Bucketlist/Updates

Congratulations to all of the CIEE finalists! Even though I didn't actually apply this year, I've been keeping up with the Facebook group from time to time. I hope everyone has an amazing time in South Korea! Ahh, so envious, but I guess I can't complain (: My friend thinks it's weird how the #1 thing I want to do in South Korea is ride the subway/metro. It just looks so much fun...and different. Hawaii doesn't have any subways, so I've always wanted to try one. Plus, the subway station (and Incheon airport) looks so nice and clean. But enough about Korea, lets focus on China!

Everyone in the finalist group seems pretty nice so far. I can't wait to meet all of them, especially those in my city. I have a couple of them as friends on Facebook, but we haven't really conversed as much. They all seem like fun and intelligent people, though. Hopefully it'll be a lot different when we meet in person.

I've been stressing a lot over the past week. Only yesterday did I realize I only had 3 weeks left to do everything: take ACT, summer homework, senior portraits, pack, etc. I've been procrastinating on everything, especially packing and summer homework. I still need to buy a ton of stuff before I go (I wonder when American Councils will be releasing our host family information?). Packing is such a daunting task. For summer homework, I have to read three books (Jane Eyre, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Pride and Prejudice) and complete 10 journals for each of them. I've already decided that I, unfortunately, won't be able to finish before I go to China. This means I'll probably have to complete my homework in China, but that's what long plane rides are for.  

Speaking of long plane rides, here's my tentative itinerary. I'll be on a 9 hour plane ride to DC. After two days of orientation, the entire group will be traveling for an hour to Chicago, and then a 14+ hour flight to Shanghai. On the flight home, the entire group will be traveling back to Chicago. Because there are no flights from Chicago to Hawaii at that time, I'll be one of the few staying overnight until my flight home the next day. I'm actually skipping the first day of school because of that. It's okay, though, because we don't really do anything on the first day anyways.

I'm so excited for China! Some of the things I want to do there:

• Dance in the park with all of the grandmas, grandpas, aunts, etc. - I'm pretty excited for this, no joke.
• Shop - I want to go shopping there so badly. I heard Wulin Street is a really good place for clothes shopping in Hangzhou.
• Eat authentic Chinese food - Hawaii has many many Chinese restaurants, but a lot of it has been Americanized.
• KTV - KARAOKE, YES. I love Karaoke, and China has some of the best places for it. 

Yeah, I'm still working on my list, haha. I really just want to experience what a typical lifestyle in China is like and, of course, improve my Mandarin (esp. my speaking and listening skills). 

I will keep you all posted on any news about my host family! I hope I'll be able to blog in China because I know many people tend to abandon their blogs when they're on the trip; I've come across many blogs like that. *Fingers-crossed* that that won't be the case for me. I'll definitely try my best! 

Until next time,
Christine