Flight Day

            I’m starting to write this as I am on the last hour or so of the flight from Seoul to Hong Kong.  This has been an EXTREMELY long day, but it’s been adventurous.  I started out in Salt Lake City bright and early on the morning of August 3.  After waiting in line to check my baggage in and saying goodbye to my dad and Ellice who came with me to the airport I headed off to get through security.  I met a few of the other ILPers as I waited at my gate this morning.  We talked a little bit as we waited, especially since the flight was slightly delayed.  We slowly got to know each other. 

            The first flight was to San Francisco.  It was a short flight, but ironically it seemed really long.  The plane was small, especially for a commercial airline (I flew with Delta.)  We made it safely there with no mishaps.  We had a layover, but it didn’t seem that long because San Francisco is a HUGE airport so it took some time to make it through to the international terminal.  We left San Fran around 1:30 on a huge jet.  Some of the girls slept a lot, I tried, but not very successfully, which is a bit sad because it was a very long flight.  We reached Incheon (Seoul) Korea at approximately 17:00.  Which, if you want to know Utah time that means about 2:00 a.m.  If I did the math correctly, that means it was a 12 hour flight!!!!  SO LONG!  As of right now, I literally have been in the process of traveling for over 24 hours and still have about an hour to go!  Another weird thing is that once I get to Hong Kong it will be 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday August 4.  I lost a day!  (Actually 2 since I was traveling for so long!) 

            I absolutely love the flight attendant’s outfits for Korean Air.  They have a tight fitting khaki skirt, and either aqua blue or white shirt with the opposite color tie.  Their hair is up in a bun with a hard hairpiece that reminds me of the breast cancer ribbon.  It sticks right out.  They are so funny and have great accents. 

            On the ridiculously long flight from San Fran to Korea we got two meals and lots of drinks and snacks.  All I can say is that I am glad I have already been somewhat accustomed to eating Asian food.  I got the dish called bimibamp, which is a traditional Korean meal.  The man was so surprised when I said that I wanted that meal, as the other girls all got the American meal.  I don’t even remember what it was, but the rice beansprouts, seaweed, and some other ingredients I didn’t recognize looked much more appetizing.  He was even more surprised when he asked if I liked it and I replied with a enthusiastic, “Yes!”  On this flight (the one from Korea to Hong Kong) I also ate bimibamp again, but I couldn’t finish it all because I have eaten so much today.  Anyway, I also got icecream, which was delicious.  It was the perfect end snack. 

            I watched two movies today.  Dear John and Clash of the Titans.  They were both okay.  I wasn’t extremely impressed with either one, but at least it kept my attention for some of the hours.  I read for a while, tried to sleep, listened to music, talked a little.  The sleeping situation was bad because I had so little room.  And I’m im pain from sitting for so long!  I did get a nap while on the layover in Korea and then the first hour of this flight I slept as well.  But, I’m trying to not sleep too much until I get to the hotel because my body is already going to be freaking out.  It’s 7 a.m. Utah time, but I’ll be going to sleep at 10 p.m. China time. 

            Anyway, I just figured I’d write something so I could keep some sort of record.  J  Especially since I’m working on staying awake!!!!  I might sleep anyway....

Training

For the past two days I was at the Provo Library for ILP's training.  I learned a lot!  

On the first day there was a lot of information to take in as they explained the methodology we will be using for teaching.

Here's a little background on ILP:
The program started eighteen years ago with a group of BYU students, under the direction of Dr. McKee, teaching in a school in Russia.  It was a hit from the beginning, but as BYU reviewed the program it didn't fit in with the study abroad programs because the emphasis was on teaching.  So, a group of the original students decided that they would work to continue the program, not as a study abroad program, but as a non-profit organization.  Since then, the program has grown immensely and they are now teaching in Russia, Ukraine, Mexico and China (where I'm going!)

The basis of the method is to just let the student talk in English as much as they can and hear as much English as possible.  There are different rotations of about 25 minutes that we will be teaching.  I can only remember five of them off the top of my head, and they are:  Drama, Arts and Crafts, Kitchen, Games, and Gym.  We try to get each of the students to say something at least once a minute.  We have 25 objectives, and we choose one objective each day on which we focus our lessons and when the students use that objective, then we give them tokens (which they can buy little objects with at the end of the day.)

