Hangzhou (杭州), Zhejiang

http://www.visithangzhou.com/cmarter/files/20060801-I8MR-58YE-cnTQ.JPG

Good news! I received my city placement yesterday. It looks like I'll be spending 6 weeks in Hangzhou this summer(: If you guys don't know where Hangzhou is, it is the capital city of Zhejiang Province and is an hour away from Shanghai by train. From what people have been telling me, the city is very pretty. My guide says that "alongside Suzhou, Hangzhou has been referred to by many as 'heaven on earth' because of its breathtaking scenery." Also, my friends have been telling me about how amazing the food is over there. If you know me, you would know that I am crazy about food. I just hope I don't gain too much weight in China...

On a different note, I am incredibly excited for the host family aspect of the program. Host families are selected among the students who attend the high school that our host institution is located in. Do you know what this means?! This means that I will be getting a host sibling for sure! I can't wait to meet my host family (well, I need to find out who my host family is first, but that's not until June). What's even better is that there will be activities planned during the course of the program, where we will get to bond and interact with our siblings. I'm hoping that whoever my sibling is, I hope this person likes EXO (particularly EXO-M). Kidding. But seriously, I hope we get along!

EXO approves of this post

Gap Year?

This post has nothing to do with NSLI-Y or traveling, but I just felt the need to blog about this anyways. With junior year coming to a close, it seems like it has become increasingly crucial for me to figure out what I want to do in life. But the problem is I don't exactly know what I want to do in life.

My goal has always been to graduate high school and then attend a top-notch college. I mean, isn't that most people's goal? Lately, however, I've been thinking of going in a different direction. In the fall, I am planning to apply for another NSLI-Y scholarship to study in China for a full year (okay, so I lied. It is sort of related to NSLI-Y and traveling). If I were to get in, that would mean taking a gap year.

Taking a gap year has never been on my agenda before, but the prospect of studying Chinese in China for a whole year is just so enticing! Plus, it will help me re-evaluate my choices and figure out what I want to do in life. Right now, I might say that I want to go into International Business, Business Administration, or Event Management/Coordination, but I just don't really know for sure. Heck, I was even thinking about majoring in Communications & Media and International Relations at the beginning of the year. I seem to change my mind a lot. I do know that I want to minor in Chinese, however, so taking a gap year with NSLI-Y would be beneficial. Not to mention, it would improve my proficiency in Chinese and bring me one step closer to fluency.

So what's the problem? I seem like I'm really keen about taking a gap year abroad don't I? Honestly, I don't really know. I don't know what's holding me back. I guess one reason is because of scholarships. I know that if I were to take a gap year, I might have to forfeit some of my scholarships. Without scholarships and financial aid, going to college would be incredibly expensive and out of my reach. It's something that I have to think over long and hard.

Well, this was a pretty useless post. I'm not even a senior yet, but it doesn't hurt to think about my choices beforehand. I guess I'll apply for a year scholarship in the fall and see where it goes from there. I really hope I get accepted...that way I can at least keep my options open until the very end. I am positive I want to take a gap year to study abroad, but at the same time, I am hesitant to do so. Ahh, I'm just full of contradictions.

I envy how everyone seems to know what they want to do in life. Yet I am here, still struggling to figure out what I want to do with my own life. My goal for this summer is to do some self-discovering. Maybe it will strengthen my decision to take a gap year after high school? I don't know. Even if it's only for 6 weeks, I know that it will definitely be a rewarding experience.

Until next time,
Christine

NSLI-Y Scholarship

My first blog post! I'm not much of a blogger, so please excuse my poor blogging skills. This blog will be used for documenting my trip to China this summer with American Councils (for the sake of family, friends, and memories). I intend to update it in China as frequently as I can, so join me on my journey and *fingers-crossed* for good wireless connection!

First, let me explain a little bit about the program that I am participating in. NSLI-Y stands for National Security Language Initiative for Youth. It is a government-funded program that aims to provide scholarships to high school students to study critical languages abroad. Such languages include Chinese, Korean, Russian, Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Hindi. There are two options of duration: summer and year. The summer program is roughly 6-7 weeks long. If you want more information on NSLI-Y, visit  http://www.nsliforyouth.org/.

After 7 months of waiting, I finally received my finalist email on April 4th at 9:07 am HST. I didn't see it until 2:00 pm in my last period though. When I opened up my acceptance letter (pictured above), I couldn't stop spazzing...My friends literally thought I was crying. I probably looked like an idiot, but who cares! I'm going to China! 

Honestly, this still doesn't seem real to me. I seriously can't believe that I had made it, especially since my interview didn't go too well (or at least that's how I felt about it). Thank you to everyone who believed in me and encouraged me to apply for this scholarship! This will be my first time traveling outside of the United States, so it will be quite the experience(: I'm hoping American Councils start notifying us about our locations soon. I just want to know where I am placed already! In the mean time, I should probably finish filling out all of my forms.

Until next time,
Christine