Wedding Extravaganza - Alyssa currently in India

Hello Everyone,

About three weeks ago I went to the city of Udaipur.  This is a city in Rajasthan about 9 hours South of Jaipur.  It is considered to be the most romantic place in India and it certainly was beautiful.  We spent 3 days there and I just feel in love with it.  It was so much calmer then Jaipur and I felt that the relaxed way of life was contagious.  It is primarily a Muslim city, so I heard the call to prayer five times a day and this made me nostalgic for Niger.  The only bad thing about the trip was that we got stuck on a bus for 4 hours because it broke down.  This made the 9 hour trip 13 and we were extremely exhausted when we finally rolled up to Jaipur at 6AM.  The funny thing was that, while we were getting anxious and trying to figure out what was going on, as nobody on the bus spoke English, the Indians were calm as could be.  I guess this happens often here.  In any event, I really enjoyed the trip and would love to visit again.

The view from our Guest House.  It was on top of a hill and overlooked Udaipur.

After my weekend away in Udaipur, I spent the next two weekends just laying low and enjoying Jaipur.  I find that I am in a lose lose situation because I want to see so much and yet travelling every weekend and working during the week is exhausting.  Thus, I am trying to travel every other weekend and stay in town on the alternative weekends. 

This past week was extremely exhausting because there were so many things going on.  Besides the normal teaching that I do, I have started to take dance classes on Mondays and Wednesdays.  I am taking classical India dance which is so much harder then it looks.  The dance itself is not very motion oriented but instead has a lot of poses.  You normal stand in one spot and constantly change poses throughout the song.  However, I certainly am enjoying it.

On Thursday, all of the volunteers were invited to an Indian Wedding.  I for one was very excited about this because I had been wanting to see a wedding since I had gotten here.  I feel that weddings are one of the things that best show the culture of a country; and since culture is something that I study, I was looking forward to seeing it embodied through this tradition.  If you have ever had any good Indian friends, you probably know that an Indian wedding is extremely different from any you would see in the west. There is a lot of color, a lot of people, and even more food!  The wedding that we went to was one of a family in the Brahman cast, which is the highest caste. So needless to stay, is was big in every way.  The total number of people that were there was 6,000.  You could imagine how overwhelming it was to walk into an area that looks like a fair grounds and see thousands and thousands of people.  The decorations for a Hindu Wedding are similar to decorations you would see around Christmas time in the States, minus the Santa's of course.  There are a lot of lights and a lot of bows.  There are musicians playing traditional instruments and a huge amount of food.  On one end there was a stage and on the other three ends were giant buffet tables that had all the Indian food you could possibly imagine.  I just remember going back and forth for about an hour to make sure I could get a taste of everything.  I also took this opportunity to buy a traditional Sari.  I loved getting dressed up, although I must say, having to squat in a latrine in a Sari was not easy, lol!  Perhaps the strangest thing to me about the whole experience was that it seemed that the entire celebration was more for the guests then the couple.  The bride showed up at about the last hour and there was a giant procession to the stage, where the couple then exchanges there vows.  It took her about 1 hour to get from the entrance to the stage and the poor girl almost got knocked down about 4 times.  As we were the only westerners there, we were quite a spectacle and it seemed as though people were more interested in us then the couple.  It certainly was weird for me to be the center of attention at someone elses wedding.

Me in my Sari before the wedding.  If you look closely you can see that my left arm has Henna on it!

Some of the Volunteers at the wedding! 

The Groom on his horse coming in for the ceremony.

The Bride finally coming in!

The bride and her bridesmaids coming down the aisle.  There is actual gold in her Sari!

The bride and groom finally made it to the stage.  The flower necklace is similar to the rings at a western wedding.  They each put one on each other and this symbolizes the connection between the two.

Well I hope you enjoy the pictures and I will write soon about my trip to Agra where the magnificent Taj Mahal is!

Love You All and I hope Spring has finally reached you guys!

Alyssa

Good Will HUNTing ~ by Founder Emlyn Lee

"A good companion shortens the longest road." This Turkish proverb is so fitting for my final LOVE series blog because I am featuring a couple that will soon take a looooong journey ahead. Meet Bryan and Jillian Hunt, a delightful couple from College Station, TX that are heading off for a six months mission trip in Uganda, and then spending the second half of the year on Cultural Embrace’s Work and Travel Australia program.

The two were high school sweethearts, and both are graduates from Texas A&M University. They have always wanted to travel abroad, and took the past two years to work, save, and plan for their international adventure. Their plans fluctuated for awhile since they had a long list of places they wanted to go, but their final decisions are to: serve local children at orphanages in Uganda, and have some fun surfing and traveling around while working to make ends meet in Australia.

I asked if they had any advice to give other travelers. Jillian shared the advice that she received from her cousin to “Just go and do it!” Bryan advised wanderlusts to “never count any option out, but also don’t be completely sold on just one option.”

Flexibility and patience are the keys to happy trails. The main reason most people travel is to experience new things, right? We want to see new sites, taste new foods, dance at new clubs, buy new things at markets and street bazaars that you couldn’t get at home. Realize that it will get frustrating and things don’t always work out as you anticipated. That’s okay, it happens! You are out of your comfort zone, and in a new environment, but that is the beauty of traveling! Embrace the world, discover the similarities, and share the differences.

I invite you to watch this awesome video that their friend produced, and you will see two lifetime companions and best friends who are passionate, humorous, patient, and respectful people--not only to each other, but to the communities that surround them. Jill works in the hospitality industry and Bryan is a history teacher, so serving and helping others are natural gifts of theirs. I can’t wait to follow this Good Will HUNTing Adventure, as their companionship will shorten their long journey, and their love will help to make the world go round.

Oil Tea - by Current Teach in China Participant Matt W.

Okay, last night, on my way back to school I remembered that I completely forgot to talk about one of the most notable things we did in Fengyang.  Oil tea.  For the three nights we were there, Isabella, our Cultural Embrace local coordinator, had us go out to three different villagers homes to drink oil tea with them.  We did this as a cultural exchange kind of experience and it was quite enjoyable.... well.... kind of...  At each house the drink of choice is a concauction called "You Cha" (pronounces yo cha, for those not familiar with chinese pinyin).

You cha means "Oil Tea", and is probably the most bitter thing I have ever consumed.  To make oil tea you get green tea, ginger and garlic, cut them up into bits and sauté them in a wok.  After they have been cooking for a while you hammer the ingredients with a wooden hammer and then place everything in a sieve and run hot water through it.  Out comes a coffee and cream looking liquid which then is served in a bowl with puffed rice on top.

The flavor when it first hits your tongue isn't that bad, but once it hits the bitter zone in the back your taste buds explode with the most intense bitter taste ever.  I generally like bitter beers, IPA's and the lot, bit this is close to unbearable.  Needless to say I think its an acquired taste.  So I got to sample three different varieties of oil tea because I went to three different houses and everyone makes it a little differently.