I am so excited to get over there and teach!

That was all the first day, the second day we focused on the rules and culture.

One thing I will have to get used to is how dirty it will be!  The little kids don't wear diapers, but instead just have a slit in the back of their pants and go on the street.  Also, the toilets are called squatters, they are basically holes in the floor!  That'll be an adventure....

Another thing, wearing flip-flops is like wearing big giant bunny slippers.  They are viewed as something you wear in the house only.  For me, that's a huge deal--all I ever wear is flip-flops in the summer!  And, oh boy, will it be HOT and HUMID!

I will have one week long vacation (I'll probably head up north to Beijing.)  Other longer weekends will be provided, so I can make other vacations to different parts of the country.  Some of the places I hope to make it to are:  Xi'an, Guilin (Yangshuo), Huangshan, Hangzhou, Shanghai, SanYa.  I don't know if I'll make it to all of them, but I just know I am SO excited!

Reminiscing

I figured it was about time to put another post up since it has been about a month since the last one.  It's so exciting that I'll be in China in about two months!  Actually, it's a little crazy to think that it is so soon.

This past month I have been working down in Cedar City for SUU's costume shop.  We worked 40 hours a week organizing all of the costume stock that SUU has.  All I can say is that SUU owns a lot of clothes and I wish that I would be here for the big sell that is going to happen next semester.  I'm sure people will get a lot of great Halloween costumes from it. 

Really, I'm going to miss a lot of things next semester while I am gone.  I was reminiscing this past week about all of the fun times I have had at SUU.  I can't count the late nights I spent with my different roommates laughing hysterically, sometimes for no good reason.  Or the times where we would make complete fools of ourselves as we danced the night away.  We learned some new fun dance moves and even danced on the table a few times.  The times we played Boxers and Briefs is also a memory I will cherish forever.  All I can say to Jordann is LOVE SLAVE!

Oh, one of my favorite nights was after Kati, Cameron, Jordann, and I went on a shopping trip to St. George.  My brother, John, also had come down to visit me and we got ridiculously hyper.  I think Jordann hit her head one too many times that night.  Throughout the course of the night there was an ice cream fight, hide-and-go-seek in the dark (where Cameron scared us girls nearly to peeing our pants) and so much laughing.  It was a night that I'll never forget.

I'm going to miss the red mountains, trips to Walmart at midnight, the stress of needing to finish costumes before a show opens, knowing that I always have a friend who lives in the next room over ready to talk to me,  going to class, making new friends in all those classes.  The list could go on and on, but most of all I'm going to miss the people that make SUU what it is.

My Path to China

The summer between my junior and senior years of high school, I went to a leadership camp at Southern Utah University called the Governor's Honors Academy (GHA).  While I was there I was asked what one of my aspirations was.  The first thing that came to mind was to go to a foreign country and teach children English.

The thought intimidated me.  I wasn't sure enough of myself.  I wasn't sure if I could complete this dream that I had created.

After GHA ended I didn't think about it much.  My senior year consumed my life and it got pushed to the recesses of my mind.  Every once in a while I thought briefly about it, but I didn't want to think about it too much.

I headed to Southern Utah University after graduation and ended up in a beginning Spanish class with a girl named Mette.  She and I quickly became Spanish buddies and studied together (or rather tried to study, but really ended up chatting about life.)  She told me about going abroad and how she absolutely loved it.

During my second semester she told me about this program called ILP (International Language Programs). It was a program that allowed students to go teach English in various places:  China, Mexico, and Ukraine. We discussed that maybe we could go together to Mexico, especially since we were learning Spanish.  It seemed perfect.  I was going to be able to accomplish my dream!

A little bump in the plan came when I found out that Mette wouldn't be able to go.  I reevaluated if I actually wanted to go.  After some consideration, I decided that I really did want to go, but instead of to Mexico.  I wanted to go to China.

China seemed more exotic and I doubted that I would ever have the opportunity to go there again.  I talked to ILP and found out the requirements of going and applied.  I got in and will be leaving in August for the city Fuqing.  I will be teaching at the Mayflora School.

It will be such an amazing experience!