Obviously, I am about a month behind schedule in getting over to China, but I am kind of glad that it happened. This week I had a chance to get back to Wake Forest and visit Sarah and all of my other friends. It was a really fun and relaxing week, but it was also strange to be back on campus with out having class to attend. I felt like a complete slacker. Just being back at Wake gave me that sinking feeling that I have a bottomless pile of work to be done. As my friends raced off to classes, studied for tests, and worked on their assignments I had a nice chance to relax. Finally, Thursday night rolled around (my last night in Winston-Salem). Sarah and I talked about going to dinner and eventually decided to go to Elizabeth's (a little reluctantly on my part). When we walked into the door, there was a long table of my friends sitting, chatting. The first thing that went through my mind (because I'm an idiot and Sarah had done such a good job of surprising me) was, "I can't believe that all of my friends went out to dinner without me!" I soon realized that it was a very nice surprise dinner for me. Thanks everybody for showing up and organizing! Dinner was great and even one of my friends who went to China with me, Dan, made the trip over from Greensboro.
Afterwards, some of us decided to head over to Foothills to participate in their weekly trivia night. After aptly naming our team "Chairman Meow" we proceeded to completely dominate the competition. At the end of the night we walked away with a $50 gift certificate to Foothills and the pride in knowing that we were number one. I hope you guys enjoy it!Considering my experience at Wake, my cousin Elizabeth's engagement party the week before, and the previous weeks I spent with my friends from BR, I am starting to feel pretty bummed out about heading to China. Don't get me wrong, I am still incredibly excited and I know that I will learn more than I can imagine. However, after seeing my entire family and all of my friends both in Baton Rouge and in Winston-Salem, I realize that I am leaving behind some really incredible people who have been supportive and amazing for a really long time. I guess what they say is true. You don't really realize what you have until it's gone (not that its gone, but will be missed for about a year).
Enough with the sappiness. Since I finally do have some concrete information, I will post it here so anyone who so desires can take a gander at anytime. I will be beginning my journey to China on October 4th (this Thursday) out of New Orleans:
6:47 AM Depart New Orleans for Chicago
9:10 AM Arrive Chicago
10:36 AM Depart for Shanghai, China
1:55 PM Arrive Shanghai, China
The above times are all in the central time zone, except for the arrival time in Shanghai, which will be 12:55 AM central time and 1:55 AM eastern time (on the 5th). Following this incredibly long day of flying, I will still have to get over to Nanchang. I assume that I will be taking a train, but this leg of the journey has not been discussed thus far. I will update as soon as I know anything else. Enjoy!
