Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Up For Adventure?

Just a quick note as I have to finish many things in the next hour--because we're off to Tianjin!

Many people know that while the Phillips are the reason that we are in Qingdao, our close friends in Tianjin are really the reason we came to China. We first met them when they were on leave in the States about two and a half years ago. When we found out they really lived in China, we thought that it was so cool! And look now where we are...

Tianjin is only a five hour train ride a way, and when we first found out we were not going to be sent there, I consoled myself with the fact that Qingdao is the next closest city that our company has a school in. Only five hours is not so close in reality! So between the play and everything else we've been doing, this is the first time we could get away for a whole weekend. I'm so excited!

I'm also incredibly nervous. I was surprised by this. Qingdao has come to feel so much like home that I've become very comfortable with exploring on our own. I always know that even if I get lost I can grab a taxi, give the name of our street, and direct them home. Getting on a train and navigating across a town I've never been to is another thing entirely! Our Chinese lessons have focused on pronunciation, or "pin yin", so far rather than vocabulary, so our conversation language is still incredibly lacking! But, in this modern age, we have dictionaries and cell phones, so we're hoping for the best. Good luck to us! Can't wait!

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