Since I am currently flustered by the fact that a) I HAVE INTERNET CONNECTION! and b) I have to blog tonight, I will [try to] be brief.

My experience here has been amazing so far; our Wild China trip has definitely given me the chance to explore the China that I’ve only ever seen in Zhang Yimou films.”Roughing it” has played a pretty big role in my life for the past few days; hiking under the pouring rain, falling into streams (yes, that happened), and living in a typical Miao village with no running water are all things that I would generally consider to be outside my comfort zone. While I’ve never been big on “roughing it,” the past few days have been both incredibly rewarding and an amazing learning experience. I am no longer terrified of squatting toilets, for one thing. I have learnt how to dig for potatoes, cut grass with a scythe, do my laundry Miao villager-style, and sit back to appreciate the beauty of the scenery around me. Not too shabby for the first 5 days of a 2-month adventure.

After visiting Shanghai, Kaili, and Rongjiang, all bustling with life, I can’t wait to see how they compare to Jishou. Similarly, I can’t wait to really acquaint myself with the city that I’ll be living in for the next 2 months; while I am soaking up every ounce of this down-and-dirty Wild China trip, after having found out that I will be teaching Level 2 in Jishou, I am all the more excited about actually meeting my students.

Ultimately, teaching is what I came here to do; these amazing first few days, shared with an equally amazing group of people, have made me realize that I couldn’t be more grateful to PiA for giving me this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The best part of it all? There’s more to come.