Well here it is, day one. As of ten this evening, Pacific Daylight Time, I will be on a plane that will take me to China. I can't believe that I am about to cross an ocean, half a world essentially. There is a passage from Dao De Jing which is often translated to "A journey of 1000 miles begins with the first step." Granted, most of my journeying will be on a plane and in busses, but I'm going to be walking in China sooner than I can imagine. It's a little surreal to think about.
Having wanted to teach in China for as long as I have, I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited right now. The thing is, I have about 8000 other emotions whirling through my head at the same time. Am I nervous? Extremely. Am I anxious to just get going? Like you wouldn't believe. Do I know what I am going to do when I get to China? Only vaguely. I will be teaching University level students American and British Literature and American Culture. Considering it's been around four years since I took a literature course, I can only hope I remember half of what I learned when I was in high school.
It's odd, knowing that I am sitting at the desk in the corner of my room for the last time in a year. I know that I will be coming back, the question is when. Even that I'm not certain of. I don't know when the school year ends exactly. All I do know is my contract with the University goes until late July of 2012. If I have to leave the day my contract expires, I will be back stateside in late July/early August of next year.
I am going to try to update the blog once weekly, on Friday. Depending on where I am, updates may be less or more frequent. Here's hoping everything goes smoothly. See 美国 (America for those of you who don't read Simplified Chinese) again in 2012. Until then, take care!
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