The first house is what I'm basing everything off of and it was quite bitter but the middle of the three.  The second was the most palatable, not too bitter.  The third house was very bitter and pretty rough. Oddly, the third place is the only house where I had more than one bowl.  This could be due to the fact that the third house was a larger family and there were three chinese guys that were quite entertaining and quite hospitable.

By in large, the chinese people know that we don't like oil tea.  I think they understand that its not an insult to them at all but this stuff is really hard to drink if you have not acquired the taste for it.  In the third house I the three guys picked this up and offered us some Li Qian beer (coming in at a whopping 3.6% alcohol).  So most of us took them up on the offer.  Then shortly later they pulled out Chinese rice wine.  This is another one of those acquired taste things.  The rice wine we had essentially tasted like straight vodka, quite noxious.   Luckily they gave us only little bits at a time so it wasn't too hard to put down.

So yeah! there is my forgotten post.  And for those who are concerned, today started my official teacher training so that took the whole day, and now we're going to town to go out to eat because its Jarone, and Wies' last night in Yangshuo :(

Hope you're having a good morning America!

"You Must See the West Coast!!" - CE's Amy currently in Australia!

Boats, Bikes, Beaches...life in Perth

How many times did I hear it..."you HAVE to get to the west coast", "you MUST see the west coast," etc. etc.  What on earth made me think that a few days would be enough?! Oh, what I would give to go back! But can't focus on what I missed, this is about what I did see and do....and it was plenty enough to realize how much I love Perth!

Perth CBD is fairly small in comparison to the likes of Sydney & Melbourne, but who needs a massive business district when you have flawless beaches everywhere you turn! I spent my first day wandering around exploring the city, checking out the local museum & art gallery; and walking along the Swan river.  I also spoiled myself with a proper hotel room after 3 days on the train and it was absolutely luxurious! I moved into the hostel the next day and met three wonderful roomates from Holland, Switzerland, and Canada so it distracted me from the luxury that is enjoyed by the other half! ;)

I was able to reconnect with a fellow traveller from Melbourne who was staying with a friend in Perth and they took me for Fish & Chips on Cottesloe Beach.  This was apparently Heath Ledger's favorite beach and I had no doubt why that would be after seeing it---with its crystal clear water, white sand beaches, grass ledges overlooking the beach (so you can avoid sand if so inclined) and light breeze making for the perfect view over dinner. 

One thing that was a completely unique experience that I'm so glad I did was a visit to Rottnest Island.  This island is vehicle free other than its tourist bus, trash truck, and train.  Everyone gets around by bike and you can ride the 22 km around the entire perimeter of the island, including stopping off at beaches along the shores for snorkeling.  The island is pretty remote and I hadn't packed enough water so I didn't make it around the entire island but was thoroughly impressed with what I did see. There are no more than 200 residents on the island and the longest resident has only lived there for 7 years.  There is a primary school on the island with 1 teacher and 1 headmaster.  There are cabins that can be rented and a few small shops and a grocery for you to get the basics you may need.  There was very little that was touristy about this island other than the non-stop ferries bringing people over from the mainland, however I'm not sure where everyone went because there would be miles that I wouldn't see anyone at all...it was such an awesome exerience!

I spent a day wandering through Kings Park with a perfect view of the city and walked through the treetops on an especially beautiful day. This park is so easy to just completely lose track of time as there is something around each turn to draw you in and it is so enticing to just relax in the peacefulness of it all. On my last day I went down to Freemantle to check out their markets and stumbled into a didgeridoo (Aboriginal instrument) class where they wouldn't take no for an answer.  I learned to "speak" and make a few of the common animal noises.  Thankfully there were 3 others in the class were just as bad as I was so we wound up having a great time and weren't too embarrassed to give it our all.  The instructor was very generous with his praise and by the end of it had us convinced that we were all quite good! Maybe I'll have to buy my own and have it shipped home....then again, maybe not! :)

So though it was short-lived, Perth was still able to win over my heart as a fan of Australia's west coast and so I will now join in with the rest in preaching to everyone..."You MUST see the west coast!"
Take care!:)
xoxo

Shouldn’t I Be the One Getting Paid?? -by C.E. Coordinator Casady Monroe

Living takes money. In all of the various positions I interned in, none of my bosses ever offered enough funding to cover my housing, my meals, or even my gas money. I understand the entitled position of, “Hey—I’m doing you a service. You’re lucky to have my young, agile mind disposable to your whims. And I deserve adequate compensation!”…But this just isn’t how our economy works. You have to prove yourself and your knowledge before any company is going to look at you as an asset. Interns often show up for the free training, work a few months, and then move on. So it makes sense that most companies don’t pay their interns, but consider their work output as an exchange for the guidance and industry secrets the host company provides.

While you’re in the interning phase of your life, why not consider doing it abroad? Interning abroad isn’t cheap, but neither is interning in general. Here are some tips for covering the expenses:

•          Get a second job. Put fliers up around town for a private English tutor or offer your services up at an Irish Pub or touristy restaurant.
•          Sell stuff. Downsizing your possessions makes sense if you’re planning on spending several months abroad, so take the opportunity to put your old clothes, unread books, or unnecessary kitchen appliances up for sale online on Craigslist or EBay.
•         Share your living expenses with other interns and students. Many of our programs offer shared apartment options with fully equipped kitchens; rotate the nights that each resident is responsible for making dinner.
•          Move in with your parents. I know, not the most fun living arrangement, but it is a great way to save money while planning for your next adventure.
•          Check with your college. Study Abroad Offices, the Language Dept. , the Dept. of your major, and Career Services often provide funds for students to travel abroad and gain professional development.
•          Ask family. If you’re able to present a precise argument for why you want to go to country X and learn more about X profession, all the better. Don’t expect them to be willing to cover everything, but chipping in or providing a loan until you establish your own career might be a possibility.
•          Avoid expenses. Don’t go out every night and run up bar tabs. By all means, enjoy the new friends that you’ve made, but consider the cost of a glass of vintage red wine versus a simple water with lemon.
•         Go above and beyond. Bosses will sometimes offer bonuses, concert tickets, or pocket money for interns that surpass expectations.
•         Consider budget-friendly options. Interning in Argentina is cheaper and provides many of the same opportunities that Interning in Spain would.
•         Get the most bang for your buck. Interested in business? China is a hot market and looks great on a resume. Into fashion? Hello, Milan, Italy! Want to be a doctor? Get hands-on in Ecuador. Contact Cultural Embrace for country suggestions that match your aspirations.

