China-bound

Tomorrow morning at 10:30 AM I will be boarding a plane from Columbus, Ohio for Beijing, China. It will mark my first time in China and my first time back in the far east since I was 6 years old. I will be road tripping with family through out inner China. Starting from the capital splendor of Beijing, I'll be moving through the beaches of Qingdao, the rich imperial history of Xi'an, the remainders of the silk road at Lanzhou, and the rising of economic, urban power in Shanghai. Best yet might be the trip down the Yangtze river from Chongqing to Wuhan where I'll get a first and last glance at the Three Gorges before a the government dams it up in 2009 for power. Hong Kong and Taipei will top off what will be a very fast and furious snapshot of the middle kingdom in which I am somehow connected to.

There will be much to discover in these next 7 weeks. China is an entire country and culture that is generally foreign to me. For the first time in my life, I will have to truly grapple with what it means to be 'Chinese-American' from the other side of the Pacific. Not only this, but it will be a time for me to dig deeper into my family. It will be the most time I've spent with my father since the divorce. It will be the most time spent with my sister and mom alone since middle school. There will be a lot to learn in that alone minus the distant relatives I will be meeting and staying with. It is also a hope that many past stories of my grandparents may come alive in ways i've never been able to understand. Even while the trip will be an exciting venture into my past, it will also be a possible preview of my future as I consider what this country might have to offer me in terms of post graduate options.

And yet there will be people that I wished I could have spent more time with at home. This is the shortest summer I've spent yet in Maryland. Although I've learned to let many things go, as I prepare to leave I see that there is still much I long to stay connected with.

Godspeed all. Come what may... I'll still be here as I am.

Current State of Spirit: Anxious, and naturally so...