My first real post!

Hi everyone! So I'm not actually in Beijing yet, but I've been on break for so long that I've forgotten how to use a pencil, and therefore have decided to start playing around with this site and figuring out how everything works. Hopefully I'll be updating this regularly after I get to China for everyone's procrastinating pleasure.

I'm officially leaving on a jet plane on February 20th (right after Chinese New Year), meaning my winter break is over two months long and starting to feel like summer vacation. Overall, my long hiatus from school has been a very relaxing and fun time. It started with a tour with Brown's orchestra to China (surprise), giving me a nice preview of what I'll be experiencing for the next semester. We visited and played concerts in Dalian, Shanghai, Ningbo, Suzhou, Changzhou, and Beijing, and were basically treated like royalty everywhere we went. Even in the span of two weeks, my Mandarin speaking skills improved drastically just from talking to cab drivers and ordering food at restaurants. However, I also came to the sad realization that I can barely read a word of Chinese, which will hopefully change by the end of the semester. After getting home at the beginning of January, I spent some time catching up with friends who were still home, skiing in Lake Tahoe, and taking a nice warm vacation with my family in Acapulco, Mexico. Other than those exciting things, I've basically been sitting around being lazy and getting very friendly with the couch, my computer, and the TV remote. Here are a few pictures from my break to make all of you jealous (and for me to see if the photo upload really works):


Brown orchestra in Beijing


Lake Tahoe

Acapulco sunset

Mi familia en Mexico

So, what am I actually doing in China? I'll be participating in a study abroad program through a company called CET. The program is language-intensive, meaning I'll basically spend my whole semester learning Chinese and nothing else! I'll be living in a dorm in the Beijing Institute of Education, which I hear is on the western side of the city, which is the area where there are many colleges. My program is focused on immersion in Chinese culture, which means a few things: 1) There is a language pledge, so none of the students are allowed to speak any language to each other except Chinese. 2) I'll be living in a dorm with a local Chinese roomate! 3) We'll have chances to take elective classes related to Chinese culture, such as erhu lessons (a traditional Chinese string instrument), Chinese cooking, and traditional brush painting. In addition to participating in all the CET classes/activities, I hope to be able to get in touch with my grand-aunt who lives in Beijing (whom I have not seen for 10 years), get involved in a church or fellowship, and (on my mom's insistence), try to sneak into the Cisco Systems office in Beijing and have a video conference chat with my parents in their Cisco San Jose office.

Anyways, I'm already starting to miss everyone incredibly...please keep in touch and send me updates throughout the next four months! I'll post my contact info in China once I have it-I plan to get a cell phone and use Skype, and of course there is always email and AIM. Hopefully the next entry on this thing will come from my room in Beijing. Zai jian, wo ai all of you!