Cultural Embrace helps you secure an internship that matches your professional goals, and in many cases also provides housing and meals. Working abroad takes you out of your comfort zone, bolsters your language knowledge, and provides a delightful vacation-ambiance as an alternative to the zombie-like daily grind of a 9-5 job. We specialize in matching your skills, education, and goals with available opportunities in foreign companies. When I was seeking out internships, I took virtually every offer that came my way, and ended up with a diverse (and pretty useless) sampling of bankruptcy law, accounting, editing, and public relations. If I had known about Cultural Embrace, I would have had a more appealing and logical resume when I took my first steps into the paying job market. Plus, I would have had an instant “in” for discussing the personal growth, independence, and understanding that I experienced living abroad.

Once you’re abroad, make the most out of your internship. Network with your colleagues and clients and keep their contacts for sending them a quick “Thanks! I’m home; I’ll never forget the experience,” email once you return. It’s a good idea to make a stack of your own business cards before heading oversees, so acquaintances know how to reach you once that perfect, salaried position opens up. Also make sure to update your resume as soon as possible—you’ll want to include details about all you learned and observed in your international position. Then get ready to sell yourself and put your new, global skills on the market!

Cupid Shoots and Scores! - by Founder Emlyn Lee

Love comes in all shapes, sizes, forms, and ways. And it comes when you least expect it. This month's theme is focused on "Love" and I've been featuring current, past, and future participants that have put a special accent on the word 'embrace' of Cultural Embrace! ;) And since it's Valentine's Day, I thought it would be appropriate to feature a participant that found her love, while on a Cultural Embrace program, studying Spanish in Spain.

Meet Kimya. I remember working with her to organize a meaningful "break" from her busy professional work and personal schedule in 2006. She wanted to go abroad to learn Spanish, and we set her up to do just that in Barcelona. In Barcelona, she met a Norwegian, Morten, who was struck by her wonderful American charm. She extended her stay in Spain, and then the two maintained a long-distance relationship after she returned back to the States. With a few visits in between, the two got married in Punta Cana in December, 2007. Morten relocated and moved to New York, and last fall, they adopted a beautiful little girl! The whole family continues to travel and embrace many cultures! :)

Enjoy this little Q&A session with Kimya, because you never know where, when, and how Cupid will hit you with his love arrow!

1. How did you meet on your Cultural Embrace program, and how long have you been together?
Since i was in Barcelona during the winter, things were a bit less active than spring and summer. I joined a downtown gym with a friend to fill the afternoon hours. My now husband spotted me in a yoga class. (he says he liked the view)


2. Were you nervous getting in to an international relationship, and how did you deal with the long distance? Not really, I was a little slow on an the uptake and did not realize we were dating for several weeks. By the time I did, I had to make a decision to extend my stay to see where the relationship went or go home as planned. Ultimately I decided to extend my trip a few weeks. By the time I left in early spring we had a plan to visit each other and return to Barcelona in the fall to live. But he came to visit me in the States a few weeks later and decided to move to the States instead. A few weeks later he proposed and by the end of the year we were married. There were a few months between the spring and fall which were long distance dating (he in Norway, where his is from and me in the states), but since we were both committed to the relationship it wasn't very stressful, just more of a waiting game. We used a lot of skype and I left work promptly at 5 everyday (to catch him before he went to sleep).

3. How did (do) you overcome cultural differences?
We met each others families and friends early on that laid a good foundation. I corrected his english grammar everyday (still do). We always explain differences, ideas and beliefs to each other and just accept our differences. We still travel a lot so we are used to always begin exposed to different cultures. That has become our norm.

4. How are you managing to raise your family, and are you able to travel and visit Spain a lot?
We adopted a beautiful baby girl last October. Since we adopted we were able to plan ahead and discuss our parenting styles, which luckily are similiar. We agreed from the start that travel would be as much a part of our daughter's life as it is for ours. In her 15 months thus far she has been to Chicago, the Olympics in Vancouver, Norway, a Caribbean Cruise, St. Croix, St. Thomas and Tortola in the British and US Virgin Islands and Washington, D.C. Next up a road trip from San Francisco to San Diego and in a few weeks we are taking her back to where it all began in Barcelona. We love having a new person with whom to experience the joys of travel.

5. Do you have any advice for others to find love while traveling abroad?
My advice for finding love anywhere has always been don't look for it. We both found love because we were following our individual dreams and just being ourselves.

6. Do you have any advice for being in an international relationship?
Communication is a challenge in any relationship. When you have a native language difference it helps to be willing to over explain and ask the other person what they heard. Other than that just enjoy learning about all of the cool experience your mate had growing up in another culture.

Running in China - by Current Teach Participant Matt W.

Whoa, its been a while. I finally have found the time, and motivation to make a post, emphasis on the latter. So for this post I'm not going to do a day by day rundown of everything I've done but just get the highlights, as a consolation though I'll try to keep events in chronological order!

So a few days, after the Chinese new year, I saw the departure of all three brits, Isaac, Holly and Lucy :'(. But Wies and Jarone are still here and they have been keeping me company! So, the day that Holly left, Jarone and I went with Isabella and the family to another town about an hour away to visit a government official that allowed Isabella to start her business. The main purpose of the visit was to wish the official's family a happy new year. We ate some hot pot and Jarone and I did our best to converse with them because they didn't speak a word of english. It was a little strange because shortly after we sat down to eat our hosts got up and went outside. I don't know what they were doing but just me, Jarone and the family were there eating. A funny side story is when we were just sitting down, Yan Yan, Isabellas 3 year old son was playing with a spoon of hot chilis (mind you this isn't just crushed red peppers, a tea spoon of these things will make you crumble) and he eventually dumped an entire spoonful into the pot, needless to say we had some very spicy hot pot.

So the next day was Super Bowl MONDAY! Since the Internet went out at the school I had to go into town to go to Mimosa's cafe, to use their wifi. I was upstairs by myself watching the game on the slingbox. The chinese owners were probably pretty confused by this random american yelling at his computer as the game ebbed and flowed. Regardless the Packers WON! and I was happy!!!! other than that it was a slow day, I went running and Tina (Isabella's 21 year old niece) gave me and Jarone a Chinese lesson.

On Tuesday a new guy arrived, an Italian named Fredrico! So Wies and I went with the family to Guilin for the day, and to pick up Fredrico. Guilin was pretty interesting. It was nice to go to a bigger city and experience the craziness that is Chinese city life. We started off getting lunch at a noodle shop. I got some Hunan noodles, which are different than Guilin noodles? I don't know how they are they taste pretty similar to me. After that Mr and Mrs Meng, took Yan Yan to the park and Isabella, Wies, Tina and I went to this massive shopping mall in the center of Guilin. It was interesting because the mall was like one massive department store. Each brand had their little section, and when you wanted to buy something you went to the sales person told them you wanted to buy something and then they wrote a receipt for you which you took to the cashier to pay. Just one of those interesting differences that you'd never think of. After the mall, we went to this large pedestrian street that had tons of different shops, some selling legit stuff and then the usual knockoffs. Then to end the day in Guilin we walked over to a large park that had two pagodas in the middle of a lake. One pagoda was the "moon pagoda" the other the "sun pagoda". Finally, on the way to the car we walked through the people's square of Guilin. It was cool to see because they had a massive map of the world imprinted out of granite on it. We walked over North America and I showed Isabella where I was from. (to my frustration the Twin Cities was omitted on this map when other cities of similar size were included). Then we went off to the airport to pick up Fredrico.

