The Revelation!

Hooray! It has at last been revealed where I'll be teaching! I don't want to blab all over the internet where we'll be, but I'll give you a basic hint. It is an average sized Chinese city in the southeast. The province has several dramatic mountains, and it seems pretty lush. Apparently it is extremely hot and humid in the summer and extremely damp, windy, and chilly in the winter. My team consists of five other Americans my age and one team leader. I'll be teaching at a huge private university. It sounds like it will be a very challenging situation, but quite enriching, with lots of room for growth! I don't know much else except I'll need to stock up on raincoats, long underwear, and wool sweaters. Zai jian until next time! I'll leave you with this picture of the province, even though that's not what the city looks like, of course!

Almost time...

I'm starting to go crazy. I'd like to go to China now before I change my mind. I doubt I'll change my mind, since I've been excited about going for the past 9 months, but it could happen. This Kansas sun can wilt you and make you feel less than ambitious about life. I could use an extra dose of motivation to practice my Mandarin and other bits of "homework" I need to attend to. Less than a month before I head out to CA for training!

100%!

(A picture of when I was in China last time, wondering at the vast size of the country. Where on that map I'll be sent this time?)

Hello, peeps! I can hardly believe it, but I have officially raised $10,200. That means my support goal has been met! It hasn't been all kittens and roses or whatever that saying is, but yet again I've been reminded that the Father is always faithful and will provide for His children! I'm thankful for Him and for all the friends, family, and even strangers who have been so generous in helping me pursue His renown in Asia. Many blessings, folks!

Biding my time

(Laura circa 1987)

June has come and has almost passed! I've been graduated for a good whole month now and I'm trying to stay occupied and motivated in the Golden City-- Topeka, KS. It's more like Depression and Low Self-Esteem City some days, but I'm attempting to be positive about the summer in my hometown. Last summer was spent working at the highly glamorous NASA Langley Research Center and the summer before that I spent in the highly glamorous mountains of rural China. So, of course, Topeka seems less than exotic. But I'm glad that I get to spend a few short months with my family before I head overseas for a year.

Despite a slow summer so far, I haven't been motivated enough to get a part-time job for the next couple of months. I figured that I'll have plenty of work to do the rest of my life. So the days have gone by while I paint practically the entire house and mow the yard. Volunteering at CPO has been a blessing, and I've also been able to visit my 94 year old grandmother a lot more frequently than when I was 1200 miles away in Virginia.

In the back of my mind, I've been thinking a lot about China. My departure date is August 28th for training in Los Angeles and then September 16th for Beijing. It's practically a full-time job just getting paperwork and little visa pictures ready! I had to hunt around the whole city for a place to get 16 passport-size pictures taken with a BLUE background, which China requires. Not a single place had a blue background; only white. So I finally bought some blue poster board and made Walgreen's hang it up for me. In addition, I had to find a professor in the middle of the summer to rewrite my letter of recommendation for the Chinese school I'll be assigned to. Apparently the letter he had written was deemed "too political." I've also been trying to forget about all the countless blood tests and X-rays I've had to get taken.

While little frustrations keep cropping up, I've been reading some good books on China and practicing learning a bit of Mandarin. I just finished a really truthful book about life in the mainland through three generations of women called, Wild Swans, which is banned there.

Well, folks, I best be going now. I've got to go slop the pigs and harvest the wheat before I hit the sack tonight.