HEY GUESS WHAT I'm going to China!

Oh by the way... I'm going to China tomorrow! I've wanted to go to China for so long, but things just never worked out for me to get over there until now. True story: wanting to go to China is how I ended up moving to Korea in the first place. God is so funny with his timing sometimes. Every trip I've tried to coordinate has fallen through, and then with my cousin's wedding at the end of the summer, my travel-the-world fund was tapped out for this year. And then... Boom!

This trip is a dream come true. It pretty much came out of nowhere and it is perfect! A Korean friend who lives in China posted on facebook about an English camp near his town, asking if anyone would be interested in teaching for a week in exchange for airfare, etc. I was like WHAT? Me! Maybe? Tell me more! And voila! Two weeks in China, just like that. I'm crazy excited about this!

I also get to do a little tourist-ing around Shanghai (July 1-3) and Hangzhau (July 3-5), which is going to be really nice! I'm going with a new friend from Seoul and we'll meet Joon, my friend who set up the camp, in Shanghai tomorrow afternoon.

So after a few tourist days, we'll be teaching English to university students in Shaoxing, China (绍兴) from July 6-13. It's been called the Venice of China (but so have other places, like Suzhou and Zhouzhuang  so, don't believe everything you read on the internet I guess? I did love Venice... we'll see how it compares.) It looks pretty based on the google images!

Shaoxing is near Shanghai in northeastern China. According to wikipedia, it has some of the cleanest skies in the country, so that's good for my lungs. It's famous for rice wine and apparently there is a Wal-Mart downtown. You can read up on it more here.

This feels so much like how my trip to Haiti began, with everything just falling into place, fully funded. I'm not even sure what to pray for, but please be praying for me! Pray that the lessons go well, cause I've never taught an English camp before so I really don't know what to expect. I mean, I've taught English for nearly 3 years and I worked at summer camp for 3 years, so with my combined experience I think I'll be fine, but... prayers would definitely be appreciated ^_^

So, if and when you pray... 

Please pray for good rest tonight, before the trip. I'm pretty tired from finishing up grades all week. Pray that we are safe while we travel around the country. Also, we're used to Korean food which is very light compared to Chinese food, so pray for iron stomachs ;) Pray that we make all our flights and our luggage doesn't get lost. The weather's supposed to be gross while we're there, so pray that it only rains at night (cause the earth likes rain), so that our days aren't hampered by umbrellas and dreary skies. Pray that our students come with enthusiasm and eagerness to learn, with open minds and good attitudes! Pray that we are able to plan all of our lessons well and be enthusiastic teachers! Pray that we have gentleness and compassion for our students, too. Energy is great, but I'd like them to know we care about them, not just their conversation ability. Pray for strength, endurance, and contagious joy. And by all means, pray for anything else you feel led to pray for! 

Thanks, y'all! I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If y'all have any questions about anything, or want more specific prayer requests, let me know! I probably won't have access to facebook, and the Chinese government doesn't have a great relationship with Google, so I'm not sure if I'll even be able to access gmail, but I'll do my best. I *think* I'll be able to post from instagram to facebook, but we shall see. I'm also pretty sure I'll have access to Kakao Talk while I'm there, so I won't be completely cut off from the outside world. MAN this is gonna be so cool! The unknown!!!! ADVENTURE!!!!!!

OK TIME TO GO PACK NOW, BYE!