There's no turning back now. A non-refundable $400 has been spent to fly from here to LAX and back.
Not that I was every planning on turning back, especially with everyone's amazing (and also non-refundable) support of my trip.
But this just got even more real. Instead of just knowing I'm leaving on June 28 and returning on August 6, I now have times. I'll be leaving from the Sioux Falls Airport at 8:55 A.M. on June 28, landing in Denver at 9:24 (note time change, of course), meeting a couple fellow travelers there, flying out to LAX at 10:24 with some of them, and landing in California at 11:50. I'll then have the next nine and a half hours to wait to meet with my team. I've been talking to a couple team members, and we might all try to arrive around Noon and explore LA a little. The airport's only about a mile from the beach ;)
After an afternoon of exploring, we meet with the rest of our team of China travelers (about 120 in all) at 9:30 P.M., and then it sounds like we do a bunch of waiting once again because our flights to Hong Kong leave around 12:30 A.M. The flight's 12-13 hours, I think. AND THEN I LAND IN CHINA!
Four weeks in Hong Kong.. one week in Cambodia.. a couple days back in Hong Kong.
...and then we're off to LAX again! I'm not sure when we'll land at LAX, but my flight takes off and heads back to Denver at 5:05 PM on August 6th. I fly to Denver, wait for a few hours, then fly back to Sioux Falls and land at 12:15 AM on the 7th.
It's all getting so more and more real. That's the last big detail I had to figure out. And now it's done!
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
It's what everyone's asking.
Are you ready for your big trip?
It's what everyone's asking. I think I get asked that same question at least five times every Sunday after church. And everyone's been asking that question since the deadly finals week ended and summer began. I remind them that I'm actually not leaving until the end of June, but now that it's basically June already, China's getting close. I guess I better start answering that question. So here goes...
Yes, I mean, no. I mean, I don't know. I haven't really thought about packing. I'm kind of scared out of m mind. The money's all in... in a more amazing and testifying way than I could have ever imagined. WOW. When I think about that story, I sometimes still can't quite believe it. Check out a few more of those details here.
However, to be honest, I don't think I'll ever be ready. It's China... I've never been there before. I'm teaching something I've never taught before. Heck, I'm teaching, period, and I've never really taught my own class before.
And yet, if you ask me if I'm excited about my big trip... Go ahead, ask me sometime... I'll respond with an exuberant YES! Because of the faithfulness, patience, love, and grace I've been shown over the past year, and especially so in all of my China preparations and financial needs, I know that the same beautiful character is going to pour out of me, my teammates, and the students I teach this summer.
One month and three days...and then to China I GO!
It's what everyone's asking. I think I get asked that same question at least five times every Sunday after church. And everyone's been asking that question since the deadly finals week ended and summer began. I remind them that I'm actually not leaving until the end of June, but now that it's basically June already, China's getting close. I guess I better start answering that question. So here goes...
Yes, I mean, no. I mean, I don't know. I haven't really thought about packing. I'm kind of scared out of m mind. The money's all in... in a more amazing and testifying way than I could have ever imagined. WOW. When I think about that story, I sometimes still can't quite believe it. Check out a few more of those details here.
However, to be honest, I don't think I'll ever be ready. It's China... I've never been there before. I'm teaching something I've never taught before. Heck, I'm teaching, period, and I've never really taught my own class before.
And yet, if you ask me if I'm excited about my big trip... Go ahead, ask me sometime... I'll respond with an exuberant YES! Because of the faithfulness, patience, love, and grace I've been shown over the past year, and especially so in all of my China preparations and financial needs, I know that the same beautiful character is going to pour out of me, my teammates, and the students I teach this summer.
One month and three days...and then to China I GO!
And the winner is...
If you're reading this, then you probably know that I'm heading to China in ONE MONTH! That's right. I leave June 28th and return August 6th. I'll teach English to some middle school students for three weeks after one week of training, then head to another country for one week of exploring the long-term focus of the program I'm serving through.
Until yesterday, I had no idea which country I'd be headed to for that final week. I mean, I knew that Laos, Cambodia, Mongolia, Vietnam, and Mainland China were my choices. Laos and Cambodia were my top two choices, not necessarily in that order, but my coordinator said I'd most likely head to one of those. I picked Laos because I have a friend whose sister is teaching there, but I've never met the sister or even heard about her experiences, so I have no real connection there.
The story about my Cambodia choice is pretty comparable. A friend of a friend spent a year or semester or some extended period of time in Cambodia and told me a little bit about her experiences when I met her at Tulip Festival last year. (If you don't know what Tulip Festival is, Google it, then come to Orange City next year for the third weekend in May. It's awesome, seriously.) I somehow have developed this deep passion for girls caught in the sex slavery trade--through a recent trip to Nicaragua and some special speakers at college--so when Joy (my friend's friend) told me that was a huge issue in Cambodia, the country received the same passionate vigor.
So, I put down Laos and Cambodia as my top choices and waited and waited and waited to hear back. I'm not the most patient person in the world, and I applied to teach in China way back in August, so I've been waiting for quite a while.
But TODAY... I found out the exciting news that I will be headed to CAMBODIA for that fifth week of the English teaching program. I'm pumped. Part of me now wishes I were doing something with the sex trade rescue missions now that I'm heading there, but who knows what is in store for me in the future, or even in that one week?!
Anyways, that's an update on my China trip.
I'll be traveling with Brendon, Rick, Michelle, Candise, Rachel, Abby, Joy, and our team's leader Amanda (a Dordt alum...I'm even friends with her sister!) to Hong Kong, and then on to Cambodia in approximately ONE MONTH!
Until yesterday, I had no idea which country I'd be headed to for that final week. I mean, I knew that Laos, Cambodia, Mongolia, Vietnam, and Mainland China were my choices. Laos and Cambodia were my top two choices, not necessarily in that order, but my coordinator said I'd most likely head to one of those. I picked Laos because I have a friend whose sister is teaching there, but I've never met the sister or even heard about her experiences, so I have no real connection there.
The story about my Cambodia choice is pretty comparable. A friend of a friend spent a year or semester or some extended period of time in Cambodia and told me a little bit about her experiences when I met her at Tulip Festival last year. (If you don't know what Tulip Festival is, Google it, then come to Orange City next year for the third weekend in May. It's awesome, seriously.) I somehow have developed this deep passion for girls caught in the sex slavery trade--through a recent trip to Nicaragua and some special speakers at college--so when Joy (my friend's friend) told me that was a huge issue in Cambodia, the country received the same passionate vigor.
So, I put down Laos and Cambodia as my top choices and waited and waited and waited to hear back. I'm not the most patient person in the world, and I applied to teach in China way back in August, so I've been waiting for quite a while.
But TODAY... I found out the exciting news that I will be headed to CAMBODIA for that fifth week of the English teaching program. I'm pumped. Part of me now wishes I were doing something with the sex trade rescue missions now that I'm heading there, but who knows what is in store for me in the future, or even in that one week?!
Anyways, that's an update on my China trip.
I'll be traveling with Brendon, Rick, Michelle, Candise, Rachel, Abby, Joy, and our team's leader Amanda (a Dordt alum...I'm even friends with her sister!) to Hong Kong, and then on to Cambodia in approximately ONE MONTH!
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