Only a few more hours . . .

Today I had a very good time. I met with my friend Lucky (who's going to PIB this summer) to do our last minute studying for Chinese. We met around 11:00, reviewed for about an hour, and then went to her old High School to have lunch with two teachers. The teachers taught Mandarin, so we were able to converse quite a bit in Chinese with them, too. They are very interesting people, so it was a very fun experience having lunch with them. Well, after lunch Lucky and I went to the Manhattan Chinatown so I could buy a few gifts for people when I get to China. After about an hour or two, we had our last Chinese review session and said goodbye:(, until we meet again in Beijing of course:)!

So, my flight is tomorrow at 4:30 p.m., which is less than 24 hours away!!! I'll take a direct flight from JFK and get to Beijing around 6:00 p.m., which means I'll be stuck in an airplane for 13.5 hours. That's the only part I really don't like about my trip. I know they'll try to entertain us in the plane by feeding us and showing tons of movies, but I'll still end up very bored. Anyway, I just picked a few books to read during the flight, and I'll probably do some last minute reviewing on board.

As usual, every time there are only a few hours before a trip, I get really nervous. It's not that I'm scared of flights or anything, it's just that all of the waiting and anticipation is finally coming to its end and somehow my mind is still in disbelief. For this trip, though, I'm not only talking about this month I've been home since I came back from Yale. I'm taking about months of anticipation, from the first Light Fellowship meetings and the times I worked on applications all the way up to today. The time has finally come!

Although I've been to Beijing, my mind is still wondering how I'm going to adapt again to the Beijing environment, speaking only in Chinese, having tough classes, etc. I know it will all come back to me pretty well, though. I'm really excited to go back, and see how Beijing has changed since I last was there. Beijing is only a few more hours away!!! Next time I post, I will already be at the other side of the world.