Next day, we went off to Fengyan Village in rural China. Fengyan is a very interesting place. It is a very traditional Chinese village that has really held on to historical practices. I don't really know where to start because there is a lot to talk about.... Well I'll start with the house. The house we stayed in was built over 100 years ago, in the classical chinese style. It is a courtyard style house. So, when you walk in the front door there is a large room with a pool of water in the middle, and above that pool there is a hole in the roof, so when it rains the rain water falls into the pool. I don't know why but I didn't take many pictures of the house but hopefully I can get some from the others in the group. I did get some good shots of the town so thats good. So adventures in Fengyan village. On thursday morning, everyone (everyone as in all participants, Tina and her friend Hannah) went on a "walk". Our walk started out as a regular walk through the hills but then all of a sudden our two track trail degraded to a single track, and then further degraded to rock scrambles and some pretty intense hiking. Mind you, nobody is dressed for this, we're just wearing casual clothes. Of course I go to the front to see how far I get as the trail conditions get worse and worse. Kim (german foreign exchange student) and I do a pretty good job of finding the trail and making sure everyone follows us. Finally after crawling under some brush and seeing a wall of vegetation that is pretty impassable, we decide to turn around. We thought going up was quite the adventure, but it was going down that proved to be a real challenge. Typical of this region of China it was misty and all the rock scrambles we went up were quite slippery on the way down. It took a great deal of teamwork to get everyone down safely. I fell into a bush once, but we don't have to talk about that.

New paragraph, that one was getting too long. Next day, we go for another walk. But this time we went walking along the road. We were going to Lin hua? Not sure on the name but regardless, Isabella told us it was a "model socialist town". This place was 7km away, about 4.5 miles. The weather wasn't too bad at the start but it got progressively worse as we went. So we stopped about 1k away from the town and Tina called Mr. Meng (her dad) to come pick us up and take us the rest of the way. When we got there we walked around for a bit and then went on a short river raft ride. Not too exciting. I don't think our guide was too happy because she had to stand out in the rain while we were under the little cabana. After that the town had built steps to the top of a karst formation, 518 steps to be exact. We went to the top and got a really good view. I got some good pictures up here. After 10 minutes at the top we went down and walked through town. It wasn't too remarkable other than the fact that the houses were pretty nice. My theory is that the chinese government made this "ideal" place to create a tourist attraction to create something called revenue....? hmmmmmm and this is model socialism? On top of that the locals were out selling little trinkets, even though we were the only outsiders there.

Saturday, we drove home met a new guy, Brit named Tom. Nice guy. I also met up fellow Minnetonka'n Alex Messanger! He has been in Yangshuo for a few days so little sense in showing him the town, but he came out to Stone Rose with the crew. Enjoyed the free beer at the price of getting your ears blasted out by the insanely loud music.

TODAY TODAY TODAY!! Today Alex and I went climbing, which was AWESOME!!!!!! For 180 Kuai (27 dollars and 29 cents to be exact) we got four hours of climbing in, pretty good deal if you ask me. I got to do 5 routes, ranging from 5.6 to 5.10a for those who know what I'm talking about. I got some good pictures, Alex got a lot better ones (he's a much more serious photographer than I am). One thing I learned today about myself is that running is not really good training for climbing. My arms are completely dead, my legs are fine. A strange thing about climbing in china is that most of the routes here are controlled by a single climbing "club" which our guide told us was a cover for the mafia. There were signs saying "climbing prohibited without permission". And today we were lucky enough to get a visit from the mafia! Luckily nothing too much came of this, the guides paid them 10 kuai ($1.50) and they were off. I don't know how they make any real money.....

Okay, Its 9pm and soon we're getting a new person! A girl form england, so I have to go meet her! Finally one last note. For those who are interested, my running has been going pretty well. I've been pretty busy but I get out running about 5x a week so not too bad. I don't feel totally settled with routes and everything so I have yet to go out for a really long run. I've been topping out at like 50 minutes. Still pretty solid.

Matt
Cultural Embrace, Teach in China 2011

Cross the Land You'll Never Get Over... - by Amy in Australia

....this is the slogan for the Great Southern Rail and I couldn't agree more. What a journey it was! After spending a total of over 50 hours traveling by train over more than 4,600 kilometers (2,858 miles) from Melbourne to Adelaide and Adelaide to Perth, I've finally made it to the west coast.

I opted for the shorter train version taking the Overland from Melbourne to Adelaide, having a day to spend in Adelaide, and then taking the Indian Pacific from Adelaide to Perth. This cuts your time on the train from 3 nights to 2 nights in the reclined/upright position. I would highly recommend the trip to anyone interested, but would completely understand if some of you opted for the upgraded accommodations of a sleeper car!

My journey on the Overland was certainly a fantastic experience. The crew was very friendly and seemed to thoroughly enjoy entertaining their passengers with funny ancedotes of both the train itself, warning that if you don't remember to push the red button to lock the bathroom "you'll literally get caught with your pants down"...and even calling everyone's attention to the poor man who did in fact forget!...They also shared interesting and humorous stories about the towns we passed through. They told us of the naughty boys (now well into their 80s) who years ago slicked the tracks in Horsham with shoe polish stopping the train for hours. The boys apparently got in trouble for the amount of shoe polish wasted as opposed to the train delays caused by their prank. I won't spoil the trip for you with the other stories...you can take the trip for yourself to hear the rest!:)

As for the scenery along the way from Victoria into South Australia we passed a number of vineyards, and plenty of sheep and cows. It was beautiful and my seatmate was the sweetest lady, Fal, from Adelaide who was returning home after spending 3 weeks in Melbourne babysitting her grandson. She told me stories about all of the dogs in her life, but in particular her baby--Honey--who only died last year breaking Fal's heart. I could have talked to her for ages, and with the 11 hours on the train we did just that.

