So I only have four days until I fly, which really means I only have three days left in the states, and thats moderately terrifying. Only to a point however - I feel as though having everyone else worry for me feel less guilty (and less foolhardy) about not being really all that concerned about a great number of things (not speaking a word of Chinese, for example).
Since being home I have gone to see the eye doctor, the dentist, get an inoculation, deal with the bank, gone into Seattle twice now to visit with Noah, Zach, Aaron and Jess, had a wonderful lunch with Grum and Grumpa, fixed a friends internet connection on her new laptop, watched the Olympics, and eaten a fair bit of Mexican food, not to mention the wonderful party with the whole family on the 17th. I bring all this up because in the last week, I haven't really had the decompression time which, as much as I knew it wouldn't happen, was secretly hoping for. Oh well, time to pack up and head off to China.
Speaking of packing, I have yet to unpack from my wonderful summer at camp in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I've been living in a cabin since almost immediately after graduation, but the time has flown. I was one of the first people to arrive this summer at camp, working at what was called "pre-pre" camp. This consisted of mostly scrubbing radioactive grime off of the camp kitchen equipment (the winter is long in northern New Hampshire, and not kind to anything which isn't heated year round), painting a very large building by hand, sweeping, cleaning, mopping, scrubbing, and all the manual labor which must happen to get a place ready, but which is rarely thought about. Following that, I went into "pre" camp, which is about two weeks of the same, just more organized and with more people. Then came orientation, last minute preparation, and finally the kids arriving near the end of June. Once camp was in full swing my job was the same as last year - hiking and backpacking trip leader, which meant I found myself outside hiking five to six days a week. It was a fantastic job and I'm in great shape coming off the summer, but it was a whirlwind of a summer, especially considering that I found out about China right around June 20th. And by found out I don't mean, found out I was going, but found out the possibility existed...
I had originally applied to the program back in February, however at that point I was ALREADY late in the game compared to everyone else, and the spots had all been filled. I didn't give the program much thought following that, until I received an email from Karrin, a friend in the program stating that a last minute spot had opened up and that I should re apply. So I said sure, why not? I emailed Sandy, the administrator of the Skidmore in China program and wrote something to the effect of, "Sandy, I heard there is a last minute spot open. I would love to hear more about it! let me know if you need another copy of my resume and cover letter."
Now, given the nature of my job at camp, checking email isn't always easy, and doesn't happen too often... So when I did check my email again about five days later, I found two emails from Sandy: The first stated, "Nick! glad to hear you are interested. I've forwarded your resume and cover letter to Xintan College in China. Best of luck." The second email loosely said, "Great news! you've been accepted! You'll fly out August 26th with the other Skidmore teachers. I've atteched some health forms which should be done roughly yesterday. Talk to you soon!"
And so began my adventure...
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