Word Association and Pre-Departure Jitters

Today was my last Friday in the U.S. for some time.  I'm almost completely packed and I finally feel like I have a decent gift for my host family.  There has been a lot of shopping over the last few days.  (And I'm not really a shopping fan unless it's for books.  I could spend hours in almost any bookstore.) 

Today was also my last summer swim practice.  During the summer, my club team has early morning practices and doubles (two practices on one day) twice a week.  I've been swimming since I was 9, so this vigorous routine is almost second nature.  Saying goodbye to my coaches and friends today at practice really reminded me that I'm leaving.  I'm going halfway around the world.  For a while, my trip to China has seemed almost like a dream, just some point in the far off future.  Now it's very much a reality. 

Am I excited?  Absolutely!  I feel like I've spent the entire school year waiting for my trip.  First, it was waiting for the application to load as the website kept crashing as students all over the country tried to submit applications.  I was up until 4 in the morning with my laptop in one hand and my Chemistry textbook in the other.  Then it was waiting for my results.  A couple months later, I was waiting for every crumb of information I got about my hosting city, family and the program in general, just anxious for my adventure to begin. 

And yet now, despite how long I've spent waiting, I don't know if I'm ready.  I've packed and repacked certain things.  I've second-guessed my host gifts.  I've doubled the amount of shoes I own just in case mine weren't suitable.  (I wear size 10, not a very common size in China.) I've fretted over the size of my backpack and its status as a personal item.  I know I'm probably just nervous.  I'll feel a lot better once I'm on the plane to D.C. for pre-departure orientation.  I'll be able to ask all the questions I could possibly want. 

About a month ago, as part of our preparation, all finalists were required to fill out a survey about the country they would be studying in.  One question in particular stood out to me. It was a word association question: What is the first positive thing you think of about your host country?  (Or something along those lines)

I'm not a fan of word association questions in general.  I always think of so many things at once that I have no clue which idea came first or I think of something incredibly random.  In English class, one of our words was Antarctica.  Now unlike my classmates who came up with ice, penguins, cold, snow and white, I thought of the hole in the ozone layer.  Yeah, definitely not a huge fan of word association. 

I had three simultaneous thoughts about China.  They were: the Great Wall, Mulan and Ye Shiwen. 

The Great Wall: The first is pretty self-explanatory.  The Great Wall is one of the wonders of the world, a structure so massive people often say it can be seen from space. (It can't but that doesn't make it any less grand.) I don't think I'll get to see the wall on my trip.  It's a ways away, but I'll still get to see other examples of ancient architecture like the City Wall in Xi'an.

Mulan: The Disney movie Mulan was one of my favorite movies growing up.  I knew all the words in all the songs and most of the dialogue.  Anyone in my history class can testify my love for this movie.  I practically jumped in my seat when my teacher used a clip as an introduction to our unit on the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties (and then proceeded to mouth the words to the song).  I know Mulan is a Disneyfication of the Ballad of Mulan, a legendary figure of Chinese folklore, but that doesn't mean I like it any less.   I'm just excited to see what China is really like and be able to meet new people. 

Ye Shiwen: Ye Shiwen is a Chinese swimmer.  Her name might be recognizable from the 2012 London Olympics.  She won the gold medal in both the 200M IM (Individual Medley) and the 400M IM at age 16.  My sisters and I all swim so when the summer Olympics are on, it's swimming all the time.  I remember watching on the couch cheering for American Elizabeth Beisel during the 400 IM as Ye Shiwen over took her on the last 50.  It was an incredible feat to watch.  Her technique was beautiful and it was hard to believe she was only a few years older than I was. 

The rest of the world didn't seem to agree with me.  Only seconds after she had touched, Ye Shiwen was accused of doping.  Her freestyle leg was just .03 seconds slower than Ryan Lochte's, and her last 50 was actually slightly faster (a fifth of a second).  These numbers were talked about over and over despite the fact her final time was a good deal slower, only just barely broke the World Record for Woman and also was well within a respectable distance of her best time.  Ye Shiwen's race didn't come out of nowhere.  She had medaled in the event in the Asian Games and the World Cup since 2010. 

The following school year I had to do a project for Chinese class on a celebrity.  I automatically picked Ye Shiwen.  I had been inspired at the games.  Here was a teenager who had done incredible things through her dedication.  She had left home and had trained continuously. She had won 50 medals by the time she was 10 and at age 11, she got to speak with her parents once a week.  I never would have been able to do that for swimming.  There are days when I dread going to practice.  Ye Shiwen was also someone I remembered because despite all the accusations, she kept swimming.  She didn't let what people were saying about her effect her love of the sport. 

It may not have been a traditional answer by any means but sometimes word association can really reveal something even you don't quite understand.  I know this is getting long and I still have some preparation I want to do before I go to bed tonight, so I'll leave it at this. 

Zài jiàn,

Laura   

Where is Xi'an?

