Some More Details

So what will happen after the orientation session in Newark? Shortly after noon on July 7th, well be taking off on Continental Flight 89 to Beijing. The flight is only 12 hours long. Only 12 hours, you ask? Yes, after the 19 hours in the air, not counting the two lay-overs in Chicago and LA, the trip to Sydney, Australia was longer, by far! I was kind of curious, though, how a flight from the east coast going all the way to China could only take 12 hours. Well, the plane basically flies due north over the Arctic! I'll get to see the non-existent ice cap first hand.

After arriving in Beijing (北京), we'll spend a couple days there, acclimating to the time change. (It's exactly 12 hours different there from home.) We will be playing the role of tourist there, seeing sites like the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. (Hmmm, kind of sounds like a couple Chinese restaurants, doesn't it?) It will be interesting spending time in Beijing, a city of 17 million people. Yeah, that's right. Let's put this into perspective. Michigan has a population of just 10 million. So there are quite a few people there, and as Katie Melua sang, nine million bicycles.


From Beijing, the group will be headed to Xi'an (西安) in Shaanxi Province. Xi'an is one of the ancient capitals of China and sat along the famous Silk Road, which brought silk and other precious materials from China to Europe and vice verse. In Xi'an, we will be studying at Shaanxi Normal University. (No jokes that I belong at the Abnormal University.) Like the term we used to use here in the States, a normal university focuses on teacher training. We had several rooming options: alone or sharing a room with another group member, staying in the "Foreign Experts" housing (which is designed to house teachers from overseas) or staying in normal student housing. I chose a room by myself in the student dorm. After having gone on a few long trips with groups, when the end of the day comes, it's nice to have a place where I can decompress and have some alone time. I chose the student dorm because it would be interesting to meet a variety of students from around the world, including China, and it's quite a bit cheaper. While this is paid for, everything is deducted from a $3800 stipend that we are awarded. This will then free up more of that money for me to enjoy my time, see the city, buy souvenirs for friends and family, etc. Factory direct Nikes anyone?