First class

“You just push. And if you don’t push, you will be left to push again the next time.”
Jieru-the Chinese PhD student who is co-leading our trip to China.

I went to my first class for the China trip yesterday. The above quote is when Jieru was explaining to us all about the crowding in China and how the Chinese do not wait in line most of the time. She stressed if you try not to push you will not get anywhere. I think I’ll be okay. Really, out of all of the things I could be worried about, my biggest concerns going into class today were:
“Do we need to bring sheets and pillows for the dorm rooms we are staying in?” And, “Who am I going to be rooming with?”
One of the two questions was answered. We are not staying in a dorm at Peking University after all. Apparently, the organizers weren’t quite sure we’d be comfortable there, so instead, we’ll stay in a hotel on campus. This means clean sheets every night and someone to make my bed! Yahoo!
We’ll be walking distance to all of our classes on campus. I am really excited to see the campus and get into the daily life of living in China. Apparently, we need to be prepared for no air conditioning in most places as well. China is pretty hot and humid in the summer, and I’m a sweaty person. Bring on the Certain Dry. Hopefully that will keep me from totally pitting out all of my shirts!
The roommate question still hasn’t been answered. I’ve had mixed results with roommates. We’ve either been wonderful friends, OR they dropped out of school. No kidding, two of my roommates in college dropped out of school, leaving me a room/apartment all to myself. Please God, do not let me send someone home from China as a result of living with me!
Anyway, when I went to China last time, I made a decision on what type of attitude I would bring along, sort of like picking out shoes for the trip, “Mmm, should I bring my anxious and worried attitude or my adventurous and open-minded attitude?” Since the anxious attitude gets so much use around here in the States, I decided on my open-minded and adventurous one. For the most part, it worked.
This time, I am conjuring up my inner NPR correspondent attitude, Michele Kelemen, to be exact. Since I am traveling without the added stress of meeting my 2 year old child for the first time, I want to really take notice of little details in China. I want to really get to know the other students there, say “Yes” instead of “I’m not sure”, and look to experience as much as possible.