to China. Its so many thousands of miles with a 13-hour time difference. Thats just crazy. I was also watching "Globetrekker" and the episode they did on China. I found a few places that I am definatly going to go, like the largest outdoor bronze Buddha. Luckly for me, it is right in Hong Kong. They showed some beautiful shots of the area where I am going to be living, and it looks absolutly breathtaking. Finally I can be giddy about this trip without worrying about SMCM work and all that.
I've said a lot of goodbyes these past couple of days my friends, espcially those ones that are graduationg/leaving school. I hate goodbyes, even when I know that I am going to see most of these people again. Allison made me a shirt that I will treasure forever, my SweetSuite Life shirt. She made one for all of us suitmates, with a inside-joke/nickname on the back. Mine is "Ms. Thang" which if quite hilarious if you know the story behind it. I love it, and it makes me realize how much I am going to miss this place and the people in it.
Being in Hong Kong will really be the first time that I will have to be completly dependent on myself. Its both thrilling and frightning at the same time. Its my chance to learn how to be completly independent, which I know that I have to learn if I ever want to live my own life. I think that I can handle it though. As much as I will be missing home, I have realized that Hong Kong is the opportunity of a lifetime, and I plan to take full advantage of it.
The traveling I plan on doing has also lead to an interesting new career possibility for post-graduation. Jason informed me that where he wants us to travel, I could easily get a job teaching English to children, or tutoring monks in one of the Tibetan colonies. This has been one of the jobs that I have dreamed of for myself. I hoped to do it through the Peace Corps, post-graduation, but I will be much happier if I can arrange it on my own terms. Then I could truly die happy.

35 Days Left!

Thats right folks, only 35 days left until I am in Hong Kong! Then I am there for about 160-162 days. I'm really excited. Jason came over last night to talk about travel plans, and I was asking him a bunch of questions about chopstick ettiquette, and then he laughed and said, "I refuse to answer any more questions. You are such an anthropologist!" And I was flattered, because, duh, I want to be an anthropologist. I've also been making a mental list of places I want to go when I am there, because according to Shirley, we have a lot of vacation days. So far I want to travel up to Bejing to see the Bejing Opera, and maybe all the touristy things like Mao's Tomb, Tianemen Sqaure, Forbidden City, etc. That would be nice, but I am more into non-touristy places where no one ever goes. I figure after spending about 5 months at the university, and around Hong Kong, that I won't be considered a tourist. I love the fact that there is a nature preserve almost right across the street from my university, even though we are in the middle of a city.


Other things I have discovered today:

• Chinese television is awesome
• 6.9 Million people in the Hong Kong S.A.R
• I should really do laundry soon
• People I work with think I am mean
• There is nothing like a non-snow day, snow day
• Chopsticks are better than forks

As for the end of the semester, I have a paper, a project, a take-home final, and then 4 final exams. Mom is coming down on the 17th to pick me up, and then I go out to WA to visit Dad and family from the 19th to the 30th. Then I come home until its time to go to Hong Kong. I am going to be doing a lot of flying this year, which is just fine by me. Tomorrow, hopefully, I will be up in Baltimore celebrating Vira's birthday with her and Jen. Its gonna be an awesome time, and promises much crazyness. I am going to miss Vira like whoa.


Any donations to the "Becca-in-China Fund" would also be greatly appriciated ;)

It looks like the Southern China part of mine and Jason's traveling might have to be cut out due to financial limitations. Hopefully I will get to travel around there during the academic year. Shirley told me that in the spring there is a lot of days off from school, so I will have plenty of free time to travel then.

Logo

<---This is the logo for Lingnan University and a brief explanation of it:

The White Cloud Mountain depicts the highest aspiration in life

The Pearl River represents the wide dissemination of Lingnan's Education

The lychee trees with ripe fruit hanging in clusters show the commitment to realise the university's precept of "For God, for Country and for Lingnan.

The path represents the road to the future by the virtue of hard work.

The logo's colors of red and grey symbolise integrity and loyalty




(I think its pretty frickin awesome)

Shirley is cool!

Tonight I had dinner with Shirley, the exchange student from Lingnan. Could you believe that I was actually nervous about meeting her? I felt like how well we got along is going to indicate how well I will get along with everyone else there. I also met the other student from SMCM who is also studying abroad at the same time as me. It turns out that Shirley and I get along great! She is really sweet, funny, and friendly. She made me feel very positive about the social life of the school, and I think that I will have an easy time with people over there and that I won't have any problems making friends. She even suggested that we should be roomates, which would be freakin awesome! When my folks come to pick me up at the end of the semester we're going to have breakfast with them. It turns out that Shirley is also going to be in Seattle at the same time that I am going to be visiting Dad, and it would be even cooler if she could meet Dad's family too. I can say with confidence that I have made my first Lingnan friend. She also told me that I will need to get a suit for my class presentations. We never had to dress up for SMCM presentations. I can't wait to go! I wish that I was leaving tomorrow!

Its offical, China is letting me in.

Woooooo! Christine from Lingnan emailed me today to let me know that the Chinese government granted me my visa, and they are sending it to my house! So now I can stay in the country for at least five months. Man, they're letting me into their country......you think that they would know better. I've also been constantly emailing Shirley, the exchange student from Lingnan, and we've made plans to have dinner on Sunday. She sent me a beautiful picture of the Hong Kong skyline, and I'll try to put it up.