Staged

More than ten hours after a tearful goodbye at the airport, I arrived in San Francisco late last night, only to get stuck in the spinning door to the Kabuki Hotel's lobby (thanks to my too-big, too-heavy suitcase). A ridiculous start to a ridiculous adventure!

The jolly porter who rescued me escorted me up to my room, where my roommate Mathilde, who flew in from France, lay in deep slumber.

Porter: "You should wake her up-- otherwise she'll get up in the morning, look at you, and be scared!"
Me: "Ha-ha. You're so funny. But it's okay, I'll let her sleep."
Porter (ignoring me and flicking the lights on and off): "Miss! Your roommate is here! Wake up!"

Not wanting to disturb my poor roommate any more, I shoved a few dollars into the porter's hand, after which he quickly vanished.

In the morning, thank God, Mathilde awoke without a scream. We groggily greeted each other, then left to explore the city. We bonded as we made our way to Pier 39, from where we could see Alcatraz, a pride of fat, sunbathing sea lions, and the Gold Gate Bridge. Since we were of the very few who flew in the night before, we got a chance to see a good part of SF (enough for me to fall in love with the city!)

We got back to the hotel at noon, and by then, the rest of the 80 Peace Corps China volunteers had arrived. We spent the entire afternoon in "Staging", or orientation, in which we reviewed Peace Corps policies, health and safety matters, and most importantly, got to know one another. It was great to finally meet in person all of my Facebook friends from the Peace Corps China forum.

Words fail to express how happy I am to be in this cohort of volunteers. Everyone is so nice! We all seem to have a lot in common - including our anxieties and aspirations. Oh, and guess what? I met another volunteer from Hawaii! This was actually her second staging, as she recently returned from Peace Corps service in West Africa.

I just returned from a fabulous sushi meal with Mathilde and four other volunteers, and will be heading to bed soon because we're leaving for the airport at 5 a.m. tomorrow. After a 12.5 hr flight to Beijing, I'll finally be in China!

We've been warned that, due to the H1N1 pandemic, when we land in both Beijing and Chengdu, Chinese health inspectors dressed like astronauts will come on board to check everyone's temperatures. If we escape quarantine, we'll spend the first week at a hotel in Chengdu, then be sent to live with our host families for the duration of Peace Corps Training.

I'm not sure when's the next time I'll have internet access, so until then, take care! <3

dressing room anxieties

"Are you scared?"
It's a question I get asked almost everyday.

For a long while, I was incapable of having other emotions aside from excitement. Surely a wiser person would have been at least a little nervous! Now, though, with little else but the Peace Corps to think about, I feel the cocoons coming undone in my tummy.

The first big wave of nervousness hit me last night as I tried on a pants suit. Somewhere in my stack of Peace Corps papers there is a memo that says that in China, volunteers are expected to dress professionally. If you know me, I pretty much live in shorts and tanks. In fact, I didn't have any business clothes until I began shopping for the Peace Corps, and it's no wonder -- they make me look hideously pretentious. I stood in front of the mirror, gaping at my reflection, freaking out over not matching up to the image of a university instructor. Don't worry, this was a rare moment when I let my childish appearance get the best of me.

Nevertheless, this moment of image dissonance thrust me into a spiral of other doubts, causing me to question why I agreed to teach at a university, as opposed to a primary school. But I love the college environment, and I am looking forward to being surrounded by Chinese students my own age, so my insecurities didn't hold me down for long.

I thought back to a recent conversation I had with Brandy, who will be entering UH-Hilo's teaching program this summer. When I confessed that I am far more concerned about not being a good teacher than I am about being on my own in a foreign environment, she first looked at me like I was crazy, then said the most encouraging thing: wanting to be a good teacher is a huge part of being a good teacher. I hope that's true, because believe me, there's no shortage of desire here!

I still regret not having at least some teaching experience, as do a lot of other China 15s, according to FB bios. Hopefully I will be able to learn lots from them during training!