I'm going to 重庆!

Finally! We had site announcements on Tuesday and now I know where I'll be living/working for the next two years: Chongqing University of Science and Technology in Chongqing City. I am beyond thrilled about this placement. Let me tell you why:

1. It's in the heart of the city. I'm in a "borough" of Chongqing City called Da Ping, which is situated right off the monorail line (yes, there's a monorail!), so I can easily hop onto that to head into downtown Chongqing. The shape and layout of the city actually looks a lot like Manhattan and if you know me, you know how exciting that is for me. Plus, the previous volunteer left me a two-page long list of things to see/do in town, so I'll be plenty busy.

Chongqing at night

2. Most of my closest friends in PC are located nearby. Jake is only a ten minute monorail ride away and I can reach almost everyone else within half an hour. Having this support is going to be amazing.

3. Based on my apartment description, I'll have my own 2-bedroom apartment complete with (among other things) A/C and....*drum roll*.....a DRYER! Listen: this is basically unheard of in China. Am I really in the Peace Corps???

4. Most of the students at my university are boys and thus most of my English students will be boys, which is unusual for PC China's TEFL program. I think this will allow me to have a different teaching experience and compare what my classes are like versus others' classes to get a wider understanding of university life in China. Plus, I'll get to teach Petroleum majors (among others), so I hope to learn more about this area myself and, perhaps more importantly, hopefully can have a positive impact on these students whose career choices could have a huge impact on the entire world.

5. My site-mate is another China 13 named Chris. He's from New Jersey and ensures that everyone knows it at all times. Oh, the stories I could tell you about this guy. Simply put, he's hilarious and should make the next two years quite interesting.

Alright, to keep it balanced, here are a few things I may struggle with (really, though, there's not many):

1. Chongqing is an industrial city and thus the pollution level is fairly high (like any industrial city). Luckily the Peace Corps gives all volunteers air-purifiers to run in their apartments, so we can give our lungs a break when we're at home.

2. The city is known as one of the "three furnaces" of China, which basically means I will be covered in my stinky American sweat 24/7 during the summer months. Remember to send me pictures of cold places when May rolls around so I can visualize myself frolicking through freezing, icy landscapes.

Despite these few things, I'm sure Chongqing is going to be absolutely wonderful! I'm visiting next week to meet with various people at my university, so I'll find out the nitty gritty of my assignment then. I'll keep you posted.

Elated,

Nikki

P.S. If you're interested, check out Wikipedia and Google Earth for pictures of Chongqing. I also found these websites with a slew of info in case you have extra time on your hands and want to plan your trip to visit me now. :)

http://www.chongqing-life.com/
http://chongqing.mychinastart.com/
http://english.cq.gov.cn/

Body Moving

Now, when I joined the Peace Corps as a TEFL university instructor I had no idea so much physical exertion would be involved. With the stress of adjusting to a new culture, teaching English and studying Chinese, a lot of us have sought outlets through physical activities. For example, during some of our fifteen minute breaks from language class, my fellow PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees) and our Chinese teachers will play a little hacky-sack:

On Thursdays and Sundays a group of us gets together to play Ultimate Frisbee, which is always a spectacle to the Chinese students playing soccer and running on the track. Frisbee is not a big thing here, so they're very intrigued by the huge group of foreigners madly sprinting around the field. A few have even started playing with us. Last Thursday I convinced four of my students (two boys, two girls) to join us. None of them had ever even touched a frisbee before, but within seconds they were better than me! Once I get to site I really want to try and make an Ultimate Frisbee team/league because I think it's a great way to bond with students. Since the frisbee we've been using belongs to our Volunteer Facilitator, all I need to do now is to find a good frisbee of my own...

Last Saturday, the Peace Corps took all of the trainees on a field trip to Qing Cheng Mountain, one of the birthplaces of Chinese Taoism. They estimated it would take about 2-3 hours to climb the thousands of steps to the peak of the front mountain. Luckily, a few other trainees were as maniacal as me and were determined to be the first to the top. So, together we ran/jogged all the way up and made it in just over an hour.

It was a foggy day, but here's what it looked like from the peak

The trip down the mountain was much more leisurely. We shared crazy travel stories and tried to keep each other from sliding down the now wet steps (it had rained while we were at the peak). It was an exhausting but amazing day.

Showing some love midway down the mountain

So, rest assured: I am not just hiding out in my bedroom lesson planning night and day. I'm out exploring and experiencing. I couldn't be happier.