Stand By Me

Wonderlust King

Just got matched!

I am now officially matched and ready to realize my exchange. Of course, this opens up a new host of problems, ranging from paying for everything (which means selling lots of stuff), to dealing with the intricacies of the Chinese visa system. To be fair, it is not as convoluted as the US system, but still a headache. Looks like I am going to have to get a 6 month visa, and then fly to Hong Kong to renew it for the rest of my stay. I guess the good news is that I get to visit Hong Kong, which I probably would not of done otherwise.

Plane tickets to China are god awful expensive, but such is life I guess. I am also relishing the fact that I will get to deal with a 40 hour travel time (this includes an overnight lay over in Beijing). But, on the bright side, my salary will allow me to afford a pretty nice lifestyle in Changsha apparently, something that wasn't in the cards if I were to go to one of the east coast cities.

I'm also going to be this LC's first trainee, which is exciting and a little daunting. I am going to be the first glimpse into the power of the network for a lot of these AIESECers. I came up through an LC that, while not always posting the best exchange numbers, was always very active internationally. I was shown this from day one. For these kids though, I think only a few have even been to a national conference, much less an international one. Hopefully I can help motivate a few of them to live the dream and show them what it is all about.

All in all, I am very excited to get away from Tech for a year and finally go on a traineeship. I can't wait to try the food, meet the people, and everything that goes with moving to a new culture. I'm not terribly worried about anything, as it seems like the host LC is really trying to pull out all the stops for their first trainee, and lived in China for 3 months before, I am not to worried about culture shock. I am sure I will get homesick and miss friends, but hopefully I will be having enough fun and new experiences to make up for that.

The next year for me

So, to anyone who reads this and doesn't keep up with my other various tools for mass updating, I have verbally accepted a 1 year position teaching English in Changsha China. Pending visa approval and all that fun stuff, it looks like it is pretty locked down and I am looking to leave in mid May. As I am guessing most people don't know anything about Changsha (I only had a vague idea of where it was when i first saw the TN) here is a little info.

It is here

Changsha is the capital of Hunan Province, and has been inhabited by humans for approximately 3000 years. It is a city of around 6 million people, which is twice the size of the Atlanta metro area.

It looks like this


Changsha is situated on the Xiang River, a branch of the Yangtze. It also happens to be near the birthplace of Mao, and was home to many of the central figures of the early communist party in China.

I will be eating this




Those of you who are keen of eye will notice that there are more peppers and chilies in there then anything else. As such, I will be taking donations of neckerchiefs before my departure to deal with the expected perspiration. Hunan cuisine (the province Changsha is the capital of) is apparently considered spicier then the more well known Sichuan cuisine. Going to be a serious gastric adventure.

Anyways, thats a quick overview of where I will be. I will fill in more details as I get things planned and learn more about my work. Hopefully being there will give me more reason to keep this thing updated.

The Hunt Begins

I finally went available this weekend, so I have sent out my first barrage of emails to what seems like every TN manager in China. Already getting a few responses trickling in, none very promising, but haven't heard from any of my top picks yet. My last real step is getting a motivational/cover letter put together. Not entirely sure how i want to tackle that, but it isn't necessary right at this moment. Im just hoping to get matched before plane tickets become even more prohibitively expensive. I'm not to stressed out about finding something, just hoping to get paid well in a good city. We shall see where this search shall take me.

Thoughts of the future

I am for the first time in a long while actively planning my future. For the past year or so it has just been a matter of going with the flow, sticking around Atlanta, and doing the school thing. But the times they are a changing. I am finally starting to plan for my long awaited traineeship and related adventures. With this has come a new found excitement that had been missing from my life. All those various posts about wanderlust and the like were me venting frustration at being stuck. But now, finally, I can vent that frustration in a productive and meaningful way. Of course, nothing is set in stone, but I am very optimistic about my near future.

The Bluebird can sing, but the Crows got the soul

I seem to be entering another music phase, craving anything with "soul". Anything where you can feel the emotions flowing through every note, soaring on a voice that just seems bigger then life, but somehow embodies all that life is.