Post-Commencement

Graduation (ahem, sorry, Commencement) was superb. They haven't changed much about it since the 1700's, so the meeting begins with all the ancient little shriveled alumni marching in and the county sheriff rides in on a horse and bangs his staff on the stage to call order. (Can you imagine being elected sheriff then finding out that part of your job?) It was lovely to have family there, and I was glad the ceremonies were solemn but positive and not sappily tear-jerking as many high school graduations are.

With all that successfully wrapped up (and friends still firmly connected via gchat), I'm back at my parents preparing to head to China. I've amassed most of the clothes I want to take but still need to get my pack, some khakis, a flashlight, etc. Lots of odds and ends to wrap up in the next couple weeks. Also, my grandpa might or might not be having surgery in another state, so that's added a level of intrigue to planning. Fortunately, it's not too serious, but it might be difficult to be away from home the last week I'm in the states.

I'm thoroughly enjoying following the China facebook group. Also fervently hoping we don't get quarantined like Mayor Nagin. I guess it wouldn't be too bad because the whole plane load of us would be together...?

Beginning?

According to the highly ritualized (and largely Latin) ceremony I will go through tomorrow, this is the beginning of my life--the commencement. But, I've done so much living already. It's interesting to think that of all that as...prologue.

Comrades!

Perhaps that is a poor title choice...Anyhow, I had a delightful brunch with two folks who will be in my Peace Corps group. We have very different backgrounds, but we also have a lot in common, and it made me feel much better when we were comfortable with each other quite quickly.

I did feel a little young and less experienced with living abroad. From the brunch (and from the Facebook group), I've noticed that most people have lived and taught abroad for at least a year. It will be interesting to see if my experience in teaching more academic English will even things out a bit.

Staging

We received the email about staging today! Nothing too terribly exciting, but it's nice to finally have some concrete details about going to China. I called to make my plane reservations, and I have a 8am flight out of Atlanta. We have a four-hour orientation that day in San Francisco, then we leave at 5 am the next morning for Beijing, have a short layover, then fly to Chengdu. Whew! That's 20 hours in the air of 48 on three flights!

I'm a little surprised that the orientation/staging thing is actually only four hours. It used to be a couple days, but they're cutting everything down to conserve funds, or so I hear. Anyhow, I'm sure it will be fine, and I'm looking forward to visiting San Francisco--I've heard it's lovely.

Chengdu video and Reading Period

Here is a great video about the continuing aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake, one year later. It follows two musicians who travel to a school for students relocated away from their families after their schools were destroyed. They recorded the students' songs then visited their families and showed them. There is some footage of Chengdu, where I'll be training in a little over a month (!). Also, it was cool to hear the language as its spoken there- the accent was pretty intelligible to me, which is heartening.
Afterquake

I'm currently in the throes of my last reading and exam period ever. Here is my anthem for this reading period. Jon Schmidt

TEFL Manual

I received an email today from the country desk with a manual to help us prepare for teaching English in China. I look forward to reading it and posting the gist of it here.

Also, the email reminded us that we will need diploma copies for our visas. I'm not sure if I will receive my actual diploma on graduation day or if it will be a dummy with the real thing to follow. I should check into that. I've done way too much paperwork to hit a snag in the visa process now!

Pre-Service Training Questionnaire

This evening, I attended the year-end fête of the public service organization that has been the backbone of my college experience. Many of my friends received awards for their contributions to the organization, and the speeches were reflective, leading to an evening in pleasant conversation about social justice, the work we've done, and the work that has yet to be realized. (Of particular note was the discussion of radicals vs. liberals. I am firmly of the opinion that both are vital to the social justice movement. One needs the fist pounding on the wall to rouse the hearts of the oppressed, but one also needs a mason to chip away the key stones. A fist alone soon grows tired and bruised, and simply plucking away stones only makes tiny holes. But together they can topple the wall.)

Anyhow, after this therapeutic ending ritual, I was delighted to find one of the first concrete signs of the new chapter in life in my inbox- the Pre-Service Training Questionnaire. It was pretty straightforward- smoking, drinking, and other host family preferences as well as a condensed work history and language learning history. It makes me happy to see that they really do customize training for each group.

A couple of the questions were a little stickier- "What is the most important factor we should consider in your site placement?"- was the most interesting. I finally deciding on answering with my preference for teaching low-level students. I'm much better at that than fine tuning the skills of advanced students. We'll see how that goes.

Staging information should come soon! It's exciting to see the growing crowd of 15's on the facebook group. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone.