Rebecca: I am a responsible administrator of this blog and I post regularly! (This is a lie.)

Right now it looks like Jen is the only one posting on this thing... I swear I'll post more when we're actually IN China! I could tell you the horror stories about getting my Chinese visa (you try applying online when the computer refuses to recognize your legal name. What is it with bureaucrats and losing it every time they see an umlaut?), or my abysmal failings in learning Mandarin (in my defense I was studying Ancient Greek for school and two languages at once is hard work), or how much I've packed (a clue: it starts with no- and ends in -thing), but that wouldn't be much fun so I won't.

I was going to post the Official Backstory of Jen and Rebecca (tentatively titled How I Met My Housemate), but it mostly involves both of us looking like awkward first-years, exchanging numbers at the Linguistics orientation and not sitting next to each other in class because I am socially inept, so I won't do that either. (We were actually so awkward though. Jen wore her lanyard around her neck like only a first-year would and everything. And I carried this massive Latin textbook everywhere like it was my only friend.) (It was not my only friend.)

What I AM going to do, though, is... actually I'm probably not going to do a whole lot of anything. It's 1:40am and I'm only writing this because I'm going to start telling people about this blog and I thought maybe I should actually post something both clever and welcoming.

Er... Welcome! What do you call a snobby, elitist criminal walking down the stairs? A condescending con descending!

There. I hope you feel both suitably welcomed and stunned by my wit. You'll be hearing from me soon - because I maybe might possibly actually be leaving for CHINA on Wednesday and I'm dying of excitement!!

-Rebecca

Jen: Getting on a Plane in 4 days

Slowly coming to the terms that I'll be leaving the country soon. There's just a few things that need to be done. I just got back from an overnight meeting in another city for a trip to Japan that immediately follows the China trip. HELLO JETLAG CITY. It's a 13 hour flight so that's what? 13 albums or 3 books or 100s of bad puns that Rebecca is gonna have to live thru. MUAHAHAHA. My bag is actually mostly packed! Most of the daily stuff I'll get in China!

I bought a book today that has pictures of Canada from Newfoundland to B.C. It should be pretty helpful to tell the students about Canada! I'm still pretty nervous about the language barrier but I've had a few chances to practice my Mandarin lately!

In 4 days I'll be on a plane and on a new adventure! Can it just be next week? Ahhh!