I arrived in Adelaide, "the city of churches," on a Saturday night with the expectation of sightseeing a bit on Sunday before catching the train Sunday evening. I checked into my hostel and wandered around searching for free wifi...finding the ever reliable McDonalds for such..touched base with home to let them know I was okay and headed back to the hostel. Shortly after getting in, close to 9:30pm, I got the call from the Great Southern Rail informing me that the Indian Pacific would not be picking me up on Sunday due to flooding in New South Wales and Victoria. I was told that they weren't sure when it would make it to Adelaide but they were hoping it would be some time on Monday. I didn't dare complain, being the state of the weather all around Australia the past few months and how badly the people have been affected, so I'd have one extra day in Adelaide (assuming the train made it by Monday) and then one less day in Perth, but there were worse things than that! The hostel informed me that they were booked solid and gave me a list of other hostels in the area, which I contacted only to find they were also all booked. It appears my weekend in Adelaide perfectly coincided with the massive music festival "Big Day Out." I went ahead and swallowed my frugal backpacker pride and booked a hotel. It was the smallest hotel room I had ever seen mind you but it was a hotel so after a day exploring the city--markets, wine tasting, botanical gardens; I spent the evening being spoiled with my very own bed, television, and bathroom! What more could a girl ask for?! :)

Monday was superbowl Sunday in the States so it was making the news over here being compared to all of the major sporting events finals in Australia combined into one. I was unable to find a bar showing the game at 9:30am so I spent my day enjoying the city and caught my train that night.

The Indian Pacific crew were just as friendly and helpful as the Overland group, but not quite so much into comic relief...I think this could have been affected by the additional 24 hours spent on the train with a number of disappointed and tired passengers. Nevertheless, this journey was incredible! I've been asked what I saw and it's difficult to explain because it's really just desert--thousands of miles of nothing, but I guess this is what makes it so unique and so breathtaking. The majority of the trip takes you over the Nullarbor Plains which is translated "no water", however due to the extraordinary amounts of rainfall, large sections of these plains were flooded as we passed through. There was no phone signal and no sign of life for as far as you could see. We had one stop in Cook where they proudly advertised that there is no food or fuel for the next 862km. They also had a plaque hanging on the outside of the gift shop claiming them to officially be "the middle of nowhere."

I found it interesting to see all the different people who traveled by train, especially those brave enough to endure the upright "sleeper seats" in the Red section of the train. There were people of all ages and backgrounds traveling for different reasons and all remaining fairly positive despite any setbacks, such as delays due to passing freight trains, etc. I think the most fascinating, and probably my favorite passenger in my car was the man in front of me, Mr. Ken. He was probably in his late 60s, early 70s and was deaf & mute. He kept a kitchen clock in the pocket in front of his seat and would become agitated at night when the lights on the inside of the train were on, further preventing him from seeing anything passing by in the night outside of his window. I kept him updated with announcements made regarding time zone changes and scheduled stops by passing him notes. He would follow these closely and let me know adamantly if we were off schedule. He was a fan of giving "thumbs ups" to everyone passing by and was treated very kindly by all of the staff on board as well. I didn't get to know much about him personally as his little notebook was practically full with little room to write so I know his name and that he was returning to Perth but nothing other than that. I think he is brave to travel on his own and his positive attitude was most inspiring. He was almost childlike with excitement when we started to see signs of life, and even moreso when we could see city lights.

This train trip was truly unforgettable and one I would recommend to anyone considering it. There is no way to explain the beauty of vast nothing for miles on end, but take my word for it, you won't regret it.

Take care! :)
xoxo
Amy
Cultural Embrace Work in Australia 2010/2011

Happy New Year China Style - by Current Teach in China Participant Matt W.

Hello everyone and 新年快乐! (happy new year!) Anyways to my Dad's request here is a new blog post, and the first from China! I have met the others in China: Lucy from Wales, Weis from Holland, Holly from London, Jarone form Holland and Isaac from Wales. Nice group of people. I had images of Yangshuo being this really tiny place, but its a lot bigger than I thought. And, those hills that you see pictures of in the city? They're literally in the middle of the city. So on tuesday everyone was saying that we were going to eat dinner with the local government, but nobody really knew what that meant. So after a day of touring around the city we all met back at the school to head to dinner. So we went to the middle of town and saw a small banquet area outside this building on western street (the main pedestrian street). We sat down and shortly one of the coordinators was trying to get us to do all of these activities, like dragon dancing, dancing with children, playing these flutes and playing dumplings. We all were quite reluctant to do any of these things but a few of us eventually gave in. I did the dragon dancing, which actually turned out to us putting the dragon mask on and then all these chinese reporters would take pictures of us. So basically, they just wanted Westerners to do all these things so they could take pictures of us. After all that settled down we ate a large dinner of all the local foods and watched the program they had put on for us. Then towards the end they had everyone go on stage and they started doing a countdown (mind you its like 9:30) and then they shot off confetti everywhere. So apparently this whole program was being filmed to be on chinese TV on the actual new years eve.

Next day, the actual Chinese new year we went to town and walked around to check out everyone's preparations for the festival later that night. To prepare for new years the chinese put these red lanterns everywhere and light off firecrackers. Now, chinese firecrackers are no black cats that we have at home. They come in massive rolls about the size of a car tire and the firecracker itself is about the size of a AA battery. When these things go off the sound is deafening. People here also have little regard to when and where they light these off. They just go outside of their house and look for a clearing in traffic and just throw them out into the road. Then for dinner we ate a nice dinner with the coordinators and their family. After that we went to town for the evening to watch fireworks and celebrate the new year with all the chinese.

New years day! Yesterday a Holly, Isaac and myself went to town to scope the scene. We thought it would be rather slow because everyone would be at home with their families, but actually the streets were packed and we saw this carnival in the park, full with rides and chinese fair food. I got some pictures of this I will post them soon. After walking about, we met the rest of the crew and walked down west street and saw the dragon dancers going to every business, blessing them for the coming year. On our way home we passed a fireworks stand and we bought some fireworks. I lit some of my bottle rockets off when we got back but saved the rest for the evening. Then last night we went to the schools basketball courts to watch a fireworks display. Which they were lighting off like 50 yards from us. I've never been so close to fireworks as they were being set off and it was weird actually hearing the explosion and then the lights not the other way around. After that we set off our fireworks and went to town for a bit.

Alyssa and Her Reflections on the Indian Way of Life

Hello Everyone,

So I find that, although I am not necessarily doing much after work, I am none the less, having problems finding the initiative to write my blogs!  As it gets hotter here, and I spend more time in India, I find myself falling into the Indian way of life style, a much calmer and relaxed way of life.  I found this to be the same in Niger and wonder if there is something about being in a non-western country that allows people to live a simpler way of life.  After all, to many Indian/Africans, life is rather simple; find work, feed your family, and live a good life according to the mores set forward to you. Now, I realize that these "simple" things are not always easy to find in a country with a billion and a half people, however the idea is there.  In the west we live chaotic lives where we always feel like we constantly have to keep moving...more work, more family, more food.  Being a New Yorker I find the Indian life style extremely strange and forgien to me and yet I am liking it non the less.  Perhaps if we could all learn to take things one notch down and live a simpler life, we would all be a bit happier.  Any who, going to reflect on this some more.  Will write later today about my whirlwind trip to Udaipur this past weekend!

