Ok, so I got a call about 10:15 or 10:30 this morning from Karen Dolan in the Study Abroad office saying, "Oh, well, I just wanted to make sure you were going to be able to come to the meeting today at 12:30."  O_O  WTF?!?  No one told ME about any meeting.  And I was already at work.  Luckily Kelly happened to be sitting right next to me as I got the message and offered to cover for me. (<3 Kelly!) 

So I get to this meeting and apparently NO ONE got the email.  That's ODU for you, I guess.  But I talked to some of my classmates and they all seem really nice.  I made friends with one of the girls - Savanna - who has been to Australia and New Zealand and stuff and we have a lot in common already.  She apparently doesn't speak any Chinese at all, though, so I wonder how she'll fair in China.  But I guess better to go in a group than to dive in on your own.  Hopefully we'll make good travel buddies so the long plane rides won't seem quite so endless.

In other news, we FINALLY got the official itenerary!  Here's the run-down:

5/15 – Leaving Norfolk for Beijing

5/16 – Arrive at Beijing. Visit Olympic Park and Watch Beijing Opera.

5/17 – Tour Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City.

5/18 – Visit the Great Wall and Ming Tombs.

5/19 – Tour Summer Palace and Visit the Temple of Heaven.

5/20 – Shopping at Liulichang. After lunch taking sleeper train to Xi’an.

5/21 – Arrive at Xi’an in the morning and check in the hotel.  Visit the Museum of Qin Terra-Cotta Warriors and Horses and touring Huaqing Fountain. Dumpling Banquet and Tang Dynasty Dance show.

5/22 – Visit Big Wild Goose Pagoda and ancient city wall.

5/23 – Fly from Xi’an to Shanghai.  Shanghai to Hangzhou by train. Tour of West Lake.

5/24 – Visit Liuhe Tower tea garden.

5/25 – Lingyin Temple. Afternoon train back to Shanghai.  Activities at night in Shanghai.

5/26 – Visit Jinmao Tower and Pudong New District.

5/27 – Tour Yuyuan garden and old street, and visit Chenghuang and Jade Buddha temples.

5/28 – Morning activity. After lunch leave Shanghai for Norfolk.

Note: Any grammatical inconsistencies are due to direct transcription from Zhang Laoshi's original document.

She also gave us the syllabus including requirements for the 10 page paper (O_O) and a recommended reading list... Of a list of 7 books, there is 1 that I don't have/haven't read.  XD  I am teh WIN!

30 days to go!  I can't wait!  All that's left to do is get packing!

Faith

Tags: syllabus
Current Location: Work
Current Mood: ecstatic