I guess I'm on my way...

Well, I have to go now. I just bought my plane ticket through Expedia.com. I will be flying Korean Air out of Dallas!! Not much to say, except it is very real now.

Lessons Learned

Lesson 1: Always have someone around who can read Mandarin symbols.

My work permit and letter of invitation came in yesterday and guess what, it was 98% Mandarin symbols. I had a question about if I should sign it but I couldn't read a word of it. I ended up faxing it to my travel agent, Wendy, in Dallas and she informed me it was a space to put my wife and children's names. oh well, I know there will be more of that.

Lesson 2: Always ask your travel agent if she has all the documentation to apply for your visa.

Yesterday, after I got my permit and letter, I overnight FedExed them to Wendy, along with a $200 check. She called me this morning and left a message saying to call her immediately, it was urgent. I did and I had not sent her my visa application, travel declaration, passport, or recent photo. I didn't know she needed all of this and she assumed I knew to send it. So today, I got all of that together and sent it on its way. A day late and a dollar short, as always.

What's this all about Stephen?

Unrelated

Um, This has nothing to do with the trip...in any way. But, I found it recently and thought you might enjoy it. A baby Stephen for your viewing pleasure.

The Beginning

I write today from the comfort of my temporary upstairs bedroom in Maumelle, Arkansas. Soon I will begin an adventure that will surely change the course of my life. In June, I will be traveling to the city of Qingdao in the Shandong province of China to begin a six month internship with the Leewen School of Foreign Language. I am feeling excited, nervous, unsure, confident, proud, supported, ready and unprepared all at once, quite a bundle of emotions for a future teacher. The farthest I have been away from the United States is Puerto Rico (2000 mi.) and now for my next trick I will travel to a country 7200 miles away, from my safe little bedroom, where I know about three out of one billion people. I am sad to leave my friends and family for such a long time but as Andy Dufresne says in Shawshank Redemption, "get busy livin' or get busy dying."