Love,
Alyssa

 

Alyssa, Luiz and her class at the Science Park!

SuperBowl XLV recap: Where is the Love ~ by Founder Emlyn Lee

I have watched most SuperBowls, usually for the party and half-time entertainment pleasures, rather than for the love of the game. But last night, I was on a flight back to Austin and had nothing to distract me while watching the championship game on DirectTV, so I actually listened and paid attention to the commentaries. Since Cultural Embrace's February theme is love, I thought I would feature what I loved about SuperBowl XLV:

• Besides 4th grade American history class, when was the last time you listened to the Declaration of Independence in its entirety? FOX & NFL's pre-game rendition of the Declaration of Independence gave me goosebumps.
• Oops, Christina Aguilera may have flubbed up our national anthem, but tears still streamed down my face listening to her belt out the Star Spangled Banner, and my throat was totally lump-filled when the camera shot over to soldiers watching in Afghanistan, and you could hear the stadium's background cheer (I'm kinda tearing up right now, just thinking about it).
• Vikings Madieu Williams, who happens to be a fellow Terrapin alumnus, won Walter Peyton Man of the Year Award, which recognizes a player's off-the-field community service as well as his playing excellence. Williams recently gave $2M to create the Madieu Williams Center for Global Health at the University of Maryland, in which the center will address public health issues in Prince George’s County and Sierra Leone (his birth nation). He has already built a primary school in Sierra Leone and is now building a secondary school there as well. His foundation sponsored a mission to Sierra Leone that brought American teachers, surgeons and dentists to help educate the teachers at his school, give free dental cleanings to all of the students and provide free surgeries. And to heart this man even more, he wasn't even available to accept the award...because he was in the Persian Gulf on a goodwill tour visiting U.S. service members!
• The half-time show raising the Cowboy's stadium roof in Arlington, TX. Slash ripped his guitar, and Usher tore up the dancefloor as guest appearances, between Black Eyed Peas' acts. One of my favorite B.E.P. songs, ironically fits this theme, "Where is the Love" and they revised the lyrics to address more domestic issues that our government leaders need to hear, while singing to the backdrop of LOVE spelled out in lights.
• I recently read a magazine article on Vince Lombardi, and love his motivational and winning attitude spirit. "People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problem of modern society." I know it was repeated about a gazillion times during the trophy and victory ceremony, but I agree, it really is nice to have the Lombardi trophy return back at Green Bay. Besides, I love cheese! :)
• To be fair and not jump on the bandwagon of supporting the winning team, I have to admit, I was more blown away by Mike Tomlin's optimistic attitude. I think he and his family should go to Disneyland! I google searched his coaching and leadership styles on-line today, and now I can see why he is the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl, and already has two rings at age 38. Here is an answer to a pre-game interview about what he is saying to his team, "I am just reiterating the points we talked about all year, the things that are important to us. We have to exercise common sense; we have to compete when given an opportunity, and be considerate of others. If we do those things, we feel like we can put together a winning performance"

Okay, so my recap may not make be sports related, but hopefully answers an important question...where is the love? SuperBowl XLV proved that it can be found on a football field, or on-stage, in Arlington, TX or in Afghanistan! As long as people work together and be considerate of others...we can find and spread the love all over this world!

Teach in Mexico Testimonial - by Umeshaa P.

"My favourite aspect of this whole experience has been quite simply the people: their sweet gestures and earnest smiles make all the difference. Coming from a individualistic, classically Western point of view, it has been so very humbling to be invited into their values of family and love. Though I still manage to fill my days to maximum potential with volunteer sessions, working out, going to the market, what-have-you, it's interestingly enough almost comforting to see a people content with a much slower pace in life. Just being surrounded by it is peaceful, when I was living in the small town of Sahuayo as in the large city of Xalapa. The sound pollution, the un-hygienically displayed chickens in the kiosks, everything that is so overwhelming at first, melts into a white noise, becoming tranquil.  It has been such a self-revelatory experience and I have loved it!" - Ume P. (August-Dec., 2010)

Running Through China by our own Matt Wiersum :)

Hey everyone, I have safely arrived in Seoul, South Korea and I'm just chilling in this computer lounge that has computers with free internet!  So yeah, things that have happened in the past..uh 36 hours? Not really sure how long I have been traveling but its been a while but still fun.
Recap of what I've done.  Drove to Chicago with the parents, and dispite what they want me to say, nothing too exciting there.  When I got to chicago I was really hoping to check in as early as possible so I could but I got to the airport and found out that the agents didn't show up until 4 hours before the flight, so we left and had dinner at an Itialian restaurant, nice last night in the US.  Anyways at checkin there was a really long line and so I was worried that I might be stuck with a middle seat (granted a middle seat still gets you to china, just not as comfortably)  but I got pretty lucky getting a window seat in the 5th row of coach.  In my row was a little Chinese guy in the middle and a philipeno (sp?) on the isle.  I tried speaking chinese to him but it failed miserably :( .  As for the flight, 14 hours wasn't all that bad.  I got some sleep in but it was really weird not seeing light for about 20 hours because the plane flew with the night.  I probably ended up watching the Social Network twice, once all the waythrough and the second in the bits and pieces I watched when flipping through the channels.

I got into Seoul at 6am local time so there wasn't much to do.  I decided to go to the main concourse and try to find the travel lounge so I could take a shower.  I eventually found the shower, wich was free but towel use was 2 dollars.  So, I went to use my Capital One card and it didn't work, then I tried using my Wells Fargo card, didn't work.  So I was thinking "this is going to be a long layover if I can't use my money".  So I then went on a mission to find an ATM, I asked information where one was and they said they were only on the outside of customs, so I had to bag taking a shower because going in and out of customs just for a shower didn't make sense.  So I cleared customs and found the ATM.  I stuck my card in and it worked.  At the screen where you choose how much you want to take out the only language option was Korean so I really didn't know what I was doing.  I ended up pulling out 100,000 Won which is about 100 dollars...oops... So I guess I'll have to change some money in China.  Next I hopped on a bus to Seoul to check out the city.  I took the bus to Gyeongbokgung Palace in the heart of Seoul.  The palace was really interesting.  It was originally built in 1394 but the Japanese destroyed it when they occupied Korea, it has been in active restoration since 1867.  (according to wikipedia about 40% of the buildings have been rebuilt).  I have some really cool pictures that I will post when I get to China.  After visiting Gyeongbokgung  I went to this commercial distirct about 400m away.  Seeing these areas and getting into what the actual citizens of a partcular city actually do is one of my favorite parts of traveling. Yes, seeing historical sights is important and interesting but I really enjoy just seeing the real city.  So, once I got to this street I needed to find some lunch.  I ended up just walking into some random Korean resturant and the host instantly got the english menu, I tried to convey to him I just wanted to eat good Korean food.  He suggested this beef and noodle soup, so thats what I went with.  Shortly after putting my order in he comes out with three small dishes of stuff that I really didnt know.  Unknowing what was in front of me and what to do with the food I waited for my soup to arrive.  I tried to scope the scene of what other people were doing with the side dishes and couldn't figure out what to do.  I decided to put some of these sides into the soup (the sides ended up being cabbage with a red sauce, a green leafy vegeatble of some sort and another starchy veggie in red sauce) .  As I was eating I noticed that I had become a source of amusement for an elderly korean couple.  Apparently, you do not put the sides in the soup.  I also, to my frustration, was having trouble with the chopsticks.  At home I take a little pride in being pretty well versed in the world of chopsticks but I really was on the struggle bus today.  My troubles stemmed from to main sources, first the chopsticks were metal, I have never used metal chopsticks before and they'er tricky because they're slippery. Second, it's pretty cold in Seoul right now and my hands never really warmed up in the resturant and so I was missing some dextarity.  But, dipite my struggles with the chopsticks I made it through lunch alright and the food was very good.  After lunch I got back on the bus to the airport and here I am.