I leave Minnesota a week from today.   It’s actually really hard to believe.  I’m not ready.  I spent the better part of last week shopping for everything I might need: clothes for school, 3 pairs of shoes, summer reading list, luggage and gifts for my host family.  I’m not even done looking for host family gifts yet.  I’m supposed to bring things that represent Minnesota, but I’m more than a little confused.  Minnesota doesn’t have a lot of material goods that define it.  We’re known for our endless winters, mountains of snow, ten thousand lakes and their corresponding cabins, and the Mall of America.  I can’t very well put any of these things in a box and ship them to China with me. 

It’s been weird trying to explain to people where I’m going as well.  Xi’an is a huge city of eight million people. (And considering I’ve lived in a suburb my entire life this is going to be a rather abrupt change.) To put that in perspective, the Twin Cities has a population of 3.28 million. 

And yet, when I say I’m spending my summer in Xi’an, most of the time the next question is “So where’s the closest big city?” 

Um, that would be Xi’an. 

As a huge history buff (and an AP World History Student), I typically follow that statement with an explanation of Xi’an’s historical significance.  The city is most well known for the Terracotta Warriors unearthed there.  Over 8,000 life size clay soldiers have been discovered in 3 pits.  The soldiers were built to guard the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China.  The Emperor had been so concerned with being immortal that he had drunk mercury to prolong his life.  (Interestingly enough mercury poisoning is probably what killed him.)  He also decided that his tomb would be incredible.  Although the tomb itself has never been unearthed, legend depicts it greatly.  Here's a website if you want to learn more about the legends surrounding the tomb itself: http://www.china.org.cn/english/culture/229549.htm

The terracotta warriors are in battle formation complete with weapons, uniforms and large clay horses and chariots.  The three pits show the different levels of the army. The first has the most soldiers, while the last is an officer's meeting room.  It's thought that the soldiers may have even been modeled from the real armies of China as every one is distinctly different. 

Xi'an however is so much more than just the burial ground of the Emperor who united China, ordered the construction of the Great Wall and burned many books on history and philosophy that disagreed with him.  Xi'an has over 3,100 years of history.  It was the capital of China during the Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang dynasties and is known as one of China's Four Great Ancient Capitals.  The city was also the starting point of the Silk Road making it one of the biggest international cities during the Tang Dynasty (618-907).  The cultural interaction is still very prevalent today as there is a large Muslim  Quarter (about 50,000 Hui Muslims) and many universities with students coming from all over the world.  

After the mini history lesson, whoever I'm talking to realizes that I've somehow managed to avoid the point of explaining where Xi'an actually is. Well, Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi Province and is located in Eastern Central China.  It's on the Guanzhong Plain with the Qin mountains in the south and the Wei River in the north.  Xi'an is also not that far from Hua Shan, one of the five sacred Taoist mountains.  

Hua Shan: Isn't it pretty?

This explanation is often met with blank stares, but honestly I could ramble about my host city for ages.  I'm just that excited. It often helps when I mention First Lady Michelle Obama visited there recently on her trip to China.  I always find it really coincidental that I learned my host city while the First Lady was visiting it. Article about the Visit

I'm actually so excited although my two currently empty suitcases are certainly making me nervous.  

Zai Jian for now,

Laura

One Month Until China

In a month, I will be leaving for the adventure of a lifetime.   I’ll be spending seven weeks in Xi’an, China with American Councils.  I’m living with a host family and attending school there. 

I was lucky enough to receive a scholarship through the State Department in a program called NSLI-Y (National Security Language Initiative for Youth).  The program is designed to offer high school students opportunities to study “critical languages” abroad.  Critical languages are languages not typically taught in high schools.  This includes Chinese, Korean, Russian, Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Hindi.   If you want any more information about NSLI-Y visit http://www.nsliforyouth.org/

It seems almost crazy to think how close I am to leaving.  I’ve spent most of the year preparing and applying for the scholarship.  There were long hours of essay writing, and frustrating moments as my computer rebelled against the application website.  I participated in an interview, where almost everyone else in my time slot was also applying for the China summer scholarship. I submitted so many medical forms.  And then there was a period of anxious waiting. 

It was such a relief at the end of March to get the email telling me I was a finalist.  I saw the email as I was walking out the door after a long day complete with play rehearsal.  The email took forever to load because of the slow school Wi-Fi and I had just about made it to the South Entrance when I read the news.  I may have spontaneously danced a crazy victory dance in the empty hall.  I definitely couldn’t stop smiling for days. 

Since then, I’ve updated medical forms, applied for my visa and taken several Chinese placement tests.  I don’t even know information about my host family yet. I do know, however, that I will have a sibling who is roughly my age and will attend my school.

I’m incredibly excited to meet my host family.  There’s something incredible about being thrown into the daily lives of a family.  I’ll be able to see their favorite places and try their favorite foods.  I'll be able to feel more at home even if I'm 6,600 miles away from Minnesota.  I should be getting more information soon,  likely within the next week and a half. 

I’ll be sure to share some more information about Xi’an next post.  Until then, zài jiàn!