I've made it... sort of.

I just wanted to quickly let you all know that after four flights I've made it safely to Hong Kong. Just one short hop and I'll be in Changsha. We should be taking off in about an hour and arriving around 10:30am today, (10:30pm Tuesday night your time). I'll do my best to update during the next few days to give you some details. Hope all is well.

Contact Information

I just wanted to give you some information about contacting me while I’m in China. There are several ways and here they are:

1.) You can obviously leave comments on here.

2.) You can email me at ashley.[insert my last name here]@verizon.net.

3.) You can call me on Skype. Skype is a software that allows users to make telephone calls over the internet. Calls between two users on their computers are free, as is the program. If you don’t have Skype and would like to get it, go to http://www.skype.com/ to download the program. You’ll need a computer that is connected to the internet, as well as a working computer microphone. My Skype name is ashley.[insert my last name here].

4.) You can send mail to the following address:

Ashley [insert my last name here]
412007
湖南省株洲市
株洲市第二中学
外教师信箱

Ashley [insert my last name here]
Foreign Teacher Mailbox
Zhuzhou # 2 Middle School
Zhuzhou, Hunan 412007
People’s Republic of China

I thought it was safe enough to post this address on the internet, as it won’t actually lead you to my apartment, just the school that I’ll be at, along with thousands of other teachers and students. If you choose to send me something by snail mail you’ll need to have both addresses on the letter or package so that it may be easily understood in both the US and China. I know most of you aren’t able to write Chinese characters, so the best method is probably to copy and paste the address to a Word Document, print it out, and then glue or tape them to the letter side by side.

I imagine that some of you are probably thinking, “What Chinese characters? All I see are little squares.” If this is the case, you need to install additional languages onto your computer. If you have Windows XP, the following steps should give you a good idea of how to do this: Start > Control Panel > Regional and Language Options > Languages > Install Files for East Asian Languages. If you have Windows Vista, the steps above should give you a good jumping off point as well. And if you don’t have Windows, I have no idea what you should do, sorry. If you have further questions on how to install additional languages on your computer, please consult Windows Help.

5.) You can call me on my Chinese cell phone. I don’t actually have the number at this point, but I’ll keep you abreast of any changes in that department.

I think those are all the ways I know of right now to get in contact with while I’m away. If you have any questions, let me know.

Start getting pumped! The adventure begins in 2 DAYS!

Ashley

T-minus one week and counting!

I have been trying all day to wrap my head around the fact that I will be leaving for China in only one week from today and have found it to be close to impossible. During most times of the day I would say that I am equal parts excited and terrified about this adventure. It is, however, not an entirely steady balance. Right now for example, I’m hanging on the terrified side of the scale. Not to worry though, I know I’ll bounce back to the excited end in a few minutes or hours (…or days…). At the very least, I know that I’ll be meeting some very interesting people over the coming months. I’m looking forward to meeting the other volunteers, the Chinese teachers, and perhaps most of all, the students at my school.

Speaking of the students and my school, I should probably give you the run down on that. I have been assigned to Zhuzhou Number Two Middle School, also known as Er Zhong. As the name suggests, the school is in Zhuzhou, Hunan. Zhuzhou is a city of about three and a half million people located southeast Hunan about 45 minutes from the capital of Changsha. The city is known throughout the province for its industry and is one of the most polluted cities in the area. There are no tourist attractions in Zhuzhou itself, which means there will be very few everyday people who know even a little English. This will not only give me a more authentic view of the Chinese, but also make most every conversation a challenge. I’m sure things will get easier over time, but I’m nervous about the first few weeks.

I don’t have any information on what grades I’ll be teaching at this point. All volunteers teach middle and high school, so I can be sure that I won’t be working with first graders. I did read, however, that in China middle school begins in the fourth grade, so there is the possibility of teaching a group of pretty young students. I’m not sure if I would prefer the younger ones or the older students, but I guess the point is moot as I don’t have a choice. I should know at the end of August, following a few weeks of orientation, what my grade assignments will be.

I think that I will leave it at that for now. I hope you are having wonderful summer and feel free to check back for updates as time goes on.

Ashley