Some general observations about Seoul.  Seoul, seems to be a very interesting city and its MASSIVE.  I hope I can make it here agian before my planned layover on my way back to the states.  Next thing is that Christianity is pretty big here. I saw a lot of churches from the highway and it was just suprising for me to see so many of them in an Asian city, quite the contrast to North Korea.  I also noticed a big police presence.  They seemed to be everywhere around the palace, but this may be to protect the palace from vandalism.  The South Gate, a famous landmark in seoul was destroyed by arson a few years back.  Regardless, it seemed strange, I felt bad for the guys because they just had to stand there in the cold.  They had little boxes written in chalk that they stand in.  Finally, it's cold here.  Granted its cold in Minnesota but I was struggling a bit because I didn't bring a warm hat or gloves, which would have come in handy.

Well thats all I got now.  Next time will be about china, I'm going to try to take a shower now that I have some won to spend!

Love & China Part 2: Q&A with Luan - by Founder Emlyn Lee

This is the second part of a two-part blog series that I started yesterday, to highlight current, past, and future participants that have either found love abroad, or are traveling or will be traveling with their loved ones on a Cultural Embrace program. Since it is Chinese New Years today (Happy Year of the Rabbit!), I thought it would be appropriate to feature two couples teaching English in China.

Today’s featured participant is Luan Lierman. I knew her as Luan Ly when I started working with her to organize her teach placement in China. Now, three years later, she is still in China, independently tutoring, learning Chinese, and working on couple of side businesses. She recruited her husband, Van, and current Cultural Embrace participants, Robin and Jeff (who were featured in the first blog)to join her in seaside Yantai, China, and even got married to Van in China. I hope you enjoy this Q&A with Luan, the same way that I am always delighted to receive email updates from her, since she has embraced the cultures in many facets of her life.

Q: Why did you go abroad alone while you were engaged to teach in China? How long were you dating before you left China?
A: Van and I got engaged in January 2008, the start of my senior year of College. We had planned to get married that summer after graduation, and of course plans change. Half way through the year, every Senior wonders what the next step will be. At this time, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do so I applied for all kinds of positions thinking something might work out. It isn’t easy for a fresh out of College to find a job, a decent job in my field of International Business anyways. With not many opportunities in Washington, I really wanted to travel abroad. What a better place than China. I had taken a year of Chinese in College so I knew the basic but I needed the environment to improve my fluency. That’s when I went online and typed in “jobs in China.” About 99% were all teach in China positions. I knew I wasn’t prepared or had any experience in teaching, but I love trying new things so it was a leap of faith.

After applying to several organizations, one being Cultural Embrace, I just waited for a reply. A couple weeks later I received a call from CE and they wanted to interview me for a teaching job in Yantai, China. I had no idea where Yantai was and at this time, I had only 3 months before I would depart. I talked to my fiancé at the time and said I was going to China for 6 months minimum, which was the contract. He told me that he found a temporary job in California, making wine. We were both excited and this is our time to explore the unknown. Of course this wasn’t easy and we had to think long and hard but finally we decided to do what we loved. I would go to China and he would go to Napa Valley. At this time, we had post-pone our wedding date to the following summer which felt wonderful. The pressure of planning and marriage was lifted off my shoulders. We both felt good about it. And this time will allow us to grow independently since we were together throughout College. We had been together for over 4 years.

Q: Were you nervous having a long distance international relationship, and how did you deal with the long distance?
A: Long distance relationships are never easy. I hate it! The longest long distance we did was about 3 months when I studied abroad in China my junior year. That was actually one of the main reasons why I wanted to come back to China. During the studied abroad trip, my Chinese language ability improved tremendously. All I needed was to be in China. Needless to say, we didn’t like being apart but what can you do when two people have different wants and dreams. That’s why marriage is not easy but you go into the promise with the hope that love will lead the way.

Q: How did your experience in China change when your fiancé came to teach in China too?
A: When Van came to visit me in December, I was more than thrilled. It had been almost 4 months since I last saw him. He came on a 1 month tourist visa thinking he was going to hang out in China and then head to New Zealand for more wine making. That was the plan, and plans change. He decided to stay with me and earned more money in China than he would if he went to New Zealand. Money unfortunately was a main priority since we were planning on getting married that summer, 2009.


Before Van came, I cried the first couple weeks I was in China. Not because I didn’t like being in China, but I was alone and teaching was overwhelming. I arrived in late early Sept. when I was supposed to be there in late August due to visa delay and complications. School started that first week of Sept. as well. I came on the 5th and school started on the 6th. Yup, not a whole lot of time to adjust. I made it through that first week with the thought of, “oh boy, what did I sign up for?” But then I told myself, “you can do it Luan!” I had met some friends during the first few weeks and we were in the same boat. Molly and Jack were also recent College graduates and decided to try China for a year. Molly was my maid of honor and Jack was Van’s best man in our China wedding.


Van deciding to stay in China made my decision easy as well. I extended my contract to one year. Now, we’ve been in China almost 3 years. Time flies when you’re having fun. =)


Q: Tell us about your wedding in China, and was it a culture shock to you and spouse?
A: Our wedding in China was perfect. It was perfect because our apartment we moved to happened to be right next to a Christian church. We did not plan that. When we switched schools for the second semester so we could teach together, we moved downtown. We worked with a private tutoring center which gave us great accommodations, but we didn’t stay too long since our schedules were not ideal.


