I should begin this blog by apologizing for not replying to emails that you all have faithfully sent to me. The two hours a week I spend online is not enough for thoughtful responses. But rest assured, I will answer them. It just may take another month. I love reading them and feeling like I know a little bit about what's happening at home.

With just a little under two weeks until "swearing in" (when my training group officially become PC Volunteers), life is moving both too quickly and not fast enough. It's been great to be home with my host family. I move out of the house in a week and a half, and I'm already getting teary-eyed just thinking about it. Most of my fellow trainees can't wait to get to site. Me, I will be leaving Chengdu with a bit of sadness. But I've been invited back whenever I want to visit, so it'll be OK. They took me to a ballet last Friday night. Zhong Dian and I sat through "Tales of the Silk Road." It's only the second ballet I've been to, and like "Swan Lake" at Miami (good times with Linsey, Kari, and Dara) "Tales..." had me in tears at points. It was gorgeous--the story, the colors, the dancing... Scott, there was also plenty of "hip thingy" going on. I thought of you the whole time. But otherwise it's been mellow at home. My host mom is gone on a business trip this weekend and ZD has started school again, so it's been quiet but nice.

Tomorrow I'm heading to Leshan, which is two hours south of Chengdu and is famous for it's Grand Buddha. According to Lonely Planet it's the largest seated Buddha in the world. I've wanted to see it since I've arrived and with the host mom out of town and ZD at school (yes, on a Sunday), there isn't a better opportunity to go. It's turned into quite the event. There will be at least 8-12 of us in total going. I've been the one organizing the trip, which has been unusual for me, since I never successfully organize any type of outings--even at home in the U.S. But I'm unofficially in charge of the trip. Being in China has already changed me. I'm much more willing to put myself out there than I ever was at home. I guess I'm a bit more confident, if that's possible.

Update on the lip (and for those of you on MySpace, stay tuned for the picture). I talked to the doctor about my hives and lip, showing her the pictures. After she laughed at my photo, she thought it looked and sounded like a part of the allergy. So no bugs were getting fresh with me that night. Thank God. She thinks it may have been the final purging of the reaction, since that's the last break out I've had. I'm still on allergy medication for a couple of weeks in case any of allergy is lingering in my body.

That's all I can think of right now. Thanks for the comments in advance.

Btw, I'm craving In 'n Out like nothing else. The other night I saw a Pizza Hut commercial and my mouth began to water. ZD laughed at me.

Back from Lanzhou

Well, my site visit was hen hao (very good). I loved the reps from my university--they were more than accomidating! I have a "counterpart" teacher, who is a lot of fun and happy to help me around the college and town. And I was able to meet my sitemate afterall! He returned from his travels and invited me out to dinner with his friends. I ended up spending most of the rest of my time with him and his friends. He's been super and is looking forward to helping me settle in.

Great story: my last morning in Lanzhou, I woke up early to meet one of the Foreign Affairs Office people, Amy, for breakfast. She wanted to take me to a famous restaurant in town for beef noodles (a Gansu specialty). It's only open from 6am to 10am, so it had to be breakfast (different, I know, but that's another topic for another day). But as I'm waking up, I realize I can't feel my bottom lip. I reach down to touch it, and it's swollen. So I grab a mirror close from my nightstand and see that lip is 8 times its normal size. This sends me into a panic, and I almost call the PC doctors in Chengdu. I looked pathetic. But it was funny (and yes, I do have pictures). Luckily it went away by the time Amy and I reached the restaurant. Don't know if it was a spider or mosquito bite or an allergic reaction. Amy doesn't think it's a mosquito bite, as "mosquitos don't kiss lips." I guess I'll never know.

Drum roll, please

I've neglected you, dear readers. I'm sorry.

There wasn't much of a surprise with my site annoncement. I'm going to Lanzhou, in Gansu province (the northwest of China). I'm one of about seven volunteers living in Lanzhou. My sitemate is a guy from the previous year (China 11), but I'm not sure when I'll meet him. He's somewhere traveling right now.

I'm on my site visit this week. I stayed in my apartment last night. It's big--one bedroom, a living room, a study/office, kitchen, and bathroom. I'll have to get used to showering in the open, as there isn't an actual stall. I just stand in the bathroom and shower. Though it sounds odd, it's rather convenient. The only thing is my entire bathroom floor is wet after the exercise.

I'll be in Lanzhou until Thursday and then I'll be going back to Chengdu to finish training. It's a 22 hour train ride, but luckily I slept for 10 hours on the way up.

Other exciting things that happened this week:
1. I got a haircut! And it only cost 8 yuan ($1). It turned out really well. It was also the first time a guy cut my hair.
2. I broke out into hives this week. I don't know why or what is causing the break out, but it hasn't been fun. I'm hoping to talk to the doctor about it when I get back to Chengdu.

Well, that's all for now. I'll update when I get back to Sichuan.

Another week gone

I've already been here a month. I can't believe it. It feels like I've been here forever and it feels like I've just arrived. It's rather strange.

There's not much new to report. Training and Model School have taken up much of my time. But Model School is finally over! I should spend my time studying my Chinese because now I don't have a good excuse not to, but we'll see.

This week I played more Mah Jiang--a tile game like rummy that everyone plays. All the language classes at my training hub headed to the outskirts of Chengdu to play in these tea houses. I've tried playing with my Wai Po, but she and her friends play way too quickly for me. Zhong Dian taught me another Chinese game, "Fight the Landlord," which I like better. It's a card game you play 2 against 1, and she usually wins whenever we play. But she must be a great teacher because when I play with all my fellow PC trainees, I usually win.

Among Zhong Dian's many talents (and I'm not exaggerating, she has many talents) is her love of basketball. I know, it's perfect for me. We finally got out to play the other night, right after it had rained. I think she was a bit surprised how well I could play, and her mother thought I should now coach her. We shot around for a bit until it got too dark to play. But we didn't leave before I stepped into a puddle of water, slipped, and fell right on my butt. Is anyone surprised? And on the way home, my host mother told me that I should consider their home my home, and whenever I come to Chengdu, there will always be a place for me to stay!

This coming week is big. On Wednesday, they're announcing our sites and then Saturday we leave for our site visits. I'm probably heading to Gansu, which will be at least a 22 hour train ride. Luckily I won't be alone for the trip as most of my trainees will also be headed there. After we return, we're only here another three weeks before we swear in and officially become PC Volunteers. But I'm already sad about leaving here, as I've been really fortunate with the family I've been given.

An update on numbers. We began with 61 trainees. We're down to 58. 3 people have gone home so far, though no one from my training site has left.