Road Trippin

     In final prep to leave the country, I said goodby to all my family and friends in Utah. It was tough saying godbye to many of them, especially knowing I wouldn't see many for a long long time (like Ashley Tuft going to the Dominican Republic on her mission-yeah yeah!). Here are some final goodbyes and pictures to share with my students :)

 

Tori and my Grandma

 

When Ashley received her mission call

 

 

     Saying good bye to the girls at work was saddening, but I'm counting on seeing many of them again upon my return.

 

     The next step was to jump in the car and begin what would become an 800 mile road trip to Las Vegas, Rancho Cucamonga CA, and San Diego. Vegas was the first stop. I stayed for a few days with one of my bes friends, Welks, and we hit up the strip whenever he wasn't working. Unfortunately, most of my recent converts have moved around since I left Vegas at the end of summer 2011 and I don't have their current addresses. Seeing the "other side"of Vegas was a blast

 

 

 

Karol, Welks, and I hittin up the strip at 3am

 

Turns out Vegas was Celebrating Chinese New Year too

 

 

     I left Vegas and headed to visit my oldest brother Chet, my Sister-in-law Michaela, and Gavito, their baby. When I arrved, we went straight to San Diego to watch Michaela compete in the "Dirty Girl" 3 mile run/obstacle course for breast cancer. 

 

 

San Diego hillsides at night

 

Michaela competing

 

After the races, we went and saw the San Diego temple which was wayyyyyy neat.

 

 

 

Holding Gavito!!!!

 

"Ignore the strange man behind the (baby) curtain"

 

 

With my car in CA with Chet and Michaela, I flew back up to Utah and am preparing for my flight tomorrow evening at 8:30 pm. I have layovers in LA and Seoul until I land in Hong Kong. I'm wayyyyy excited. I'll try to get my Hong Kong adventures posted before I arrive in Jiangxi (around late February??). Peace. 



Pre-China 12/21/12

Hey! Welcome to my travel blog. 

I'm going to try and update my adventure on a pretty regular basis filled with stories and photos. If you need to contact me while I'm away, its best to write me at garthbyu@live.com seeing as facebook, twitter, and other social media websites are blocked by the Chinese government (well, at least outside of Hong Kong).

Today, I finally received the e-mail stating the location where I'll be teaching. I will be teaching in Mayflora Elementary school teaching grades k-6 in Linchuan, Jiangxi province, China.

MY MIND IS BLOWN!

I am super excited to travel, and now my plans are beginning to feel more real. It is hard to think that in less than two months, I will be infront of a classroom teaching english to kids who have probably never seen a real white person before, let alone have any concept of English. It will definitely be an experience. 

Leaving behind the U.S. will be interesting. People constantly talk about "culture shock" which will undoubtedly happen. Strangely, I read that many Americans experience culture shock when they return to the U.S. Either way, between my preparation that has already begun to the day I come home in July, I am STOKED about traveling and living the dream I've had for so long.

If anything, I'm looking forward to this opportunity. I think I'll experience a lot of personal growth! Having experienced other cultures, I'm sure there are hundreds of awkward situations around the corner that will be embarrassing, hilarious, and memorable. I'm beginning to develop a lot of goals for myself in addition to my students. We're going to have a lot of fun!

Location

For the first week, I'll be training and sight seeing in Hong Kong. Then, I will most likely catch a train to Linchuan Jiangxi. 

From the research I've done this morning, Jiangxi is in central/south east China and has a warm climate. Linchuan is a a suburb of its neighboring city Fuzhou (not to be confused with Fuzhou in the Fujian province).   The province is poorer than its neighboring provinces, and is mostly made up of rice terrace farmers and light automobile factory workers. However, my school will be a private school ($$$) with emphasis on international studies (they begin specializing the kids at an early age). Apparently, I'll be living in an on-campus hotel that the student's parents reside in when they come to campus to visit their children with some other Americans in the same program teaching higher grade levels. There are roughly 5,000 students, and from what I've read, the campus is huge! It will definitely be an adventure.  

I'll post some more things when I've done more research before February. 

Hasta Pronto :D

                                           (A Picture of a random town in the Jiangxi Province)

                                            (Where I'll be teaching- Mayflora Private School)

(Entrance to Mayflora International School)

(Back streets of Linchuan)