Before the Beginning

Well, its my first post and I don't really know how these blog things work but I decided I should try it out. As of right now, I have exactly one week left of school, only 1 final to go (Chinese), and an exciting summer that awaits me. I decided that it would be a fun thing to document a lot of my summer, so that is the reason for me starting this blog. For many of you reading this blog, you may realize that some of this stuff could be quite boring, but remember that I am writing to my parents, family, friends, etc... (so feel free to skip the "boring" parts).

For those of you who dont know, I have spent both semesters of my sophmore year studying Mandarin Chinese which is the most spoken language in the world. My studies thus far have been extremely difficult, yet I enjoy almost every minute of it. This summer I am continuing my Chinese studies and will be taking 3rd and 4th semester Chinese in Tianjin, China. I don't really know too much about Tianjin, but it is a city of about 10 million people (3rd most in China), and it is about an 80 minute train ride from Beijing. As far as I know, my days will consist of studying from 8am-Noon, Monday through Friday, as well as an hour long private tutoring session everyday. On Fridays I will also be taking a cultural class in which I have decided to learn how to play the Erhu - a Chinese stringed instrument. Although this doesn't seem like the most exciting summer, it is the bettering of my Chinese language skills that I hope to accomplish most while studying abroad, and build great lifelong friendships! I am hoping that what I learn this summer will be the stepping stone for what I want to do in the future (something with US and China trade/business relations).

Throughout this summer, I am accompanied by about 50-60 other Chinese students that are enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: some at the same level as I, and some above and below. Going into this program I know about 8 of the people, and cannot wait to meet more! On Wednesday, May 30, I will fly out to Chicago, where I will stay for the night, gearing up for my 14 hour flight the following morning. My friend Ashli (who I will meet in Chicago) and I will then leave for Beijing that morning. And it is there, that my 3 month journey, spanning from June 1 until August 20, will begin!