Anyways, Van and I lived together in this apartment and our family back home wanted us to see if we could sign a marriage license before we starting living together. To please them we looked around, and even contacted the embassy of in Beijing to see if we could get a marriage license since our wedding was scheduled for July 25th,2009 in Washington. Well, it was useless. Two foreigners in China can’t get legally married in China. One of the many laws in China. So, it was Feb. and the one thing we could do is have the wedding ceremony at the church. We set the date for April 25th,2009. That gave me two months to plan and with the help of some Chinese friends, it was more than I had expected.


We had a pastor that only spoke Chinese so we asked our friend Jack, a Chinese English teacher, to translate the ceremony. He was delighted to. My friend Brenda helped me arrange all the flowers, decorations, camera/video man, and pretty much for my right hand woman. She was amazing. I’m so thankful for all my friends I’ve made met in China.


On the wedding day, everything was set to go. Brenda’s daughter Lorraine was our flower girl. Jerry, one of my students was the ring barrier. Molly and Jack were ready to go with their new dress and suit. I had printed 300 programs and by word of mouth invited all my students and their families. At about 6pm, my uncle from Beijing walked me down the aisle and that’s when I saw the crowd. It was breathtaking. Van was waiting for me at the altar, and I walked down smiling at all our students and friends. Most of our international friends also came. England, Italy, Australia…etc. It was an international event. The whole thing was captured on video. Our students had never seen an American wedding before and for some, it was their first time in a church. We felt like celebrities since everyone had their cameras and taking pictures of us. My seamstress, Mrs. Yang and her son also came. She had custom made my husband’s suit, and Molly’s maid of honor dress. She is very talented. It was a perfect day!

Q: Do you have any advice for living and traveling abroad with your companion?
A: If you and your partner love adventure and meeting friends from around the world, go abroad. It was the best decision I’ve made, besides getting married to Van. He and I are grown in our relationship and our marriage. We study Chinese together and practice at home. Now, after 2 years, we can communicate in Chinese. I actually never thought that would happen. It’s fun to have a secret language when we go back to the US. Van finds China a fascinating place and the language very interesting. He even enjoys listening to Chinese music and tries to sing along. I haven’t ventured there yet. =)


Q: What are your anticipated future plans?
A: Since we’ve been in China, we have made the most of it. After planning two weddings, China and America, I might say I was experienced in the wedding biz. My friends back home wanted to know if I could help them with their wedding by getting dresses and tuxedos made in China. I was more than happy to help. This gave me the idea to start my own business. Luan’s Custom Made Wedding Attire. My friends find it so convenient and much cheaper to have the clothes made in China by the talented seamstress, Mrs. Yang. All I need is the picture of what you want made and your measurements. It’s that easy and hopefully more people will see the benefits in this idea. I’m having lots of fun and I’ve always wanted to start my own business. Never thought this would happen but where there is a will, there is a way. I’m extremely grateful.


For future plans, we go back to Washington every summer to see family and friends. We haven’t had enough of China yet so we’re coming back for more. But this time, we’re moving to Guangzhou. We have friends there and they really want us to join them. We also have invested in our friend’s cosmetics company and are now shareholders. It’s a risk, but we did research and signed legal contracts so with no risk, there are no rewards. Life is about risk, trying something new, going places and meeting people. That’s what makes life fun and worth living. I would not have it any other way. We will come back to America eventually, but not yet. What’s the rush? Well, maybe a future child. =) That time will come.

Love and China: Q&A with Robin & Jeff Part 1 - by Founder Emlyn Lee

February is full of love. Walk in to any shop or market, and you will see heart-shaped chocolates, pastries, flowers, and jewelry, prepared for Valentine’s Day. Ironically, Thursday is Chinese New Year, celebrating the year of the rabbit, and I owe my love for travel to my first international trip, teaching English in China. So it seems naturally fitting to dedicate this month’s theme and destination feature to LOVE and CHINA!

I am capable of giving travel-related advice, but will leave the love and relationship tips to Dr. Phil, in fact, may need to re-read his series of books. But this month, I’ve decided to take a different approach to my weekly blogs and have asked some alumnus, current and future participants that have either found love abroad, or are traveling or will be traveling with their loved ones on a Cultural Embrace program.

Meet Robin and Jeff. They are on our ten-month teach program in China, and arrived to Yantai in August, 2010. They were introduced to teach in China through a fellow Seattle Pacific University and Cultural Embrace alumnae, Luan (who I’ll introduce in my next LOVE and CHINA blog). And they recently got engaged, and have taken embracing the cultures to another level. Congratulations Robin and Jeff!

Q: How did you meet, and how long have you been together?
A: Jeff and I met at freshmen orientation right before college, but we didn't start dating until sophomore year. We have been together now almost 3 years, and on my birthday, Dec 19th, Jeff proposed at our favorite American restaurant here in Yantai. He rented the whole top floor and surprised me. I thought I was meeting him for birthday dinner but instead there were rose petals on the floor, balloons everywhere, and Jeff waiting for me on one knee!

Q: Who initiated taking the plunge of going to China? And how did you decide where to go and what to do together, and why this Cultural Embrace program?
A: I (Robin) knew that I wanted to teach abroad after I graduated college, but I never would have picked China. Jeff however, had been there before on a study abroad trip, and was interested in learning Chinese to strengthen his resume. It was intimidating at first (for me because it was China, and for Jeff because it was teaching), but the idea of spending a year abroad together sounded a lot better than being apart for ten months. My college professor had mentioned in one of my classes that her son was teaching English in China, so Jeff and I met with her to learn more about his experience. She gave us Luan's (her daughter-in-law) email address. Luan was the one who recommended us to Cultural Embrace, and we really liked the idea of using an outside organization to help us figure out all the small details of preparing for a year abroad.


Q: What are the ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ of traveling together?
A: Pros-I get to see the world with my best friend, and we can build a lot of memories together. We have learned a lot about each other by adjusting to life in different cultures together. Cons-if we get cranky from jet lag or dealing with differences in culture, we take it out on each other.

Q: Who takes what roles while planning and traveling abroad?
A: Jeff does a lot of the logistics like booking the flights and hostels (he is a bargain shopper and always seems to find stuff for way cheaper than I can). I usually sit around and come up with all the fun ways to spend Jeff's money :)

Q: What is your favorite part of being in China together?
A: The best part about being in China together is that we always have someone to do something with, whether that means doing pull-ups in the snow, going out to dinner, or being there for each other when it is Christmas, since we didn’t go home for the first time ever.

Q: Do you have any advice for others that are thinking about traveling with their loved ones?
A: Moving to the other side of the world with your significant other is a pretty big step. Make sure that you and your significant other have a solid foundation in your relationship because quite possibly, you may be all each other have for a period of time. Jeff and I spend a ton of time together, so make sure you like the person and have common interests. You also have to be willing to grow together. We have learned so much about each other by seeing how we react to challenges and adjust to change. It has been really incredible seeing how our relationship has been shaped by our time in China. I never would have thought I would be planning my wedding from China!