Yes...I am in China.

Well...I have been in China for about one week. It has been a crazy busy week. So much has happened and so many new experiences. I started this blog to recount and remember them and I have failed at that after one week! Crap. :) Well, it will get better. I'm definitely going to sit down tonight and recount this past week's happenings. Hopefully, the two boys (who are also UM School of Public Health students and in China interning as well) will not distract me with funny youtube videos like they have been doing all week. :) In a nutshell, I am having a fantastic time in China. It has been a great start to the summer.

Not in China quite yet.

Due to some complications with our visas, we had to push back our departure date. We are now scheduled to leave Michigan for China on Saturday, May 10. A word to future travelers to China, get your visa early. We did not anticipate the extra paperwork and it took some time to get it all straightened out. Thanks to the Jeff, one of my companions for my summer adventures, we got our visas and now we are set to go. He spent a lot of time at the Chinese Embassy in Chicago waiting in line and advocating for a speedy process.

Since I've been back in Michigan longer than I anticipated, I have been doing my best to stay busy. This includes sleeping in, reading, going for long walks and runs, hanging out with friends, and simply enjoying Ann Arbor in the spring. I had no idea that AA was so beautiful at this time of year. The winters here are brutal, cold, dreary and gray. Very different from the South Dakota winters that I grew quite accustomed to. So spring is a welcome change; a breath of fresh air takes on new meaning. There are tulips everywhere and the air even smells like spring. It is wonderful. Not to mention how relaxed everyone is. It is completely different from the previous 8 months I spent in Ann Arbor. School is intense and everyone is stressed 95 percent of the time. But not during the summer. It’s all about hanging out on the porch drinking some wine or doing all the fun things that you don’t have time for during the school year.

That’s just what I did yesterday. Some friends and I went to Detroit. We spent part of the day at the Detroit Institute of Art and then had lunch in Greek Town. Very fun. Detroit is a great city. The downtown is beautiful and certainly has a lot to do. The riverfront is great and you can tell the city as put a lot work into revitalizing this area.

Below are some of my favorite paintings from the DIA and some pictures of Greek Town. And I had to add a picture from the porch sitting, a staple summer activity in AA.

Greek Town.

Hanging out on the porch.

The West...

Though I'm not in China yet, my summer adventures have started. From my parents' house, I headed out West to Wyoming. During my time out West, I enjoyed spending time with my family and the beautiful sights, including the mountains of Montana and Wyoming, not to mention the beautiful weather. I left South Dakota just in time; there were record snowfalls east river and the weather in Wyoming has been real spring (almost summer) weather. Again, I'm leaving just in time; there's snow predicted for the end of the week here in Wyoming. But I would really love to stay. I will be back at the end of the summer...after my summer adventures in China.

Small Town Bliss

It is easy to forget how great South Dakota is. Some unfortunate souls don't even know about its splendor and delightfulness. The small town in which I grew up is a little gem residing in northeatern SD, or as the local TV ads say about other towns 'South Dakota's rising star.' I was home visiting my parents for a couple days and it was simply fantastic. It was not glamorous nor exciting. Just wonderful. Not much has changed since I moved to the big city, Sioux Falls, SD population 120,000, about 7 years ago. Perhaps just my attitude and perspective on this little town. Now that I no longer live in the glorious state of SD, I have a renewed appreciatation for it. I don't think I will ever live in a town similar to my childhood playground, but I'm glad I can appreciate it in ways that I have not before.

The Genesis of My Summer Blog

My first summer after grad school, and perhaps last summer as a bona fide student, has nearly started. I finished my exams on Friday and my two group projects are complete. Yet, though I am back in home in South Dakota, I still have one more paper to write for my HMP 603 class. I was just anxious to get back to my great state and enjoy what the real Midwest has to offer. :) Moreover, I guess...I really wanted to come back to see my family and friends for a couple extra days before I head half way around the world to China for three months. While I'm in this area, I'll be traveling to northern South Dakota and Wyoming, which is more than a short drive away trust me. So the couple extra days are well worth, considering the couple 7 and a half hours drives ahead of me.
So the count down has officially started. In less than two weeks (12 days to be exact), I jump on a plane to travel to China for three months. I'm not quite ready yet, there is still so much to do. It all gets done somehow...and if it doesn't, I guess it wasn't really that important anyway.
Keep checking my blog for preparation updates and, once I arrive in China, for fun and interesting stories of my adventures living in a country where I can't speak, read, or understand the language nor many of the cultural meanings and customs. I've been trying to learn, but I think there is a rather steep learning curve...let the adventures begin.